Open and flexible education: use of Facebook as a virtual learning environment

This paper discusses the possibilities of using the social network Facebook as an Open Educational Resource, because it has a possibility of resources similar to those of a Virtual Learning Environment. The use of Facebook in this learning perspective presupposes flexibility, here treated as an Open Educational Practice, reaffirming the effectiveness of Open Education to support, evaluation and consolidation of a more dynamic learning. It was developed a practice in a subject taught at an undergraduate course of the Federal University of Sergipe, exploring the possibilities of this social network resources, collecting data from the daily observation of the environment, from the interactions among students, verifying a high frequency and accession of the students to the proposal. The research will advance in the next phase, conducting surveys and interviewing the students, in order to get their perspectives on the practice.