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Integration and evaluation of social networks in virtual learning environments: A case study

Abstract:

Higher education institutions objective is to establish a quality learning process in which faculty members and students may use the most suitable digital communication channel. In this context, this study’s intention is to integrate and evaluate the social networks Twitter and Facebook in the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). The study was conducted in a Technological Institute (ITSI) to determine the level of impact virtual communication has on faculty and students. In order to accomplish this goal, a Moodle platform was implemented with the following services: (i) user authentication (ii) cloud storage and file sharing and (iii) Twitter extension for message replication processes from VLE-ITSI to social networks. The proposal evaluation was performed using (i) usability and satisfaction metrics set up by the ISO/IEC 9126 standard and (ii) through a statistical analysis. The results from the standard application and the Wilcoxon statistical testing proved that social networks integration with the VLE-ITSI significantly contribute to faculty-student digital interaction during educational processes.