Abstract:

In the last decade, the universities have evolved for suiting the demands raised by the new generation of students and the current changing society. Learning Management Systems (LMS) have been implemented in higher education but much of the effort has been focused on training the teaching staff on the use of such applications. Unfortunately, there is no an substantial improvement in the academic results since these tools, basically, merely deliver the necessary documentation for lectures in digital form rather than printed. However, teachers are not aware of the predilection of the students for printed documentation, who finally proceed to print such digital content.

Many studies try to assess the satisfaction of the students, which is certainly positive with regard to the online platform, but do not delve into the issue in detail. Some universities consider sufficient the implementation of a LMS that allow teachers interact with the students in an online basis. However, the use that teachers make of those platforms is overlooked.

An extensive survey was conducted among some students and teachers of the Engineering Faculty of Bilbao. This study reveals the tendency to share mainly lectures in text and presentation formats. At the same time, the skills of the teachers to develop more engaging educational material such as, 3D models, interactive documents, etc., are analysed. Finally the opinion of the samples of both populations is gathered in qualitative terms.

Keywords:

Educational technology, higher education, m-learning, 3D, learning management system.