Virtual Communities of Learning: New Challenges in Teaching Learning Process in Higher Education

摘要

Objectives: Advantages of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in the educational process objectify us to explore the advances of Learning Management Systems (LMS), and preferences of Social Network Sites (SNS), as effective and attractive platforms in university education. Method/Analysis: Pursuing the objective, a set of articles related to the topic are analyzed qualitatively, according to the characteristics of the LMS tools in the improvement of the interaction in the educational process, as well as the characteristics of the SNS for virtual learning communities, and the dimensions that the interaction of these two tools must acquire, for an effective teaching-learning process. Findings: The work shows the trends of use of SNS, in particular Facebook, in informal learning that can be used efficiently in formal learning by attaching to LES platforms, in particular Moodle, with pedagogical, motivational and construction rules Social. Diverse discussions in the literature show that the LMS are not fulfilling the objectives proposed because they lack a social presence, an effective motivation to use, and because they tend to be tendencies to be technical repositories. Applications/Improvements: As a consequence, we suggest models of educational focus based on the synergies of LMS tools and social networks with technological, pedagogical, cognitive and social approaches for face-to-face and virtual education.