Educational possibilities of social networks and group work in Engineering Programs

The change in classroom methodologies due to Covid-19 Pandemia come with the application of the Internet and 2.0 tools (mainly social networks) in a country that does not have an equal distribution of internet connection. Furthermore, Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola's competencies model approach based on the constructivism theory led us to research if students' training can be improved by this type of resources as they foster important aspects such as socialization, information searching and the achievement of a common goal, etc. This work aims to analyze the information and communication technology (ICT) university learning processes and student preferences for working either inside or outside the classroom of engineering students. Our objectives are focused on knowing: the students' feelings on social software and its influence on collaborative and group work; the social network tools they use and, if there are any differences in terms of collaborative work perceptions based on a specific students' location. The instrument for data gathering was a three-dimensional questionnaire. The main results are: students are interested in group work as a type of classroom methodology; students have little knowledge of technology tools (except for social networks). These results provide a reliable diagnostic instrument for the variables that comprise this tool.