This article examines the integration of topics related to digital technologies in the curricula of initial teacher education programs in Brazil and Uruguay in state and private universities. In both countries, the graduation profile envisions the didactic-pedagogical training of professionals to work in primary and secondary education. The choice of these two countries is based on their ongoing curricular reform processes and shared challenges, which offer a comparative perspective for critically identifying pathways to integrate technology into teacher training. The analysis focuses on the presence of courses dedicated to the pedagogical use of such technologies and the inclusion of content related to emerging technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence. The research was conducted in five stages: document selection, information mapping, topic categorization, results analysis, and finally, a proposal of guidelines for curricular development that addresses digital technologies in an integrated and innovative way. The research period spanned from February to June 2025. This is a qualitative, exploratory, and documentary-based study, grounded in the analysis of 65 Pedagogical Course Projects (PPCs) from teacher education programs in Brazil and teacher training syllabi from Uruguay. The findings reveal that, although there are relevant initiatives aimed at enhancing teachers’ technological education, these efforts are unevenly distributed across the institutions studied. Moreover, there is a noticeable lack of engagement with emerging topics and an absence of explicit alignment with public education policies. In light of these findings, the study proposes guidelines for curricular redesign that respond to contemporary demands for the integrated and up-to-date inclusion of digital technologies and emerging themes in teacher education.

This design-based qualitative study examined researcher–teacher collaboration in creating digital storybooks for rural sixth-grade classrooms in Costa Rica. Specifically, it sought to explore how a pedagogical design framework can inform creating digital storybooks that supports bilingual (Spanish/English) literacy through digital storytelling. Three experienced rural English teachers joined four online workshops between March and May 2024 to co-establish a pedagogical framework integrating culturally responsive teaching, Fraser’s social-justice dilemmas (redistribution, recognition, representation), and national English curriculum objectives. The team then used ChatGPT within FUNREAD – a web-based digital storytelling platform supporting Spanish/English literacy instruction – to generate beginning-level (CEFR-A1) storybooks. Field notes, transcripts, and participant feedback were thematically analyzed to trace design decisions across three phases: selecting social-justice dilemmas, mapping curricular themes, and crafting artificial intelligence (AI) prompts. The prototype storybook, “Susana’s Dream” – centered on Costa Rican NASA scientist Sandra Cauffman – illustrates how context-sensitive narratives can advance vocabulary, grammar, and critical awareness simultaneously. Findings demonstrate that structured co-design empowers teachers to embed equity, identity, and community relevance in literacy materials, while generative AI scales production without displacing pedagogical expertise.

This research addresses the challenges faced in teaching communicative competence in elementary education, as reflected in the low reading and writing performance of students on international standardized assessments. While communicative competence encompasses both written and oral skills, these are often taught in isolation, revealing a gap between theoretical frameworks and educational outcomes. The aim of this systematic review was to analyze the didactic strategies employed by primary school teachers to foster communicative competence from 2020 to 2025. Utilizing the PRISMA 2020 methodology, twenty-one empirical articles selected from five databases were analyzed through analytical matrices. Findings indicate a predominance of studies focusing on oral communication strategies, with less emphasis on integrated approaches that combine both oral and written skills. Traditional methods continue to be prevalent in writing instruction, and there is limited attention to viewing communication as a holistic, contextualized skill set. Most research was conducted in urban settings. The review highlights a disconnect between existing theoretical models of communication and current pedagogical practices, underscoring the need for more studies that promote the integration of orality and writing as a unified, contextualized competence.

The need to incorporate digital technologies into the educational sphere intensified following the challenges imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic on educational systems worldwide, making it relevant to investigate the digital competencies and the technological, pedagogical, and disciplinary knowledge of university faculty, particularly in fields such as Psychology, where the integration of technology encounters tensions between humanistic training and contemporary demands for educational innovation. In this context, the present study aimed to characterize the technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge (TPACK), in addition to the digital competences in teachers of a psychology faculty at a private university was characterized, covering two of its campuses. 126 teachers participated (69.0% women, 31% men) with an average of 11.43 years teaching at the university, who were selected through a non-probabilistic sampling, for convenience. A quantitative simple correlational design was used, through an online survey that included a questionnaire aimed at investigating variables of the teaching task, in addition to the Community College TPACK Survey for Meaningful Learning (CC-TSML), adapted and translated for the study, in addition to the version previously adapted in Chile for the ICT Competence Questionnaire for teachers. Statistically significant relationships are observed between the dimensions of the constructs of interest, in addition to adequate psychometric properties in both scales. Sex, academic degree, curricular area and having received relevant training seem to be relevant when explaining the differences in TPACK. Among the main findings, the positive effect of continuous training on the development of these competencies stands out. Additionally, the study invites reflection on the effects of gender socialization on self-perception and performance in digital environments.

The virtual impulse of the curriculum internationalization in higher education has increased in recent years due to certain technological innovations. Since internationalization and technology combine in COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning), MOOC (Massive Online Open Courses), and EMI (English-medium instruction) courses, these can imply changes in faculty, their practices, beliefs, and ways of working. Therefore, the objective of this study was to analyze, from an innovation perspective, the effects of implementing virtual courses -COIL, MOOC, EMI- on teaching activity and function, based on the integration of internationalization and technology in teaching. Through a qualitative phenomenological study and cascade sampling, 20 academics who teach these courses at two public universities in northwestern Mexico were interviewed virtually in 2024. The results indicated that these virtual courses are disruptive innovations for faculty, as they have a significant impact on their beliefs and ways of working. While there is a growing openness to collaborative work with ICTs among academics, certain difficulties persist in implementing these virtual courses, as there is a division in the teaching role between teaching, the administration of virtual courses, and the specific demands of the disciplines. Nevertheless, these courses represent important steps toward educational change, internationalization and the use of ICTs are beginning to have an impact on teachers, who are beginning to question their ways of working and teaching.

Esta investigación analiza la aplicación de líneas teóricas centradas en la educación científica y en la justicia social para desarrollar conciencia crítica mediante procesos de metacognición pedagógica en el profesorado en formación inicial de la carrera de Enseñanza de las Ciencias Naturales de la Universidad de Costa Rica. La problemática remite a las barreras en la incorporación de aspectos de justicia social en la educación científica, así como una representación pedagógica desconectada del mundo, lo que resulta en un desinterés por parte del estudiantado, especialmente en el que, por cuestiones de género, diversidad cultural o estrato social, percibe la ciencia como algo ajeno a su realidad. Por lo anterior se realizó una intervención educativa desde agosto de 2021 a julio de 2022 con 17 profesores y profesoras en formación; el estudio es longitudinal y cualitativo. Los datos se recolectaron por medio de cuestionarios, revisión de unidades didácticas, grupos focales y observaciones. Con la intervención educativa realizada, se observó que la exposición a las teorías de socioconstructivismo transformativo, la transculturalidad crítica y el enfoque educativo STEAM se mejoró la comprensión de aspectos socioculturales complejos, como la equidad de género, la diversidad cultural y el reconocimiento de las propias posicionalidades como personas docentes. Con ello se llega a promover la interdisciplinaridad desde una educación científica contextualizada que considera aspectos políticos, económicos, sociales y culturales desde una perspectiva de justicia social.

Las ecologías de aprendizaje, que integran diversos recursos tecnológicos pedagógicos, fomentan el aprendizaje autorregulado y promueven la capacidad del estudiantado para tomar control de su propio proceso de aprendizaje. Esto resulta en la capacidad de fijar metas, planificar, monitorear y evaluar su progreso. Este artículo presenta parte de los resultados obtenidos al implementar una ecología de aprendizaje en un curso universitario de Química General en la Sede Interuniversitaria de Alajuela, Universidad de Costa Rica, durante el primer ciclo del 2023. Se planteó como objetivo analizar el tipo de relación existente entre la ecología de aprendizaje y el aprendizaje autorregulado, a partir de la asociación de los recursos tecnológicos que constituyen la ecología de aprendizaje dentro de las fases del aprendizaje autorregulado. El abordaje de esta investigación tiene un enfoque de tipo mixto con diseño anidado o incrustado concurrente de modelo dominante. Un total de 70 personas estudiantes fueron matriculadas en la ecología de aprendizaje. La población completa participó de la fase cuantitativa mientras que una muestra anidada participó de la fase cualitativa. Los resultados muestran una correlación positiva entre la ecología de aprendizaje y el aprendizaje autorregulado. La interacción del estudiantado con un alto nivel de aprendizaje autorregulado muestra preferencias y un uso más efectivo de los recursos tecnológicos de acuerdo con la fase del aprendizaje autorregulado. Se concluye que la implementación de diversos recursos tecnológicos dentro de una ecología de aprendizaje proporciona al grupo estudiantil flexibilidad y autonomía para gestionar su aprendizaje. Fomentar el uso de ecologías de aprendizaje como acompañamiento alternativo en cursos universitarios no solo enriquece el proceso de aprendizaje, sino que desarrolla habilidades críticas para el éxito académico y profesional.

Este estudio analiza cómo, desde la perspectiva del estudiantado, el Aprendizaje Basado en Proyectos (ABP) influye en el compromiso estudiantil y en el aprendizaje en ciencias naturales. Realizado durante el primer semestre de 2021, en una escuela internacional en Costa Rica, se adoptó un enfoque cualitativo con el método de Investigación Acción Participativa (IAP). Mediante observaciones, bitácoras, cuestionarios y entrevistas se recopilaron los datos de 39 estudiantes de 6.º a 8.º grado, se analizaron con codificación cualitativa y categorización temática, y se identificaron patrones relacionados con el compromiso cognitivo, emocional y conductual. Los resultados evidenciaron altos niveles de compromiso, se destaca un 87,5 % de estudiantes que participaron más activamente en discusiones científicas durante los proyectos, y un 85 % que reportó mayor comprensión de conceptos. El estudio concluyó que el ABP es una estrategia efectiva para fomentar un aprendizaje significativo y motivador, al permitirle al estudiantado conectar conceptos científicos con problemas reales. Además, su implementación reforzó habilidades como la autonomía y la colaboración. Sin embargo, se requiere una planificación más estructurada para superar los desafíos relacionados con la gestión del tiempo y la orientación inicial en este enfoque pedagógico.

La evolución de la Educación Especial (EE) en Costa Rica ha sido un proceso notable, caracterizado por la transición de un enfoque médico a mediados del siglo XX hacia una perspectiva inclusiva en la actualidad. Este cambio ha implicado no sólo una transformación en las prácticas pedagógicas, sino también una redefinición del rol de las personas profesionales de EE, adaptándose a las demandas y paradigmas educativos de cada época. Se destaca que la EE, en Costa Rica, ha evolucionado notablemente, al pasar de un punto de vista rehabilitador en 1940, donde la persona con discapacidad era atendida por una persona “docente especialista en…”, a una mirada más social en la actualidad, donde ahora la persona “docente de apoyo educativo” colabora en la eliminación de barreras para la participación y aprendizaje de la diversidad estudiantil. En este cambio epistemológico y del accionar docente, la carrera de Educación Especial de la UCR ha jugado un papel relevante como agente transformador, tal y como se evidencia en las modificaciones de los planes de estudio y de los programas de los cursos en sus 50 años de existencia. Se concluye que los cambios en los programas de Didácticas de Lectoescritura y Matemáticas responden a la evolución histórica de la disciplina y al paradigma predominante del momento, porque la concepción de discapacidad de determinada época marca el rol de la persona educadora especial en ese contexto educativo específico.

Baseado na noção de conscientização, desenvolvida por Paulo Freire, neste ensaio, objetiva-se apresentar a fotografia como um recurso pedagógico capaz de gerar curiosidade, reflexão e criticidade no público de estudantes. Desse modo, entende-se que a fotografia pode contribuir para a prática de uma pedagogia crítica nas aulas de História, embora não apenas nessa disciplina. Usam-se como referenciais, obras clássicas de Paulo Freire e estudos acerca do objeto fotográfico e do ensino de História. Argumenta-se que a fotografia, como fonte histórica, não atesta a realidade tal qual ela se apresentava à época em que foi realizado seu registro, sendo este, uma representação da realidade e que está comprometido com determinados interesses. Em sala de aula, as pessoas estudantes devem questionar o conteúdo desse documento sob a orientação e o estímulo dados pelas e pelos docentes. O texto é finalizado com uma sugestão de prática pedagógica crítica com o objetivo de demonstrar que a fotografia, quando bem trabalhada, colabora para o processo reflexivo e para a formação de sujeitos comprometidos com a transformação da realidade em que estão inseridos. Portanto, a fotografia auxilia na transição de uma consciência ingênua para uma consciência crítica, elemento essencial nas obras de Paulo Freire.