Abstract:

The increase of digital learning platforms in recent years is having a great impact on learning processes, revolutionizing the educational world. Its objective is to facilitate pedagogical communication among participants of an educational process combining resources, interactivity, support as in in LMS platforms (Learning Management System). LMS is a term that refers to computer systems or web software to manage learning processes. Its numerous tools allow for the distribution of materials, storage of tests and collaboration between students and teachers. Therefore, there is an improvement in the educational experience and an optimal monitoring of the teaching-learning process of students. One of these systems is Schoology, a learning platform that also works as a social network between teachers and students with tools to share information, evaluate content and participate in discussion forums. The objective of the present study is to compare the content learning through the Schoology platform and a traditional learning style. The sample of the study is composed of 49 students (34 male, 11 female) of the second year of Physical Activity and Sports Sciences Degree at University of Alicante, Spain. During for four weeks, subjects were divided into two groups: control and experimental. The control group received the acquisition of knowledge through traditional master classes. In parallel, the experimental group received the acquisition of knowledge through the Schoology platform, combining debate forums, audiovisual material and complementary information. To evaluate the acquisition of contents, a pretest was performed before the implication and a posttest was performed at the end of the four weeks. The statistical analysis software SPSS v.22 was used to analyze the results. Student's t test was applied to compare the improvement difference between the control group and the experimental group. Statistically significant differences (p<0.001) were found in the difference between the acquisition of contents in the experimental group (Schoology) and the control group (Traditional). The group that received lessons with traditional methodology had an increase of 2.64 ± 1.50 points (mean ± SD). However, the group that carried out the learning with the Schoology platform improved 5.38 ± 1.63 points. The present study shows that the innovative environment created by LMS optimizes the teaching-learning process and increases the knowledge acquisition of the students.

Keywords:

Higher education, schoology, experience learning, methodology.