Navigating with Magalhães: study on the impact of digital media in school children

This research project intends to elaborate an in-depth study regarding the impact of the measure 'e.escolinha', implemented by the Portuguese Government, in July 2008, on Portuguese children of basic education. The initiative, suspended in 2011, allowed all students of the 1st cycle of basic education the possibility of purchasing a portable computer, specially designed for the needs of this age group: the ‘Magalhães’ computer. The 'e.escolinha' had great expression in Portuguese society, at the social, cultural, economic and educational level, mainly because the Government made this measure a banner of the Technological Plan for Education, whose objective would be to “place Portugal among the five most advanced European countries in the technological modernization of education” (www.escola.gov.pt). The study focuses on the program's policies and, above all, the uses and practices that children make of the laptop and the underlying resources, such as the Internet, both at school and outside. It is also important to understand the perspective of children, teachers and parents about their potential and also the challenges.