The use of digital technology in the learning process and teaching practices in formal teaching is highly dependent on the ability of teachers of introducing it without jeopardizing the richness of the classroom environment, namely the attention that students need to follow the flow of argumentation and to guarantee the quality of the inquiring.Although several studies value the importance of technologies in our media-enriched world and the "learn anytime and anywhere" motto associated with mobile learning, we argue that the classroom dynamics are becoming more and more at risk with the addictive dimension brought about by the ubiquitous presence of digital devices and social media in students' lives. In this article, we will make a critical review of the literature related to mobile learning because there is still a need of more extensive research on the interference of technology in the classroom, especially on how multitasking affects the teacher role in-class as a media orchestrator and learning facilitator. Finally, we will discuss the use of technology in the formal classroom environment, mainly to stimulate a much-needed discussion about the bright-not-so-bright impacts of technology in the teaching and learning process.

The main purpose of this article is to highlight the potential of the Instagram social network as a didactic resource for teaching and learning languages. To do so, it presents a pilot study titled #aveiroenossople (Aveiro is ours PLE) about the use of Instagram in complementary activities in the teaching of Portuguese for Chinese students of Portuguese as a Foreign Language (PFL) of the University of Aveiro, whose products were advertised on the page Of the # AveiroeNosso-PLE project on the Wix platform. In order to study whether the Instagram social tool can contribute to the development of discursive skills of Chinese learners, both in the oral and written modalities, the study proposal was anchored in a conception of language as process and interaction, from which one understands the production and comprehension of text – oral or written – as social practice. In the methodological path, three stages were accomplished in the development of the work, namely: (i) planning, (ii) implementation, and (iii) evaluation. In general terms, the results point to contributions from the use of Instagram for the development of competences related to textual and multimodal production and comprehension, the cultural competences necessary and intrinsic to the learning of a foreign language, as well as for the formation of learning communities by means of the interactions between the participants.

La multitarea, especialmente con los medios de comunicación, se ha convertido en una parte omnipresente de nuestro cotidiano, cada vez más promovida por desarrollos tecnológicos en equipos personales en constante desarrollo. La multitarea con los medios de comunicación se ha estudiado sistemáticamente desde una perspectiva de género y de edad, para responder a la pregunta de quién realiza más multitareas: hombres o mujeres, adultos o personas más jóvenes. Sin embargo, hay menos estudios sobre cómo el origen, los antecedentes culturales o geográficos pueden afectar la tendencia a la multitarea con medios. Este estudio intentará analizar un posible vínculo entre la afiliación geográfica, el uso de los medios y la tendencia a realizar múltiples tareas de un grupo de 36 investigadores de diferentes nacionalidades. Se han registrado diferencias en el uso de varios medios y valores de uso globales, con Europa presentando el uso de medios más bajo, menos de la mitad de los valores del grupo latino-americano. Los SMS son los medios menos frecuentes, y las aplicaciones informaticas y la navegación web los más comunes. El grupo europeo presenta los valores más bajos de multitarea, mientras que el grupo de África Occidental registra el índice más alto.

A multitarefa, especialmente combinada com o uso de d­­iferentes tipos de meios de comunicação, tornou-se um comportamento comum na nossa vida quotidiana, sendo promovida por constantes desenvolvimentos tecnológicos em equipamentos de uso pessoal. Os comportamentos de multitarefa têm sido frequentemente estudados a partir de perspetivas individuais como a idade e o género. Há, contudo, menos estudos sobre como a origem, a afiliação cultural ou geográfica pode influenciar ou potenciar comportamentos de multitarefa. Este artigo tem como objectivo analisar uma possível ligação entre afiliação geográfica, uso de meios de comunicação e tendência para comportamentos multitarefa de um grupo de dez investigadores, todos do sexo masculino, todos com a mesma profissão e com o mesmo ambiente de trabalho, com diferentes afiliações geográficas, agrupados em diferentes grupos regionais (Europa, Norte de África, Ásia Meridional/Ocidental). Foram registadas diferenças no consumo de meios de comunicação, sendo os valores de consumo semanais do cluster europeu (76.3 horas) bastante abaixo da média, os do cluster norte-africano (104.83 horas) bastante acima da média e os do cluster asiático (83.17 horas) aproximados à média (86.92 horas/semana). Uma tendência semelhante verifica-se nos valores de multitarefa com vários meios de comunicação, apresentando o cluster europeu os valores mais baixos de comportamento multitarefa globalmente, mas também os valores mais baixos em relação a dez dos meios de comunicação. O cluster do Norte de África regista não só o maior índice de comportamento multitarefa dos três clusters, como valores parcelares de multitarefa mais elevados para oito dos meios de comunicação.

Social Networking Sites (SNSs), though not initially designed for educational purposes, have long had a presence in educational contexts. In particular, the potential of Facebook (FB) and its Closed Group feature as a tool for language learning has been analyzed by several studies, although most seem to limit their scope to the use of Facebook for developing reading and writing skills. This paper attempts to investigate potential complementary activities that can be performed in connection with a Facebook Closed Group, using freely accessible tools, to assist with the development of oral skills in an English learning setting at the primary school level. Selected tools have been assessed, tested, and integrated into a Facebook closed group, in the scope of the topic "English-speaking countries".