Objectives

The opportunity offered by the potential of ICT to enhance learning and teaching has been discussed in this past decade in academies to understand how ICT and Web 2.0 can be used in meaningful ways to enhance learning or develop new student’s competences as to conform to the Bologna Process Directives. This presentation is based on the case study of two students groups, from different studies area, about the use of social networks, wikis and blogs, in learning and teaching, where the focus is on about acquiring competences.

ResearchQuestions

In this poster we will present a study which focuses on the use of social networks in teaching and learning at the higher education level. The following research questions will be explored according on two concepts within the framework of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) - competences and ICT - to address the following questions:

What is the degree of use of social networks in the process of learning?

In what ways does the use of social networks affect students to acquire and develop new competences (such as skills to work in group; writing; autonomy).

TFramework

The creation of EHEA through what has come to be known as the Bologna Process, which began more than a decade ago, is at the root of all the change in current European higher education. The EHEA has as objectives to facilitate mobility of students, graduates and higher education staff; prepare students for their future careers and for life among others (Secretariat, 2010). Simultaneously the rapid growth of ICT and network connections has resulted in the implementation of new learning enhancements in the educational world. The integration and combined of these two components can help to developed new students competencies, in relation to the Bologna Process, and new methodologies in the process of teaching and learning.

As teachers and as students, we all recognize that technologies are increasingly used in society and in the economy, transforming the ways of working, studying (lifelong learning), communicating among others. Several studies (Ala-Mutka, 2011; Siemens, 2006), have shown that the evolution of the World Wide Web (WWW) and ICT could enable creative and innovative practices in schools.

The evolution of the WWW, driven by user-generated content, represents a new form of collaboration and communication creating new tools. Web 2.0 means a qualitative leap in Web technologies that has made the Internet more creative, participative and social (German, 2009). Today, the entire process of learning and teaching is present inside and outside the school campus, creating a large diversity of possibilities and learning concepts.

This new world allows for creative and collaborative participation in the process of learning. In this context, a number of authors have defined and introduced new terms such as Learning 2.0 or Internet-based instruction to relate to a learning-teaching process that takes places with the use of ICT and Web 2.0 tools (Downes, 2005; McKimm, 2003).

The valuable information offered at Web sites and social network can enhance student research, by developing new skills and new methodologies so that they become critical users of the Internet, thus playing an important role in education. As a result, learning should be reflective of the corresponding, underlying social environments (Ala-Mutka, 2011; Siemens, 2010). In this way, there is still important to take into account students’ and teachers’ perceptions in the use of ICT and Web 2.0 services in the development of personal skills and new methodologies according to the Bologna Process Directives, the constructivism and connectivism learning. Understand and evaluate the possible correlation and the benefits, between the uses of this technology when integrated into the classroom.

Ala-Mutka, K. (2011). Mapping Digital Competence: Towards a Conceptual Understanding. European Commission - Joint Research Centre - Institute for Prospective Technological Studies. Downes, S. (16 de October de 2005). e-Learning 2.0. Retrieved 20 de 10 de 2011, de eLearn Magazine : http://elearnmag.acm.org/featured.cfm?aid=1104968 German, I. B., & Marc, R. (Junho de 2009). Web 2.0 Learning Environment: Concept, Implementation, Evaluation. (elearningeuropa.info, Ed.) eLearning Papers. McKimm, J. J. (2003). ABC of learning and teaching in medicine: Web based learning. BMJ 326(7394), 870–873. Secretariat, B. B. (2010). About the Bologna Process. Retrieved Bologna Process: http://www.ond.vlaanderen.be/hogeronderwijs/bologna/about/ Siemens, G. (2006). Knowing Knowledge. Retrieved 10 de 04 de 2012, de ElearnSpaces: http://www.elearnspace.org/KnowingKnowledge_LowRes.pdf Siemens, G. (28 de October de 2010). Conociendo el conocimiento. Retrieved 15 de 08 de 2013, de Conociendo el conocimiento: http://www.nodosele.com/conociendoelconocimiento/