Educational Technology in Flipped Course Design

The use of technology to engage students and to provide them with tools to study autonomously is increasingly frequent in higher education. This paper outlines an experimental study that analyzes the effectiveness of flipped classroom design, and argues how the use of technological, educational resources such as videos of educators teaching, interactive materials, simulators, virtual labs and game-based learning have facilitated the use of class time for active learning and discussion. The study was conducted in several academic years with groups studying Fundamentals of Computer Technology, a core subject in the first year of the Computer Engineering and Information Systems degree courses. We analyzed data collected from online activities on a learning platform created from scratch, from classroom activities and from attitudinal and satisfaction surveys. We compared the evolution of outcomes between the 2009-2010 and 2015-2016 academic years. The methodology followed a quantitative design with control and experimental groups, and descriptive statistical techniques were used. The results obtained show that learning achievement and performance in terms of qualifications were higher in the experimental groups, where the flipped classroom approach using technological resources was adopted, than in the control groups, where the traditional lecture approach was used. A significant positive effect on participation, engagement and student satisfaction was also identified.