Development of digital skills through an VLO as an interactive strategy in the formulation of formative research projects

Abstract

The development of digital skills is a key element in higher education, especially in technological and engineering programs taught remotely. This study describes a pedagogical strategy based on an interactive Virtual Learning Object (VLO), designed to strengthen digital competencies and improve the formulation of formative research projects. The educational intervention included the design, implementation and evaluation of the VLO through a pre-test and post-test, as well as a perception survey applied to the participants. The results showed a significant increase in the academic performance of the students, with an average difference of 1.6 points and a Pearson correlation of 0.88 in the group that received the most teacher support. It was evident that students with access to adequate digital resources achieved a better performance in their projects and perceived the VLO as an effective tool for their training. Finally, technological and pedagogical improvements are proposed to optimize the use of VLOs in future educational contexts.