We have known now for an immense amount of time (decades I would argue), in order to meet the needs of learners in the 21st century we need to move away from passive learning experiences. We also know, particularly since Covid, that online learning is continually on the rise. But, how on earth is it possible for busy educators to create engaging online content on top of everything else? Well, Lumi (H5P) may very well be a great place to start! In this blog post, I am going to give you a brief overview of what Lumi (H5P) is and share the features I use most often and why!
What is H5P? What is Lumi?
H5P is an educational e-learning tool used to enhance online learning materials by adding interactivity. It empowers educators to develop engaging and interactive online experiences without requiring extensive technical expertise. It a way of moving away from passive learning experiences! Without getting overly technical, there are three “versions” or ways of accessing these tools: H5P.org (open-source), H5P.com (paid subscription) and Lumi (free application for using H5P).
Let’s go with the free version – Lumi!
Lumi simplifies the creation and editing of the interactive content available in H5P. It allows educators to access H5P tools without incurring additional costs. Yay! The Lumi platform is quite user-friendly and educators do not need a Learning Management System (LMS) to make the interactive content available to students. You can install Lumi on your device or laptop, and it provides an interface for creating, editing, and publishing H5P content. Double yay!
What interactive content types can you create?
The list of options for making the delivery of your content more interactive is almost endless. There are so many options I couldn’t bring myself to listing them all, so view the Gif below or check out the options by clicking here to open the visual list in a new window.
What to choose?
First thing is first, although I am suggesting we move away from a passive learning approach, adding interactions for the sake of adding interactions is not what I am suggesting (review our many previous posts on knowing the ‘why’ behind integrating any technological tool!). What I am suggesting is, if you are delivering content and find yourself continually asking students to read or watch a video – think more about what it is you want them to gain from that video or reading and use the options available in Lumi to deepen the learners thought process by ‘chunking’ the learning, making the learning more visually engaging, and posing questions or challenges at certain points; all of which get the learner more involved in developing (constructing) their understanding.
What I use and why – Learners get thinking!
Interactive videos: Engage the learners’ prior knowledge and help the learner explicitly connect the content in the video/reading to their world using the interactive video feature. Chunk the learning and challenge their thinking during or at the end of the video. The video can be paused automatically to include pop up questions, pop up drag and drop activities, pop up text or pop up links. You can even branch off to different parts of the video (i.e. Pick a path or for differentiation). There are lots of options to make the previously passive ‘watch and learn’ experience go deeper.
Interactive books: The interactive book can present a variety of learning content in an easy to navigate online book. Incorporate quizzes, flashcards, audio, videos, image hot spots, presentations and more all in one place with a table of contents. The interactive books are great for dividing the learning up and providing a clear sequence when required. Challenge the learner throughout the content journey and or provide a summary or quiz on the last page.
Image hotspots: The image hot spot or ‘find image hotspots’ are extremely versatile options. You can not only make the learning more visually engaging but you can present the information in a variety of ways using the hotspots – embed images, videos, audio or text in the hotspot (you can even create an escape room). Image hotspots can be added to the interactive books too. An excellent option for diagram explanations, processes or a formative assessment challenge. You can create your own images using PowerPoint or Canva.
Word cloud/polls: I really enjoy adding these to online content. At the beginning of a lesson, or half way through or even as an exit poll, pose an intriguing question to set the scene and let students view the general consensus on a specific topic. When the student has added their word to the cloud or selected from the polling options, they can view the overall responses. An excellent way to ignite critical thinking, intrigue, activate prior knowledge and for older learners, a way to be begin a class debate!
There are other great options too, such crosswords, ‘The Chase’, branching scenarios and more, but the four listed above are four great options to start with. Get exploring! Lumi is free and quite intuitive to use, so there is nothing stopping you.
