Abstract:

Educators are using technology to engage students in the learning process, and several studies have shown the increased interest to learn when digital devices are used in the learning process. This paper presents a research on the impact on academic achievement and motivation of digital learning through the use of an open education platform for higher education students.

The main research questions are: Rq1: What are the impacts of open education platforms in the academic achievement of the students? Rq2: What are the impacts of open education platforms in the student's motivation for the digital learning process?.

The methodological approach is an experimental design which specifies an experimental group and a control group. The independent variable was administered to the experimental group and not to the control group, and both groups were measured on the same dependent variable. The sample composed of undergraduate students from management courses, in a total of 104 students, 80 were included in the study: 49 students in the control group and 31 in the experimental group.

The materials were multiple choice digital assessments applied to the experimental groups and the same multiple choice assessments in paper form for the control group.

The motivation measure was a 5-point Likert Scale questionnaire used as a pre and post assessment. This questionnaire assessed students' motivation to learn using digital devices before any intervention and again after the intervention. The constructs designed for the motivation survey are perceptions of student learning, interest in digital education, and academic motivation. The questionnaire contained twenty items with five choices: strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree and strongly disagree and included also positively and negatively worded items to ensure reliability.

The control group answered the same multiple choice questions as the experimental group, but without using digital devices. The experimental groups used digital devices to access an open online learning platform and then answered the same multiple choice questions electronically by selecting the answer that was correct. Responses were later discussed as a whole class.

The statistical analyses were based on ANCOVA to measure students achievement and motivation for learning. For the analysis, the dependent variable was either the post-survey or post-achievement measure, and the covariate was either the pre-survey or pre-achievement measure, and the condition was the group status.

The findings reveal that the students who used mobile devices showed a significant increase in their perception of learning. This finding suggests that the students of the experimental group felt a positive change in their learning. Regarding academic achievement, experimental groups did not have significant growth as compared to the control groups, but their perception of learning was much higher. Finally, students in the experimental groups felt like they had an increased academic motivation in learning when using digital open education platforms.

Based on the results it is possible to state that are benefits for the learning process and classroom lessons will improve the academic outcomes if delivered more frequently using open education platforms.

Keywords:

Digital learning, higher education, open education platforms, students, academic achievement, students motivation.