Abstract:

With the arrival of computers and later the Internet, the information society has become faster and more dynamic, developing network communication and amplifying the relationship and interaction between people. These, as a society, have always needed to communicate and relate to one another, so social networks have always existed. Nowadays, students participate daily and more assiduously in social networks, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, than through traditional or official platforms supporting the teaching and learning processes.

Facebook is therefore an important place for teaching, because it is a place that attracts students and can be transformed into a learning environment. The platform makes learning a social activity, which increases contentment in sharing information, becoming a collaborative learning environment.

In order to check teachers' opinions about the advantages and disadvantages of creating a Facebook page to share resources and experiences, as well as to understand with whom teachers would be willing to share information and tasks performed in the classroom, a case study was implemented. This study was carried out in two moments, first with the participation of nine pre-service teachers and then with the participation of 249 teachers from different teaching cycles. The used methodology was qualitative based in questionnaire surveys.
Firstly, we found that 63.5% and 59.4% of participants agreed that they would consult or participate, respectively, on such a page.

However, only 28.9% considered whether to build or manage a Facebook page. 50% of the respondents mentioned that the advantages of using a page in this social network in teaching are sharing of didactic material for classes, clarifying any doubts, as well as the ease of knowing various educational experiences.

Concerning disadvantages, 36.9% of the participants considered that this social network was open to all, and 48.2% said they could attract unwanted people.

In general, it was concluded that the sharing of experiences and resources among teachers, especially in the case of trainees, as well as the critical reflection of educational practices, contribute to the implementation of more effective educational practices and, in turn, increase the Educational success of students.

Keywords:

Social networks, Facebook, teaching and learning.