The point of departure for this study is the hypothesis that educational institutions and school systems can use the Internet to establish a new form of administrative and pedagogical contact within their school communities. The theoretical framework involves elements such as social, cultural, and technological change, situating in this context the educator and his/her appropriation of the technological culture. It then deals with the constitution of sociotechnical networks in the educational environment, having the Internet as a facilitator. In so doing, the text also touches on the issues of social networks and educational web portals. The fieldwork investigated the process of constitution of a sociotechnical network in a municipal school system. Observations, assessments, questionnaires, and interviews built a case study, in which it was possible to follow the creation, implementation, and use of an Internet portal as a new space for the communication, interaction, and exchange of information among the school community. The investigation centered on the figure of the educator and of his/her perception of this space. Based on the assumption that our relationship to technology entails a process of appropriation of the technological culture, which directly influences our actions in this networked society, we conclude that educational web portals can be used by schools in a productive way, in collaboration among the various agents of the educational community, once this process takes into account, amongst other factors, the technological culture of that particular community.
Technological culture; Sociotechnical network; Education