FLO Tech Tool Tip: H5P

Do you find it challenging to create engaging online activities to suit learning outcomes from existing static or recorded video content? The BCcampus FLO Tech Tool Tip for March is brought to you by Gena Hamilton, who shares how you can enhance your video resources with interactive learning experiences using H5P.

Post by Gena Hamilton, career education coordinator at the University of the Fraser Valley

H5P is an open-source interactive content creator that allows you to produce, share, and reuse HTML5 content for online learning experiences. It offers a wide variety of over 40 interactive content types, including presentations, branching scenarios, and a selection of quizzes. See H5P’s (2022a) Examples and Downloads page for a full list of the available content types. Completed content pieces are called H5P objects and are editable retroactively.

The interactive video content type allows you to add several kinds of interactivity to existing videos, such as pop-up text, multiple-choice questions, and drag-and-drop activities. You can make an MP4 video file with another platform and upload it to H5P interactive video, or you can embed an existing video (e.g., YouTube). Interactive video customization includes bookmarks and behavioural settings.

Potential Uses

H5P content types have many potential applications to promote learning in educational settings, such as blended learning, flipped classrooms, ebooks, training programs, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), and LibGuides. H5P can be used to:

Deliver informal assessment.
Create low-stakes learning activities.
Provide formative and immediate feedback to highlight attainment or address errors.
Chunk complex content to decrease student cognitive load.
Scaffold learning objectives.
Change static content into interactive content.
Invite students to create content (Sinnayah et al., 2021).

On the Kwantlen Polytechnic University (2022) Infographic Selection Tool, interactive video supports conceptual learning, problem solving, and formative assessment. Wehling et al. (2021) used H5P to improve content of recorded lecture videos by adding interactive links and annotations to clarify or complete information. Interactive quizzes helped them achieve assessment of educational objectives.

Usability

H5P can be used through direct link, learning tools interoperability, or plug-ins. See H5P (2022b) integrations for a current list of learning tool interoperability and plug-ins. H5P is mobile-friendly and available in more than 15 languages. It does not require technical or coding expertise or collection of student data.

According to Sinnayah et al. (2021), interactive video requires a moderate learning curve. Two resources that help are H5P’s online detailed tutorials and the University of Queensland’s (2022) recommended settings and tips for H5P activity types.

Interactive video is customizable, with optional settings for learners to check, retry their responses, or show solutions for interactive quizzes within videos. You can also design it to implement adaptive behaviour; for example, if a student answers a question correctly, they are skipped ahead in the video.

Interactive video is not a tool for collecting assessment data from quizzes, recording videos, or importing PowerPoint slide presentations (Fischer et al. 2021).

Accessibility

H5P’s Content Types Accessibility page (2022c) reports most content types, including interactive video, are accessible and supported by web browsers. However, interactive video does not include automated captioning (Fischer et al. 2021).

Intellectual Property, Metadata, and Sharing

You own the content you create with H5P. You can add metadata, including citing other authors when you use or repurpose an H5P object and license your H5P object. License options include traditional copyright, Creative Commons licenses, or public domain dedication.

Open Educational Resource (OER) Collections

eCampusOntario’s catalogue of H5P content is a collaborative central catalogue of over 600 H5P OER objects across 15 subject areas. In addition H5P (2022d) is developing an OER Hub where users can search for, share, and repurpose H5P objects globally.

Video Tutorial of Interactive Video

If this is your first time learning about H5P, watch this brief video on the interactive video content type to help you get started!

Note: Any tools recommended in this series should first be reviewed by your institution to ensure student privacy and protection.

H5P provides educators with a variety of engaging options for learners to complement various curriculum needs. If you are ready to explore this interactive content creator further, visit H5P’s (2022e) Getting Started page.

Additional Resource

See H5P’s (2022f) interactive video tutorial for more detailed guide to uploading or embedding an existing video and adding interactions and a summary task.

Learn about BCcampus funded H5P initiatives:

More Tech Tool Tips:

References

eCampusOntario H5P Studio. (n.d.). Catalogue of H5P content. https://h5pstudio.ecampusontario.ca/

Fischer, M., Rohweder, M., and& Dewan, P. (2021). H5P (product review). Journal of the Canadian Health Libraries Association/Journal De l’Association Des bibliothèques De La Santé Du Canada, 42(3). https://doi.org/10.29173/jchla29589

H5P. (2022a). Examples and downloads. https://h5p.org/content-types-and-applications

H5P. (2022b). Integrations. https://h5p.org/integrations

H5P. (2022c). Content type accessibility. https://h5p.org/documentation/installation/content-type-accessibility

H5P. (2022d). The H5P OER hub. https://h5p.org/oer-hub-coming

H5P. (2022e). Getting started. https://h5p.org/getting-started

H5P. (2022f). Interactive video tutorial. https://h5p.org/tutorial-interactive-video

Kwantlen Polytechnic University. (2022). Infographic selection tool. Teaching and Learning Commons. https://www.kpu.ca/teaching-and-learning/technology/h5p

Sinnayah, P., Salcedo, A., & Rekhari, S. (2021). Reimagining physiology education with interactive content developed in H5P. Advances in Physiology Education, 45, 71-76. https://doi.org/10.1152/advan.00021.2020

The University of Queensland. (2022). Recommended settings and tips for H5P activity types. https://elearning.uq.edu.au/guides/h5p-interactive-learning-objects/recommended-settings-and-tips-h5p-activity-types

Wehling, J. Volkenstein, S., Dazert, S., Wrobel, C., van Ackeren, K., Johannsen, K., & Dombrowki, T. (2021). Fast-track flipping: flipped classroom framework development with open-source H5P interactive tools. BMC Medical Education, 21(1), 351-361. doi: 10.1186/s12909-021-02784-8

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