Abstract:

SUMMARY: It describes the genesis, articulation and consolidation from 2007 of a social network of b-learning in the University of Alicante (Spain), with the institutional backing of the Office of the Vice President for Education Technology & Innovation, and the momentum and advice of Professor A. Fidalgo (UNESCO Chair for University Management and Policy). The social network currently has more than 25 teachers, working with different work linkages with the university, implementing or intend to apply the teaching methodology b-learning during the course 2007-8 and following in a variety of courses and degrees. To do so, several resource centres, from blogs, wikis, CourseGenie, etc., or digital platforms (Campus Virtual of the University of Alicante, Moodle, etc) are used.

INTRODUCTION:
A social network is a direct consequence of the Web 2.0 approach , where members communicate and exchange resources by a a digital platform for communication, but always from a point of view of cooperative (putting together) and team (distribution of tasks) work. Therefore, any social network builds a clear strategy of cooperative and team work among their members, some tools, mainly a software package for development (blogs, wikis and networks), a centre / communication forum for sharing resources , provided both individually and as that generated in the group, and above all implement a context where resources can be applied. In the case of a social network in educational innovation, the context is focused on teaching practice at any level: pre-college, university, etc..

PURPOSE:
The social network of UA b-learning aims to bring together teachers, administration staff, and why not also UA students, worried and interested by educational innovation, particularly in the blended-learning, i.e. the combined strengths of the master class (as a paradigm example of teaching) and ICTs to promote the active participation (individual, collective and cooperative) of the students and teachers in virtual activities that strengthen paradigm based on learning and serving to improve the academic performance of our students. This aspect is one key to achieving the objectives set by the guidelines of the European Higher Education Area, and in particular that the UA wants to boost strategic and tactical level for the next few years in order to achieve a high level of teaching quality differential over other competing universities and institutions. Therefore, this network of educational innovation will try to help as much as possible so that in the future and globally the University of Alicante involves a banner of quality and excellent practice in b-learning teaching.

METHODOLOGY:
At present, and from the last course, through the Virtual Campus of the University of Alicante, in its tool "Working Group", it provides a resource centre trying to cover such activities as:
- Implementation experiences of blog and wikis for subjects;
- External and internal dissemination of the social network;
- CourseGenie use in teaching;
- Moodle use in teaching;
- Assessment strategies;
- Cooperative work management;
- Directed-individually work management;
- Teaching guides applying b-learning methodology;
- etc

Keywords:

blended learning, internet based technologies (blogs, wikis, etc), education practice trends and issues.