Igniting student engagement: H5P's transformative potential in higher education

Student engagement, key to success in online education, demands effective strategies to foster it, particularly in hybrid environments. This study evaluated the impact of interactive activities with H5P on the engagement of 87 undergraduate students from two Ecuadorian universities, through a quasi-experimental pre-test-posttest design with control and experimental groups. Data collection was carried out through a 12-item questionnaire that covered the cognitive, affective, and behavioral dimensions of commitment and open-ended questions. The results suggest that the H5P intervention significantly improved conceptual understanding, application of knowledge, deepening learning, and enjoyment of activities, although no significant effects were observed on perceived relevance or collaboration. These findings indicate that the effectiveness of H5P is limited if it is not integrated into a broader strategic instructional design. It is recommended to complement the tool with pedagogical strategies that actively promote collaboration, connecting content to student interests, and adapting to the context, including approaches such as teamwork, content specialization, discussions based on interactive material, and co-creation. Future research should employ randomized experimental designs, larger and more diverse samples, and multidimensional measures of engagement, to optimize the use of technological tools in the effective and sustainable promotion of student engagement in diverse educational contexts.