Abstract:

For several years, some Spanish universities have been taught "zero classes" or levelling courses just at the beginning of the academic year. The main objective of these courses is to reinforce concepts in the topics related to the contents of the first year of degrees.
The construction of a European Higher Education Area (EHEA) has brought about a deep change in the university education system. The teaching has shifted from teacher-centered to student-centered. The new professional profiles that society demands of university graduates is defined in terms of tasks and functions for the exercise, which requires the acquisition of certain generic and specific knowledge. This training based on skills requires appropriate teaching methodologies that promote active and participative learning. The monitoring, tutoring and assessment of the student should be continuous to ensure the respect of the objectives of the training program. New methodologies to encourage interaction between teacher and student should be implemented. Therefore it is critical to have versatile technological tools that allow broad monitoring of the learning process and a continuous assessment of student. From this point of view e-learning platforms, which play a critical role in the new system, are finding its way into the field of university teaching. One of the most widely used platform in university education is “Moodle”.
"Moodle" is an acronym for Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment used in more than 100 countries and translated into more than 50 languages. It is an interactive virtual platform, adapted to training of the students as a complement or support to the task of teaching in many schools worldwide. Teachers can edit the contents and structure of the course any time, as well as manage a system of notices, calendar and calls. The exercises and activities can be classified for each student, since they use their own username and password for uploading the workout in the proper format. Several teachers can work on the same course (content) and can even discuss at distance using specific forums for teachers.
Even if most universities use Moodle as a complement to the classes, it can be also useful for distance learning. Students appreciate the advantages of using this tool as well. In fact, it introduces a new concept of dynamic communication between lecture/student or student/student apart from the face to face one. The reform of education, inherent to the European harmonization, which emphasises activities such as mentoring, cooperative work and self-learning, will further enhance its use.
To the best of authors’ knowledge zero courses are implemented in 15 Spanish universities and every year new universities join this initiative. This paper describes the strategies for teaching a “zero courses” at the University of Burgos using the Moodle e-learning platform.
It can be concluded that Moodle improves the implementation of zero classes, facilitating the student’s incorporation to the university. Furthermore, the familiarity with the use of this tool will be very useful for a better student’s adaptation to the new dynamics of teaching and learning inherent to the EHEA.

Authors would like to acknowledge funding via University of Burgos (Resolución 22/02/10 del Vicerectorado de Profesorado). M.A. Alonso-Lomillo is funded by a Ramón y Cajal fellowship from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation.

Keywords:

e-learning platform, Moodel, zero course.