Innovation in the university: virtual educational platform
The first vertex arises when the teacher becomes a key
ABSTRACT
In higher education institutions, the use of the virtual
platform, rather than a support tool for the training of
professionals, should favor the teaching-learning process,
as a superlative purpose it should even ally with teaching
to favor teaching innovation. Innovation in higher
education strengthens the teacher-student and student-
student relationship in order to make learning
achievements effective. Society, immersed in a
technological world, demands that this space of digital
interaction, become a space for educational innovation.
The research proposed to identify actions implemented by
teaching through the use of the platform and even identify
the characteristics of the actions that are considered
innovative. The study found interesting findings that guide
the use of the virtual platform, the training with didactic
and technological accompaniment is vital for the teacher,
the favorable appreciation to the technology on the part of
the teaching must take advantage in education, the
innovative practices that have Successful at the Central
University are associated with research and collaborative
work.
KEYWORDS
Teaching-learning process, educational innovation,
learning management system, virtual platform.
CCS CONCEPTS
CCS → Applied computing → Education → Learning
management systems
1 INTRODUCTION
The World Declaration on Higher Education in the 21st
Century defends the need for innovative educational
methods that generate critical thinking and creativity;
information and communication technology will continue
to modify the way knowledge is developed, acquired and
transmitted, as well as the creation of new pedagogical
environments; and, that the establishment of an essential
element is the definition of a policy on the training of
research teaching personnel. Teaching must take care to
teach its students to learn, to take initiatives and not to
become science wells only. [1]
In Ecuador and with certainty in many parts of the world,
educational innovations and innovative educational
strategies are required. These should contribute to
improving the teaching-learning processes in higher
education.
In this context, educational innovation using technology
should be analyzed considering three vertices, the first
related to teaching as the driving force of the teaching-
learning process, the second related to information and
communication technologies as a resource, and the third
that identifies innovative practices as the dynamic element.
actor in the generation of actions that from the teaching
ensure the learning, in the support in the actions tending to
the improvement of the educational professional formation
[1], where he ceases to be the source of all knowledge and
acts as a guide for students, facilitating new cognitive and
procedural constructions based on the use of resources and
tools they need to explore and develop new knowledge and
skills [2]; therefore he becomes counselor and mediator.
Learning in collaboration involves a process of constant
interaction between teacher-student and student-student.
This is enhanced by relating the activities of the platform
with the resolution of problems, development of projects or
discussions about a specific topic. In addition, it implies a
process in development of cognitive independence.
In this context, each participant has defined their role of
collaborator in the achievement of shared learning and
where the teacher participates as another collaborator, but
with the functions of counselor and mediator, guaranteeing
the effectiveness of the collaborative activity " .[3]
Higher education requires the innovation of strategies to
improve professional training and this is possible when
university professors and researchers have their space to
build new forms of education”[4]. The university in its
diversity for the areas of study and specializations, requires
a teacher to innovate permanently in order to respond to
the needs of individual and global learning.
The innovation strategies that are applied in the classrooms
by the teaching staff and usually have a limited scope,
including a limited number of students [5]. The virtual
space is the place where teaching innovation strategies are
developed that escape from the traditional physical
classrooms and take us to new spaces mediated by
technology, giving the opportunity to improve its impact
and application.
The second vertex refers to the role of information and
communication technologies in educational innovation.
The technological innovations are evident when the first
users abandon the new products as soon as the masses
accept it and the next novelty appears [6]; hhowever,
technology is part of society, so the adoption of
technologies becomes relevant because it increases the
possibility of exploiting new opportunities.
Within the technologies that support the teaching-learning
processes we have the Learning Management System
(LMS), which are management systems for learning, virtual
classrooms or learning platforms whose main functions
include managing activities, managing resources and
performing evaluations[8].
In the 21st century the development of knowledge is
marked by the intensive use of technologies, knowledge
management even requires giving more importance to the
process than to the product [5]. “Educational innovation is
considered an essential element to face the necessary
educational change in the Knowledge Society”[9].
The analysis of the behavior of technological innovations
and advances in the cognitive sciences and education,
indicate that the near future of the use of information
technologies in learning and knowledge management will
be characterized by personalization and adaptability [7].
The third corner is related to innovative practices,
educational innovation is the selection, organization and
creative use of new elements linked to institutional
management, curriculum and / or teaching, it is normal for
an educational innovation to impact in more than one area
, since it usually responds to a need or problem that
regularly requires a comprehensive response [10],[11].
The innovative practice is defined as the set of
relationships, transformations that emerge and extend in
the classroom or educational context [12], in this action the
teacher is an integrating entity between the educational
platform used, the student and the teaching resources used
to support the development of a course, subject or its
equivalents.
The innovative experience exceeds the cause-effect
relationship, implies a dynamic relationship between
theory and practice, beyond the simple application
relationship, is that which includes the production of
something new in which learns, through the intentional
resolution of a problem, which can be both practical and
purely theoretical [2].
When confirming that the innovation process produces
changes in the context involved [4] studies of educational
innovation are more valid if they have a detailed study to
test the effectiveness of the strategic innovation involved
[13], allowing the analysis of experiences to detect
innovative practices [14].
When innovation occurs within the classroom, a process
that directly affects the student, professional training and
the quality of higher education, it is important that this
element has a permanent follow-up and investigation in
order to improve it and disseminate it if it is the case [13]
[14].
Innovation is transversal to university work; however,
teacher-student work will be the main core of analysis,
considering that it is important to identify successful
practices within the classroom in order to improve and
project them within the University.
This process will only be possible when a culture of
identification, analysis, socialization, evaluation and
improvement of innovative practices is created.
Not every educational practice is innovative, so it is
necessary to know how to identify it [15], the process
involves teachers and students, therefore evaluating it is a
complex and delicate task for the academy. A proposal to
evaluate innovative practices includes the following
elements: Characteristics, Motivation, Facilitators, Barriers,
Factors that could improve experiences, Measures of
success, Sources of useful information on experiences[16].
The present investigation is oriented in identifying the
findings of educational innovation practices through the
use of the virtual platform.
For this, it is necessary to analyze how technologies are
participating in teaching innovation, since the Central
University of Ecuador implemented a platform for
education three years ago in a definitive and universal way,
considering that teachers and students have acceded in a
natural way and systematic This platform is based on the
moodle architecture.
The speed with which innovations are presented and the
development of technology, the authors raised the need to
visualize innovative practices so that they can be exposed
to the university community to be replicated or adapted
according to the requirements of each teacher[17].
The University must overcome the single fact of the
implementation of the educational platform, since only this
element does not guarantee the improvement of the
teaching-learning process. It is necessary to identify what
is happening within the classroom with the teacher-student
relationship and the student-student relationship and how
this dynamic improves professional training [16].
The actions carried out by the professors with the purpose
of establishing their participation in the teaching-learning
process, and the mediating elements of that participation
and their use were of great importance in the research. In
the previous research in 2017 it was observed that
traditional practices could be overlapped with the use of
modern tools, because it is not enough to just enter the
platform and publish their data to ensure as an educational
innovation; These data are those recorded as an event for
the analysis performed. Therefore, educational innovation
must be raised from a second level of analysis to determine
the good practices of teachers, which give an added value
to academic tasks.
1.1 General objectives
The objective of the work is to identify the innovative
practices developed by the professors of the Central
University of Ecuador that use the educational platform, as
well as the interaction they achieve in different
environments.
1.2 Specific objectives
The following specific objectives have been defined:
• Determine the concept of educational innovation that
teachers apply in their teaching environments.
• Identify the appreciation of teachers by associating
educational innovation with the platform
uvirtual.uce.edu.ec
• Quantify the use of the platform by teachers of the
University.
• Establish important findings related to good practices in
educational innovation in the platform.
2 METHODOLOGY
The investigation includes the analysis of the interactions
that were carried out on the platform uvirtual.uce.edu.ec.
These interactions were carried out during the academic
periods: March-August 2017 and September 2017 to
February 2018. For the university these periods are six
months.
The research includes qualitative and quantitative 3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
techniques. With this there is a description of what and
how activities are developed in the virtual platform . 3.1 Demographic of interactions:

The demography of the interactions is the quantitative The Central University of Ecuador has 2035 teachers. In the
establishment thereof and it is very important to determine period 2017-2017 a little more than 40 percent of teachers
the activities that promote the interactions. This is an used the platform. In contrast, in the following period 2017-
exercise that determined the context in which the 2018, 60 percent of teachers used it.
implementation of the virtual platform is developed. More than 90 percent of teachers maintain their
Interaction is every action that teachers or students permanence in the use of the platform.
perform on the platform uvirtual.uce.edu.ec. The total number of teachers who used the platform at least
To select the sample, the teachers that have the most once in at least one period is 1292.
interactions on the platform were established. For this, it
was added by each teacher for each period and selected the
Table 3-1 Number of interactions per teacher per period
hundred that had the greatest number of interactions.
No. of
Frequency P1 Frequency P2
The group was given a survey that allows to study the first interactions
three specific objectives and obtain a scenario in which to 1 – 30 538 942
develop educational innovations.
31 - 70 148 120
The objective of the survey is the description of the use of 71 - 140 109 98
the platform. The survey has four parts:
141 - 350 71 39
Verify if there is a theoretical orientation in which the use 351 - 1000 9 13
of the platform is based on innovative practices.
1001 - 1731 1 1
Approximate criteria that through the use of the platform Total 876 1213
relate technology to innovation The interactions in relation to teachers have a positive bias,
which means that many teachers have few interactions.
Determine the frequency and preference of the use of the
platform in relation to the learning proposed in its syllables, In the period 2017-2017 (Period 1) there were 49,879
interactions. In the period 2017-2018 (Period 2) the total is
Recognize the motivating ideas in the use of the
38,268.
platform[17].

Through the analysis, the elements that favor the

Table 3-2 Type of interactions per period
realization of an innovative educational practice in the use
of the virtual platform were determined. Also, innovative Interactions Period 1 Period 2
practices that are created today and that can be replicated
3.050 2.776
by the teacher of the Central University of Ecuador. Assistance
Data base 19 8
To determine innovative practices, it was necessary to
Questionnaire
determine a new sample of teachers who perform value- 4.606 6.651
added interactions and infer a more complex process for
Lesson 238 98
learning.
Book 69 9
To this group of teachers an interview was applied in order
System 41.000 28.310
to find the findings that characterize an innovative practice.
The use of the platform allowed to identify the similarities Workshop 897 416
and constitutive elements of innovation[18]. 49.879 38.268
Total
The questions applied in the interview seek to determine: The selection of teachers was determined based on the
interactions they do. In addition, the following elements
 Why do I use the workshop or the database or the were considered:
lesson on the platform?
 How does the resource used strengthen its chair? 1. Select teachers who had a minimum
 Description of the elements of innovation that of seventy interactions per period.
could be determined; and,
2. Their interactions were added for
 Description of practices and / or good practices
each period and from them the first
that you can share.
At the end of the investigation, the results are analyzed and
one hundred cases were selected.
The group of selected teachers reported 41,551 interactions
discussed.
out of a total of 88,147. The relation with the number of
total teachers corresponds to 7.74 percent.

Table 3-3 Number of sample teacher interactions

Group of Number of Interactions Interactions
teachers teachers (Total) (%)

Sample
(teachers with
more 100 41.551 47%
interactions)
Other
teachers 1.192 46.596 53%
Total 1.292 88.147 100%
To determine the teachers who present the best possibilities
for innovation, of the 88,147 interactions, only 1,676 are
related to database, lesson and workshop. Therefore, a new
selection of teachers is made, which use these interactions,
the sample corresponds to 10 teachers. They represent
94.45 percent of the interactions i.e. 1.583.
From these teachers a qualitative contribution is obtained
on the planning, use and results in the platform through the
interview.
3.2 Results: survey and interview
Of the total number of respondents, 56 of them answered
in relation to the first and second part, as well as regarding
the frequency of use of the third part.
For the preference of use, there are 53 responses from
teachers and referring to motivating ideas add up to 40.The
survey had two questions in its first part. These sought to
ratify the knowledge and theoretical foundation that leads
to propose an educational innovation that favors learning.
The first question is: "For your educational innovation is
associated with", the expected response is: "Creation of
products and services not yet exploited". The favorable
results are equivalent to 25 percent; However, the answer
"Use of the virtual educational platform as support for the
teacher" has a 67.86 percent.
The second question proposes that "Educational innovation
admits". The expected response is: "The known, improves
and renews it for interaction between different groups" the
value of correct answers corresponds to 12.50 percent; the
distractor "profound changes in the teaching method used
by teachers" received 55.36 percent of favorable responses
and the distractor "The learning problem to achieve the
solution in a structured way" had a response rate of 17.86
percent.
Table 3-4 Appropriate answers to conceptual questions
No. of Incorrect
Correct answer
question answer
Question 1 14 42
Question 2 7 49
The following group of three questions: 1) "Educational
innovation is related to technological resources", 2)
"Educational innovation is related to the use of educational
platforms", 3) "Do you think that educational innovation is
mediated by the use of different environments and
technological resources? ", collects information on how the
teacher establishes approaches between educational
innovation and computer technology.
The results go on a scale that starts at 1 which refers to
totally disagree to 5 which refers to totally in agreement.
The obtained values are 3.96; 4.00 and 4.27 to each question
in the established order. Therefore, at the teaching level,
according to the scale, in all three cases it is affirmed to
agree.
The answers in disagreement or totally in disagreement are
6, 6 and 5 of the 56 respectively; it leads us to reaffirm a
double reading on the teaching perception, therefore it is
necessary to discuss innovation in education and the
support that can be found in the office.
The following four questions:
1) "You guide learning tasks in the platform
uvirtual.uce.edu.ec to achieve the interaction between the
teacher-student and student-student",
2) "The learning tasks created by you in the platform
uvirtual.uce.edu.ec contribute to the student managing
their learning in open environments, with ethics and
authentic performance",
3) "Promotes with the learning activities in the
uvirtual.uce.edu.ec platform the development of higher
order skills: analysis, synthesis, information processing,
systems thinking and critical thinking";
4) "In the selection of contents prioritizes the
problematization with emphasis on the investigation in
increasingly complex contexts", they refer to the frequency
with which the teacher addresses the questions consulted.
For the analysis of the results it is considered that 1 means
never and 5 always.
The average results obtained by question are: 4.41; 4.50;
4.39 and 4.14 respectively. The results are between the
values of "fairly frequently" and "always".
The next two questions referred to the preferences in the
use of the activities in the platform.
The first of the group (question 10) ascertains the order of
importance in the use of technological resources that
teachers would choose to promote different learning
environments on the platform.
To determine the order in a list will be assigned higher
score to the first option, for the present case corresponds to
8 and descending will be reduced by one unit, being the last
value of 1. The maximum value that can take a resource is
of 424 and the minimum is 53.
Table 3-5 Order of importance of the resources that
teachers would choose
Resource Weighing
Creation of courses and
324
modules
Sending tasks 319
File management 290
Presentation of case studies 284
Creation of labels 225
URL records 202
 Registration of attendance 145 The teaching-learning process is strengthened by certain
processes of research, improves the use of time in students;
Others 119 as well as the levels of analysis, synthesis and critical
judgment. The innovative features implemented in the
The second question of the group (number 11) finds out, platform allow the possibility of generating an amplitude in
according to the teacher, what is the order of use of the handling of information, particularly in the presence of
technological resources by their students on the platform. scientific articles.
Table 3-6 Order of importance of the resources that their The topic must be chosen carefully so that it can be done
students would use, according to teachers on the platform and its approach must be novel. Rubrics
Resources Weighing should be used to evaluate their performance.
Fulfillment of tasks 332 The platform is a mechanism for solving concerns raised or
Answer questionnaires 308 not resolved in class, whether for reasons of time or even
File management 308 fear of the unknown or the public as elements that prohibit
the participation of the student. Feedback to learning
Participate in forums 284 activities is supported by collaborative work.
Creation and use of glossaries 239
The methodology of problem-based learning is favored in
Use of wikis 165 the platform, even with regard to the evaluation of its
Registration of attendance 157 results.
Others 115 The participation of students in the virtual platform must
be permanent and active. It is the teacher's job not to
The last question collects information on the main ideas neglect this aspect at the expense of an irregular
that guide the choice of technological resources. performance is too counterproductive to the use provided
• 36 percent of the thirty-six responses refer to using by the resource.
resources to facilitate learning, have information,
access to knowledge and stand out as a quality 3.3 Discussion
resource.
• With 19 percent of responses it is affirmed about the In context it is observed that the teaching of the Central
familiarization of the virtual environment, as a University goes of little incorporating the permanent use to
complementary tool, safe, easy to handle and modern. the virtual platform. The growth trend is significant, even
• With 17 percent the resource is designed to work in when compared with previous periods. At the beginning of
collaborative learning, research development, as the the implementation, 2016, there was a boom, more than 70
student is an actor of their training. percent of teachers used the platform, and in the period
• With 17 percent of responses it is recognized that it is 2017-2018 barely exceeds 60 percent of the total of teachers.
a mechanism that facilitates the teacher-student
relationship, achieves closeness and improves To describe the use of the platform by teachers, it is very
communication. clear that there are many who use this resource very little
• With lower values are the role of facilitator that the and very few who use the platform very often.
teacher assumes, the ease of updating knowledge and
the development in students of higher order skills. In the survey the results of the first two questions lead us
to recognize that the theoretical foundation that supports
Ideas for choosing resources educational innovation is low and innovation is confused
as synonymous with the use of a virtual platform.
30 26
25 The perception that the change of technology, or its use,
20 14 12 12 does not guarantee innovations. Higher education has had
15 some improvements in technology over the last half
10 4 4 century, as it has gone from books to photo static copies, or
5 from transparencies to transparencies, the use of power
0 point did not guarantee a significant change in the
teaching, even the misuse of these practices could
accentuate traditional bad practices.

A relevant and positive element is knowing that the

Figura 1 Ideas que orientan a escoger recursos de la
plataforma para favorecer la innovación educativa
platform is thought by the teachers who interact
frequently, as a tool that complements its function, the
activities proposed by them are anchored to activate the
student as responsible for their learning. Most of the
natural activities of the face-to-face classes are replicated in
the middle and autonomous work is organized.

In the case of interviews with teachers who carry out
activities to enable innovation, the following responses
were obtained. The platform achieves teamwork, captures
bibliographic research, favors the creation of academic
essays and encourages self-evaluation and co-evaluation.
In general, it is taken for granted that office automation and
its tools are a substantial part of educational innovation,
although this assertion is a mistake as previously stated.
The important thing is not to lose sight of the acceptance
of its use.
In the case of teachers with greater interaction, their
activities present previous actions that favor educational
innovation. It is evident that there is greater enthusiasm
than fear, when preparing the interactions of their students.
These activities are aimed at the work of their students in
generating higher order skills, to increase their
participation in their learning achievements, to be partners
in the evaluation.
The participation of the student in being recognized as a
mediator of their learning is concreted since there is a
heavy burden in collaborative activities and that include
research processes.
It is recognized in innovative teachers that good practice in
the use of the platform is only possible if its use is
associated with research and that includes the permanent
use of scientific publications and the creation of new
documents by students. The student improvement in the
generation of competencies of his profession and this in a
fundamental way when activities are associated with
professional cases of study.
4 CONCLUSIONS AND CHALLENGES
From the use of the virtual platform in the Central
University in correspondence with educational innovation
are the following conclusions:
The educational innovation in the teaching of the Central
University when using the virtual platform is not
systematic, nor scientific, therefore it must be supported on
theoretical foundations, for this it is necessary to train the
teaching staff and frame it in a medium or long-term plan.
The University must build an action plan that massifies the
participation of the teacher. This can help to generate a
structure that guarantees sustainability.
The monitoring of educational innovations through the use
of the platform and the recognition of good practices must
be permanent. This will contribute that the teaching action
is systematic and favor interactions that add value to the
teaching processes.
The perception that for there to be educational innovation
it is necessary to use technology that must be used in favor
of education. The fear of managing technologies is very
low.
Work on innovation issues in the classroom involves a
study aware of the impacts generated in the student and
analyze the achievement of objectives that favor teacher
training.
An educational innovation on the platform is possible if it
is associated with scientific research and that produces
academic essays on the part of students.
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