This paper examines how new technologies can influence university students learning process for the area of accounting and specifically for social accounting. Students should be able to know that companies’ reports must provide not only financial but also social information. Analysts are taking into consideration social issues when valuing companies and corporate governance, human rights or environmental behaviours have become key factors for investment decisions.

In Spain, since 2002, companies have to include in their annual reports information about their environmental impacts. Before that date only some companies used to provide environmental information following some European recommendations such as the Econ Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) or the ISO (International Organization for Standarization). In order to analyse the social behaviour of Spanish companies, students will be provided with annual reports for those companies, for the period 2000-2005, in order to detect if companies have adopted the new legislation, how they have implemented it and if, in their opinion, companies are providing enough information. The question would be if mere compliance with the law is ethical in itself. Are firms which do not obey the law strictly less ethical than others, despite being more socially aware? All the companies included are from the chemical sector, as, according to the Spanish experience, its environmental impact can be a severe issue.

With the introduction of European Credits Transfer System (ECTS), learning processes move towards different scenarios where the teacher becomes a facilitator of the process. New communication and collaboration education technologies may help this new approach. We propose the design of a webquest for Business Economics Students, specifically University accounting students, which will help them to learn more about financial statements analysis, social responsibilities and ethical behaviours. This tool should provide students with the skills to participate in the “knowledge society” and allow them to answer to the previous questions. A WebQuest is an inquiry oriented activity where most or all of the information used by participants is found on the internet. The most important fact of the webquest is that students not only look for information on the websites and put it together in a presentation or a report. In a WebQuest, students have all the information available and they are required to answer questions or solve problems that will make them go further on their knowledge on the subject. Higher learning process is expected from the webquest use. This methodology will allow students to acquire the following generic competences included in the Tuning (2005) project: a) skills for analysis and summarising, b) capacities for putting knowledge into practice, c) general knowledge on the subject, d) dealing with information and collaboration. Research has shown that by integrating WebQuests into the classroom, student-involvement, student-interest, and student understanding of content has increased (Mc Gregor et al, 2004).

All the information derived from the WebQuest project will be included in a Wiki as a real-time editable website. Information will be shared and can be edited by participants. Collaboration will be enhanced as an unquestionable way of advance in research and learning.