The arrival of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) has brought about intense methodological restructuring in the participating countries. These changes, along with the development of ICT, are reshaping the Higher Education system. The emergence of advanced technological tools like the Moodle platform has altered the teaching-learning process at every educational cycle. This paper springs from the work undertaken as part of the ongoing project for Educational Excellence in collaboration with three Andalusia universities: Seville, Cadiz and Huelva. The study was entitled Tele-education Platforms for Virtual Instruction. Since work at the University of Huelva has taken into consideration the students at some point, and the University of Córdoba lacks research on this area, we decided to examine the role of the student at the University of Cordoba as side-work to the original project. To this purpose, we designed an instrument to determine the students’ rate of use, level of satisfaction and level of knowledge of the Moodle platform. Thus, with this paper we would like to emphasize the relevance of students as key elements in the education system, as recipients of the teaching process.

Young people are increasingly engaging in contacts via social media. Although this activity is primarily a form of entertainment, students also treat social media as a learning-supporting tool. The aim of the studies presented in this paper was to determine whether using Facebook as an e-learning platform brings satisfying academic performance. Additionally, the application of the gamification feature was examined. Two quasi-experiments were conducted in which some of the subjects took part in traditional classes, while others participated in asynchronous classes conducted on social media. The results of the first experiment demonstrated that a Facebook-run e-learning course contributed to higher grades, while the second experiment showed the opposite effect. Gamification had a neutral or negative impact on the grades. The results are discussed in the context of differences between the designs of the two Facebook courses. The paper makes suggestions for future SNS-based or SNS-assisted classes. It is proposed to use informational feedback instead of a controlling one. Additionally, the use of team work is encouraged. The discussion includes a reflection on students’ autonomy.