Communication 2.0: A New Way for Education in Positive Discipline through Mobile Devices

Abstract

In the area of the family, the slap are still socially accepted practices as educational strategies despite the fact that their use has been shown to have a negative impact on the physical, psychological and moral integrity of children with direct impact on their human dignity and free development of personality. According to European guidelines regarding the prohibition of corporal punishment it is necessary to raise awareness on this issue to parents and all those who exercise the role of educators, while being trained in alternative educational strategies, such as positive discipline. In the current context, education can be enhanced through the incorporation of the technologies of relationships, information and communication and, consequently, through the exercise of educommunication 2.0. In the area that concerns us, the spaces generated by these form virtual communities around the education of children where parents, as users, obtain information and advice from experts, as well as from other fathers and mothers, sharing their experiences. Among the tools of educommunication 2.0 we find mobile applications. Under the web 2.0 model, mobile devices, smartphones and tablets offer new forms of relationship between individuals that define a new context in which knowledge is acquired and produced in a decontextualized way. Hence, it is necessary to analyze its usefulness in any project for educational purposes. Established the benefits of educomunicativo 2.0 approach and mobile applications, the objective of this work is to lay the foundations from which configure a mobile application that serves the eradication of child physical punishment. Based on the main objective, the following specific objectives are addressed, describing their configuration and execution process. The mobile application created forms a virtual community, initiated by experts, which offers online guidance to parents in their educational work based on the positive discipline model. It concludes on the effectiveness of mobile applications as learning tools for the change of attitudes and behaviors. In addition to training, the application pursues informative and awareness-raising objectives. Through its use appeals to the social conscience about the harmful effects of physical punishment awakening interest in alternative educational practices on which users can deepen by accessing other digital resources and / or seeking advice.