Infancia y tecnología: el rol transformador de la escuela y la mediación adulta

Abstract

This research was based on the central thesis that children’s early use of the internet is not an educational problem in itself; the main challenge lies in strengthening adult mediation between school and family in order to transform recreational digital consumption into a critical, responsible, and educational experience. The project was carried out with second-grade students from Hogar del Niño JM, a branch of Institución Educativa Leónidas Acuña, located in Valledupar, Cesar. The methodology used was Participatory Action Research (PAR), framed within a qualitative and socio-critical approach. The process actively involved students, families, and teachers through interviews, participant observation, discussion groups, critical digital classroom activities, participatory workshops, and the collective construction of agreements. This path made it possible to understand real internet-use practices, identify tensions between control and guidance, and generate situated actions for community transformation. The main collective learnings showed that children used the internet mainly for entertainment, while adult mediation tended to focus more on limiting screen time tan on critically discussing digital content. However, the process promoted a shared understanding of the need to guide, accompany, and build agreements between home and school. The study redefined the internet as a pedagogical opportunity to strengthen critical thinking, self-regulation, digital citizenship, and educational co-responsibility.