Abstract:

The propagation of the Covid-19 virus has forced the suspension of academic activity in all educational institutions in Spain at all levels: from nursery school to university. The University of Almeria has not been exempted from this national and global problem. Although the University of Almeria has its own virtual teaching tools, the Blackboard, where teachers can have many resources for virtual education, this paper evaluates the Telegram instant messenger tool as a support resource for e-learning. Specifically, the tool for creating a group (New Group), which allows the teacher's phone number to be kept hidden and can be used from both a computer and a smartphone. This experience is assessed in two subjects at the University of Almeria during the second period of the 2019-2020 academic year. The first one is the Degree in Agricultural Engineering with 51 students who have participated in it. And the second subject of the Degree in Industrial Engineering with 122 students participating in it. The aims of this communication are twofold. On the one hand, to assess the degree of student participation, and the possibilities presented by this resource, such as the use of survey questions. And secondly to assess the degree of satisfaction of the participating students in the use of this alternative resource. For the moment, one can foresee that the great advantage of the chat is the interaction between the teacher and the student, but also the interaction between them. The fact that the phones are easily available allows students to stay connected to the subject, even if they are on their way somewhere. This allows us to follow the subject without being in a specific place and take advantage of the so-called dead or waiting times. This experience opens new perspectives to mobile learning, as it is an information and communication technology (ICT), easy to transport and increasingly accessible. They can therefore contribute to improving education as outlined in one of the 17 goals for transforming our world on the Sustainable Development agenda.

Keywords:

Mobile teaching, smartphone, Electronic learning, Mobile communication, Best practices, Technology management, User interfaces, mobile learning environments.