In this communication we consider the educational potential social networks from a literature review, which involved the analysis of studies in which the social network Orkut has been successfully integrated in the curricular cast of higher and non-higher education. We begin by conceptualize the concept of virtual social network, for at the following stage, present the social network Orkut, highlighting the basic principles that governed its creation as well as the technical features that individualize and give it potential for use in support classroom learning and/or at distance. In a second phase we present a review of previous studies with Orkut social network in order to inventory any scenarios of curriculum integration of these new Web tools in a process of teaching and learning that able to provide a constructivist learning, in which the student becomes an active agent and responsible for its own learning using for this an arsenal of tools that contribute not only to the research but also provide conditions under which knowledge is constructed, shared and socialized in the global world.