Abstract:

This paper presents the study conducted with a group of Secondary School teachers on the utilization of applications based on Web 2.0 for their teaching activities. It has been carried out in Castilla-La Mancha region (Spain), specifically, in Albacete province. The selection process of Secondary Schools was based on location and on the results obtained by students in the proofs of access to University. The study has been focused on the following eight applications: blogs (only read), blogs (write/comment), wikis, podcasting, Social Networks, multimedia sharing, Digital Whiteboards and Educational Platforms.

This study consists of three parts; initially, it is necessary to define a survey form containing all information relevant and being easy to complete. Next, information is picked up using this survey form and, finally, a deep and neat study of the data collected has been carried out. By means of the survey, conclusion about three different aspects can be extracted, namely, which applications are used by the teachers, which is the opinion of the teachers about the utility of these applications and whether they are fit to achieve specific objectives in Education. The most important conclusion drawn from this study is that virtual educational platforms are being used in an almost general way (virtual websites and digital whiteboard), being the rest of the options far away of them in use. Perhaps, it is still needed to persuade a higher number of teachers of the advantages of using applications based on Web 2.0 or, maybe, the problem to solve is the lack of support and training to encourage them to use this kind of applications.

Keywords:

Web 2.0, education.