Didactic Applications of Social Networks – Essays in the 1st cycle in Geography at the University of Porto (UP)

Abstract

The trivialization of the access to and use of new information and communication technology requires changes in the teaching-learning strategies in all education cycles, although running the risk of hindering the purposes of education. This is the starting idea of the didactic essay presented herein, which is in line with the learning theory of Connectivism, aiming to illustrate how social networks can be used as a means of communication, development of teaching resources and evaluation, providing enhanced motivation and learning The lab of this work focuses on the space of university education, and, in particular, the Curricular Unit of “Land, Transport and Mobility”, within the 1 st cycle in Geography of the Faculty of Arts, University of Porto. The methodological design is based, in a first step, on the literature review and the collection of data on the students’ habits regarding the use of social networks. After recognizing the most popular social hub – Facebook – this platform was used, through the creation of a secret group, as a privileged means of communication between students and teacher, sharing ideas, didactic resources and providing the assessment of this strategy. Upon comparison with the “face-to-face” teaching methodologies, it was concluded that the use of this network was an important site to get closer to the daily lives of students, namely through the reinforcement of the significant elements of contents, motivation, participation, and school achievement.