Social Networks in University Classrooms

Abstract

The use of social networks is an increasingly common practice in university education. This study describes an experiment carried out with a group of pre-service teachers from a Spanish University in which Facebook was employed as a resource to develop the teaching and learning process. Specifically, it was applied as a strategy designed to improve relations among the students in the classroom. In-depth interviews were held with twenty students and their teacher to analyse the influence of this emerging technology on knowledge building and the establishing of closer links among students and between students and teachers. The results acknowledge the value of this resource, both for the teacher and the students themselves, in the following areas: classroom climate, teaching-learning process, virtual tutoring, foreign language practice and digital competence acquisition. In the final section of the article, we put forward questions and issues for future research.