Search Results (2)

This study explored the incidence of metaphorical virtual classrooms and interactive learning objects in the interaction of students in online mode. The main objective was to analyze how these digital tools, driven by a set of strategies to promote their use, affect the interaction of students in the virtual classroom system and their derived effects. To this end, the latest version of Moodle was implemented in conjunction with gamification plugins and interactive tools in the higher education institution used as a case study. The methodology consisted of data collection through ordinal instruments applied to the teachers and student performance metrics gathered using a plugin developed to extract accurate metrics of each student’s usage and performance through direct queries to the Moodle database and its processing through a neural network. This facilitated the collection of standardized data on the actual metrics of each virtual classroom at the end of the teaching of each subject from both the previous LMS and the newly implemented one. This data was then analyzed using advanced statistical techniques, including Mahalanobis distances, confirmatory factor analysis, and the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. These methods provided a compelling comparison between the old and new systems, revealing significant improvements in the metrics and factors evaluated. The results showed a significant improvement in teachers’ perceptions of the usability of the virtual classroom system and an increase in students’ academic performance, interaction, progress, and time spent learning in virtual contexts. These results provide solid empirical evidence of the added value of these educational tools as effective strategies for improving student interaction, performance, and motivation in online education. Full article

Music Education is a part of the Primary School curriculum in Spain. Students get only 45 min per week organized by group lessons. Thus, it is complicated for teachers to give individualized attention. Additionally, learning to play an instrument is difficult with the current method. In this paper, we propose a methodology and the development of a digital tool as a complement to learn flute at home, in a persuasive and guided manner, using the virtual teacher metaphor. Students can listen to the selected repertoire, recording their performances and receiving advices from their devices (smartphone or tablet). Finally, the teacher will receive feedback for the evolution of each student in order to offer individual advice in the classroom. Full article