Virtual campus environments: A comparison between interactive H5P and traditional online activities in master teaching

Abstract

Traditional face‐to‐face learning and teaching methodologies are currently being replaced or combined by virtual and digital campuses. In fact, a variety of online activities are available for virtual classrooms, becoming more interactive and creative teaching strategies. Among them, H5P is a free and open source platform that allows the creation of interactive content to be embedded in virtual campuses. This paper presents a comparison between traditional online and interactive H5P activities. The case study was carried out on the Wind Energy subject, within the MSc in Renewable Energies, assessing the impact on students and teachers through different indicators. The mean score of students who participated in the traditional online activity was 7.4/10, slightly lower than that of students who participated in the interactive H5P activity, which was 8.4/10. Actually, the statistical analysis showed that the proposed interactive H5P activity did not present a significant improvement on the average grade, in comparison to the traditional online activity. In terms of the students' perception, 75% found the interactive H5P activity easy to do, and 55% felt more motivated compared to traditional online activities. Moreover, teachers pointed out that the activity positively influenced students in terms of participation and motivation. These results confirm that the digital environment is here to stay, combined with other activities to fulfill all the skills and competences to be achieved.

H5P-Based Matching Game for Training Graphs of Internal Forces in Structural Analysis

“…This variety can help educators measure student understanding in a variety formats. The digital environment, combined with other activities, can address all the skills and competencies to be achieved [15]. Ortiz et al [16] reported successful results in blended-learning activities, highlighting the effectiveness of a blended evaluation that includes continuous online assessment and one or more face-to-face exams.…”

“…Studies have shown that they can enhance several of the advantages found in other blended-learning activities, such as positive impacts on student assessment results, increased learner satisfaction, higher motivation and improved student information retention [27][28][29]. According to recent research, students who participated in interactive H5P activities achieved higher scores than those who participated in traditional online activities [15].…”

“…The successful alignment of interactive H5P activities with learning outcomes allows self-paced and self-directed learning, inducing higher student engagement in self-directed study [30]. Moreover, participants find interactive H5P activities easier, and they increase their motivation [15].…”

SMART: Selection Model for Assessment Resources and Techniques

“…The activity category includes criteria related to the inclusion of innovative new technology activities (C 6 ), as can be the case with H5P activities [38], encouraging collaborative learning (C 7 ) with group activities in which students not only share knowledge, but also participate in the assessment process [39], and criterion C 8 is related to the integration of the activity within the platform where the course is developed (Moodle, in this case).…”