Smartphones are indeed becoming an essential tool in the daily lives and relations of their users in recent years, thanks to their uses and potential. However, excessive and inappropriate use can lead to dependence syndromes. The objectives of our study were to ascertain how these devices are being used and whether students are at risk of addiction. The study was carried out based on a survey with students-future teachers-from two Spanish universities. A sample of 453 students between the ages of 18 and 47 was analyzed, 76.8% female and 23.2% male. Smartphones were found to be the preferred Internet connection device for 80% of students, 38% of students connect to the Internet five hours or more a day (which can be considered an addiction) and smartphones are used primarily to connect with others (social media and instant messaging). The abusive use of smartphones affects men's behavior more than women and can lead them to neglect other activities, while smartphones affect women more in the emotional field, in matters related to boredom, impatience, and irritability.

Este artículo recoge una investigación enfocada a descubrir la percepción del alumnado universitario sobre determinadas ventajas atribuidas al modelo pedagógico de aula invertida. La recogida de datos se realizó a través de un cuestionario aplicado a dos grupos formados por alumnado matriculado en una misma asignatura. El análisis de datos partió del estudio de los estadísticos descriptivos. Para la comparativa entre los grupos se aplicó la prueba t de Student sobre sus puntuaciones medias. Los resultados apuntan a que el alumnado percibe ventajas en el plano didáctico asociadas al modelo pedagógico de aula invertida.

ResumenLos avances que están produciéndose en el ámbito académico con el surgimiento de herramientas de la Web 2.0 y el empleo masivo por parte de los estudiantes de las redes sociales para comunicarse entre ellos, está haciendo que el panorama educativo se encuentre ante unos desafíos a los que tiene que dar respuesta. La investigación que aquí se presenta tuvo como objetivo principal analizar el estado del empleo de la redes sociales por parte alumnado universitario, así como los posibles malos hábitos y usos problemáticos de las mismas. Se utilizó como instrumento de recogida de información un cuestionario "ad hoc" con un total de 23 ítems. Podemos concluir que el alumnado en general no posee malos hábitos en el empleo de las redes sociales, igualmente los resultados obtenidos ponen de manifiesto que su utilización no está plenamente integrada en las instituciones universitarias de educación superior, así como que los estudiantes no las utilizan como herramienta fundamental para las resolución de cuestiones académicas. Palabas clave: redes sociales (en línea), educación superior, internet, hábitos, web 2.0. AbstractThe developments taking place in the academic field with the emergence of Web 2.0 tools and the massive use by students of social networks to communicate with each other is making the educational landscape face some challenges which must be answered. The research presented was mainly intended to analyze the status of the use of social media by college students as well as possible bad habits and problematic uses therefore. An "ad hoc" questionnaire with a total of 23 items was used as a gathering information tool. We conclude that students generally do not have bad habits in the use of social networks, also the results show that their use is not fully integrated into the institutions and students do not use them as a fundamental tool for academic resolution issues.

The excessive use of ICTs is a growing problem among young people. The social isolation caused by COVID-19 can increase these inappropriate behaviour. This study aims at analysing the problematic use of ICTs in trainee teachers based on the gender variable before and after the COVID-19 lockdown based on the gender variable. A longitudinal panel design was carried out with pre-test and post-test measurements based on the gender variable. The sample consisted of 147 students from the Faculty of Education at the University of Malaga who were tested using a validated instrument: MULTICAGE-TIC. The results show that women used ICTs at a higher risk than men before lockdown, except for video games. During lockdown, men obtain higher scores than women in all the analysed ICTs (except for mobile phones). Both genders reach dependency level in all ICTs except for video games in women. The significant increase in all ICTs shows that the effects of the pandemic, such as restrictions on mobility and social interaction, have influenced such growth.

SummaryThis article presents a study of the participants of a Small Private Online Course (SPOC) entitled “The Didactic Programming: Elements and Process of Elaboration” at the University of Málaga (Spain). Since the concept was first introduced in 2013, SPOCs have been progressively implemented in higher education. They were conceived to succeed where Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) failed, namely in the high drop-out rate. Using a descriptive method, a questionnaire was designed to collect data on the individual characteristics of the University students participating in the SPOC, the degree of satisfaction they expressed at the end of the training process and their opinion regarding class-based courses. The completion rate was 78.7%, and 70.6% of them had previously undertaken online training activities. All the sections of the course (objectives, contents, evaluation, etc.) were favourably evaluated by more than 85% of the participants, as well as their preference for online training.