Sistema Regional de Información
en línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina,
el Caribe, España y Portugal

The way we communicate is constantly evolving. Information and communication technologies (ICT) and social networks intervene directly in the culture of a country. In Mexico, the number of users have increased to over 79 million. However, inequality in access to ICTs hinders the purpose of speeding up the society-social network relationship that allows interactive and dynamic learning in education, in addition to personal gratifications. This research has attempted to identify the effect of ICT and social networks on university students, through access, use, and social and academic gratification. This is a mixed study (qualitative / quantitative), with a prospective and cross-sectional quantitative approach. Almost 500 students from the Autonomous Universities of Baja California and Benito Juárez of Oaxaca were included. Descriptive statistics and the multiple correspondence analysis test were obtained as an inferential method for the analysis of the information. After an analysis of the results, a reflection is made about how ICT and the use of social networks produce changes in university behavior and in interpersonal affectation which is significantly associated with the university they attend.

The rapid growth of ICT has brought many benefits, but certainly also many damages, one of them being cyberbullying, which is taking more and more strength in our society. The main interest in this research was to know the perception and experience of a group of young university students about cyberbullying in their student stage at the secondary education context. To carry out this research, we had the participation of 864 students of six universities in the northeast of Spain. A quantitative methodology of non-experimental type character survey has been used and, in particular, sampling non-probability has been used, accidental or incidental, conditioned by the availability of subjects to participate in this research. Most of the students in our study indicated not having suffered ciberbullying or exercising it in his student stage both in state and private schools. Written aggression (insults / offenses or threats) was the most common type of violent action among the aggressors, and the dissemination of personal information or rumors. The majority of young people, who suffered harassment in the school in our study, acknowledged that they did not feel motivated to attend sessions at the time, nor to develop their studies in an adequate way, isolating themselves socially.

The uses of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in general, and the Internet specifically, are present on a daily basis in many people’s lives. It is a fact that we are a part of a digital society, and therefore new generations belong to the so-called “digital natives” group. In this context, new problems have emerged, related to the misuse or abuse of certain ICT tools, such as social networks. The main purpose of this study was to carry out an analysis of the uses of social networks by students from the Early Childhood Education Degree and the Primary Education Degree at the University of Cordoba (Spain). Data collection was performed using an adapted version of the Internet Addiction Test. The results obtained showed that students did not perceive their behavior as adverse regarding the use of the Internet and social networks. Also, we have to highlight that the women manifested more problematic uses of social networks than the men. In conclusion, we can state that teachers in training do not evidence a harmful use of social networks. Nevertheless, we consider that this conclusion should be taken cautiously and further research is needed about this aspect of ICT.

The article takes as a starting point the high rates of dropouts that characterize distance education, in contrast with the low percentages of students who can conclude their degree courses on time. The objective of this article is to analyze the profiles of a group of students of the first year in distance education whose studies could follow the fixed time of their career. A non-experimental and descriptive study was carried out in which  first-year students of distance degree courses took part. This group of students fulfilled the condition of having regularized all the subjects included in the curriculum. For data collection, a self-report questionnaire was administered that collects information on personal and contextual variables with possible impact on academic trajectories. The results show that the personal variables which have a connection with achievement include the educational level of parents, the learning goals, and the internal and modifiable causal attributions. Likewise, contextual variables which are considered as promoters of achievement are mainly related to the availability of the professor and the speed to answer queries and offer feedback to the activities proposed. Lines of action are proposed that, based on the results of the study, are expected to contribute to the promotion of student achievement in distance education.

Although in today's society Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) have become one of the main tools for continuous learning, one of their main problems is the high dropout rates. The mapping of user profiles and the identification of the intrinsic characteristics of each profile allows for the adaptation of the design of the MOOC to match the patterns of use by students, with the aim of increasing the completion rates of the courses. The user profiles that have been identified to date are based on the level of engagement of MOOC participants and their preference for one type of activities. The objective of this study is to define a series of MOOC participant profiles based on the temporary use of the course, considering the number of sessions and the scheduling performed by the participants, with the objective of contrasting the features of each type of student. With this objective, the information contained in the log files generated during the development of the third edition of the MOOC “Inglés Profesional / Professional English” has been used. Based on the results obtained, it can be concluded that the inclusion into any of the different profiles which successfully complete the MOOC does not imply a better performance in the course or a higher grade.

Social networks are an attractive environment for young people nowadays. Preadolescent children access to this reality without adult supervision since early ages. They learn by trial and error. The objective of this study is to know the habits and use that younger students make on social networks. With this purpose, a quantitative research and quasi-experimental design has been carried out. A group of preadolescent students from several centers in the Basque Autonomous Community have participated. The results indicate that as much boys as girls use social networks, although some networks are more successful than others among students of different genders. It is also observed that the participants show contradictions between self-perception of the safe use in the networks and the risk behaviors that they carry out in the networks. Finally, it is noted that students do not receive training or guidance on the proper and safe use of networks. The need to create pedagogical practices aimed at guiding students in the safe and risk-free use of social networks is concluded. 

Collaborative learning, as a pedagogical technique, is often used in Higher Education bearing in mind that how to work in a team is a necessary competence for most professions, especially for those that are developed in the educational environment, given their work requires coordination with other people and their educational action aims at other individuals in whom they must promote prosocial behaviors. In the development of group activities, which involves the information exchange, the adoption of responsibilities, dialogue and decision making, it is common for students use the technology, specifically WhatsApp as a communication tool. The target of the research resided in the analysis and assessment of the limitations of this application for the regulation of group academic activities. A descriptive correlational approach was adopted, obtaining information by means of a questionnaire ad hoc that was implemented to 1709 students of the Degrees in Early Childhood Education, Primary Education, Primary Education of bilingual itinerary and Social Education of the University of Córdoba. The study revealed that, despite the contributions of this tool, its use is not exempt from limitations that hinder relation between the members of the group and the communication process itself, especially by the discomfort of group chats for long or complex conversations and the conflicts that can be generated on having expressed confused messages.

There have never been so many disruptive innovations in such a short period of time as now in the digital society. We move in a fluid, flexible and voluble world, which Bauman contrasts with the solid, stable, repetitive and full of certainties world to which we are accustomed. On this account, it is necessary to invest in human capital in order for workers to acquire the new skills that the labor market will demand. Disruptions, both the ones already here and the ones still to come, affect us all, our way of life and also our way of working. It is for these complex, ambiguous, uncertain and vulnerable situations and circumstances that it is necessary to change the ways of educating and integrating new technological tools in educational processes, in order to undertake significant methodological and organizational changes in our educational system. Furthermore, our children, teenagers, and young people are radically different from adults. There are related concepts such as digital native, digital resident and generations X, Y and Z referred to those students who populate the system. Thus, it would be incomprehensible that in a digital society with students of these generations, we do not produce digital educational models and digital learning. If current education is not integrated in the digital reality that surrounds us, other actors will take their place.

Interest is growing in analyzing how virtual environments affect the learning process. In particular, researchers focus on analyzing blended learning designs. These environments combine MOOC with face-to-face teaching. This article analyzes a blended learning experience in a Spanish higher education institution. Its aim is to present a case study and to discuss the strategic approach to integrate a MOOC in face-to-face undergraduate studies. In the analyzed case, on-campus students are taught using a combination of face-to-face classroom with online learning. The objective is to improve their academic performance and to reduce the drop-out rate among first-year students. The evaluation strategy of this experience focuses on conducting surveys and focus groups to interpret the results and the opinion of the different stakeholders, that is, the university, the students and the academic staff. The analysis shows that blended learning models improve the quality of students’ education, strengthen students’ academic performance, and encourage academic staff to constantly innovate in their didactic process.

We present an analysis of five dramatic renditions of the life of Saint Barbara, the fourthcentury Christian martyr. The plays, composed within 16th and 17th centuries, cover the evolution of Castilian hagiographical theatre, from its origin to its peak. By analyzing several representative scenes, we assess how different theatrical conceptions were at the service of hagiography, and how the legend of Saint Barbara was brought up to date in order to show different ways of representing sainthood. We show thus that two confluent impulses converged in the consolidation of hagiographical theatre: the development of scenic practices and the pragmatic aims of hagiography.