DOI: https://doi.org/10.34069/AI/2025.86.02.17
Volume 14 - Issue 86: 226-238 / February-december, 2025
How to Cite:
Balón Cantos, S.L., Mota Arteaga, R.C., Ponce Gordillo, O.J., Moy-Sang Castro, S.M., & Molina Barzola, M. (2025). “The mil aulas tool in moodle for meaningful learning in entrepreneurship and management: A case study in ecuadorian high schools”. Amazonia Investiga, 14(86), 226-238. https://doi.org/10.34069/AI/2025.86.02.17
“The mil aulas tool in moodle for meaningful learning in entrepreneurship and management: A case study in ecuadorian high schools”
"Herramienta mil aulas en moodle para el aprendizaje significativo en emprendimiento y gestión: Un estudio de caso en bachillerato ecuatoriano"
Received: July 27, 2025 Accepted: September 27, 2025
Written by:
Sandra Letty Balón Cantos
https://orcid.org/0009-0009-7287-6814
Estudiante de Maestría, Universidad Bolivariana del Ecuador. WoS Researcher ID: NAZ-0953-2025 - Email: slbalonc@ube.edu.ec
Raúl Clemente Mota Arteaga
https://orcid.org/0009-0001-6576-4365
Estudiante de Maestría, Universidad Bolivariana del Ecuador. WoS Researcher ID: NAZ-1096-2025 - Email: motaraul_21@live.com
Oscar Juan Ponce Gordillo
https://orcid.org/0009-0003-1896-3737
Estudiante de Maestría, Universidad Bolivariana del Ecuador. WoS Researcher ID: NAZ-1086-2025 - Email: ojuanpg@gmail.com
Silvia María Moy-Sang Castro
https://orcid.org/0009-0000-3722-1008
Docente, Universidad Bolivariana del Ecuador. WoS Researcher ID: NHQ-2683-2025 - Email: smmoysangc@ube.edu.ec
Mónica Molina Barzola
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6551-0173
Docente, Universidad Bolivariana del Ecuador. WoS Researcher ID: KBA-2883-2024 - Email: mmmolinab@ube.edu.ec
Abstract
The rapid and progressive advancement of computerized technology has compelled educational processes to migrate toward learning environments that require the use of digital platforms and tools. These environments foster the exploration and experimentation of contextualized didactic designs, with implications for the development of skills that transcend purely theoretical knowledge. This article aims to analyze the applicability of pedagogical methodologies for implementing collaborative practices among third-year students of the Unified General Baccalaureate (BGU) in Ecuador, specifically within the curricular unit of Entrepreneurship and Management, mediated by the Mil Aulas tool in Moodle. The theoretical framework is grounded in the approaches of Ausubel, 1983 and Siemens, 2004, from a socioconstructivist perspective. Methodologically, a non-experimental, cross-sectional design was adopted within a projective research approach, using a census sample of 90 students from the Tonchigüe High School in Atacames, Ecuador. Based on the average performance across the four groups, the findings indicate that mean scores increased by 90%, rising from 4.88 in the pre-test to 9.28 in the post-test. This result demonstrates a significant improvement in students’ academic performance, strengthening their knowledge of markets and advertising, and contributing to meaningful learning.
Keywords: Educational environment, educational innovation, teaching method, pedagogical practice, ICT.
Resumen
El avance vertiginoso y progresivo de la tecnología informatizada ha generado en materia educativa, la migración forzosa de los procesos hacia entornos de aprendizaje que demandan el uso de plataformas y herramientas digitales que inducen a la exploración y experimentación de diseños didácticos contextualizado, con implicaciones en el desarrollo de habilidades que transcienden lo meramente teórico. Este artículo tiene como objetivo analizar la aplicabilidad de metodologías pedagógicas para implementar prácticas colaborativas en estudiantes de tercer año del Bachillerato General Unificado (BGU) en Ecuador, específicamente en la unidad curricular de emprendimiento y gestión, mediada por la herramienta Mil Aulas en Moodle. El marco teórico se sustenta en los enfoques de Ausubel, 1983 y Siemens, 2004, desde una perspectiva socioconstructivista. Metodológicamente, se optó por un diseño no experimental y transversal dentro de un enfoque de investigación proyectiva, con una muestra censal de 90 estudiantes del Colegio de Bachillerato Tonchigüe en Atacames, Ecuador. En base al promedio de los cuatro paralelos, los hallazgos muestran que las puntuaciones medias aumentaron en un 90%, pasando de 4.88 en el pretest a 9.28 en el postest. Este resultado evidencia un incremento significativo en el rendimiento académico de los estudiantes, fortaleciendo el conocimiento sobre el mercado y la publicidad, y contribuyendo al aprendizaje significativo.
Palabras clave: Ambiente educacional, innovación educacional, método de enseñanza, práctica pedagógica, TIC.
Introduction
The results of global studies conducted until 2023 by EntreComp and GEM (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor) on the development of entrepreneurial competencies in high school students worldwide show that, in Europe and Asia, the focus is high, emphasizing the development of critical thinking, creativity, and innovation. In the United States and Canada, it is also high; in Latin America, the level is medium due to limited teacher training, and in Ecuador, it is medium as well, but it is more centered on theories than on skills. This results in minimal development of labor competencies, limiting future labor insertion (Lasio et al., 2020; McCallum et al., 2020).
In the educational institution, Colegio Bachillerato Tonchigüe, where this study is focused, it is aligned with the national curriculum of the Ministry of Education, effective since 2016. The theoretical application prevails, with minimal practical implementation, resulting in only 40% of learning achievements, with minimal development of skills in Entrepreneurship and Management and digital competencies. One of the causes is the lack of teacher training in the use of digital technology and methodologies for applying these in the classroom, making it imperative to improve and address the inequality of opportunities this situation creates.
Technology has integrated into daily life in such a way that from an early age, individuals are immersed in smart devices, providing access to global information and communication. The constant use of technology raises questions about its effects on cognitive, emotional, and social development, and underscores the need to design educational strategies that take into account the opportunities and challenges of digital immersion for student growth and well-being (Höfrová et al., 2024).
The pedagogical approach to education must be comprehensive and based on the socioconstructivist model (Lev Vygotsky), and should align with the theories of meaningful learning (David Ausubel), Hebegogic theory in education, and connectivism according to George Siemens, which promote active student participation. Therefore, connectivism, as a learning theory, highlights the importance of knowledge networks and students' ability to connect and interact with various sources of information. This approach proposes that learning occurs individually, but it also nurtures interactions within a network of connections, facilitated by digital platforms like Mil Aulas. Through this environment, students can access content, collaborate, share ideas, and build collective knowledge. In this way, connectivism promotes the development of technological and cognitive competencies, preparing students to navigate an increasingly interconnected world, fostering flexible, autonomous, and collaborative education that meets the needs of the 21st century.
Within the educational sphere, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), through the use of platforms, help the student’s progress in the teaching-learning process, meaning they play an active role, transforming their role from passive receivers to active participants (Díaz Vera et al., 2021). Furthermore, the incorporation of ICT has been seen as a tool to reconfigure teaching methods and promote educational innovation, responding to policies that aim to improve competitiveness and adapt schools to the demands of the 21st century. In this regard, virtual environments have been conceived as the key to the integral development of individuals, enabling them to face social changes and transformations (Bicalho et al., 2023).
The aim of this research is to analyze the impact of the use of virtual environments and digital tools to achieve competencies and skills for meaningful learning in the subject of Entrepreneurship and Management in Unit 3, Market and Advertising, taught to third-year General Unified Baccalaureate (BGU) students at Colegio Bachillerato Tonchigüe, located in Atacames, Esmeraldas.
This research follows a mixed approach (qualitative and quantitative), being descriptive in depth, with a non-experimental and cross-sectional design. The sources are both documentary and field-based. The theoretical methods employed were the theoretical-empirical method and the inductive-deductive method. The study used empirical methods (surveys, interviews, and pre-tests and post-tests, as well as mathematical statistics tools like SPSS), which allow for establishing the research phase of an improvement proposal: Mil Aulas.
In the social progress journey, achieving meaningful learning in students, particularly in the third year of the General Unified Baccalaureate (BGU) in Ecuador, mediated by virtual environments using the Mil Aulas tool, represents an important part of the formation process. This component allows students to create, innovate, decide, self-employ, and empower themselves with e-resources, transforming it into an ideal digital space that facilitates learning.
Furthermore, the transformation of the educational system requires the immersion of emerging paradigms in the conception of teaching and learning competencies and skills mediated by ICT, given the transcendence of theoretical boundaries in the delivery of content towards the use of digital methods and strategies. These refer to a series of metacognitive activities, as third-year BGU students belong to a generation that is socioculturally immersed in the digital era. Designing a virtual environment with the Mil Aulas tool on the Moodle platform for the Entrepreneurship and Management subject enables the development of skills, competences, and personal and professional development in a society that is aiming for significant changes.
Theoretical framework
Meaningful Learning in Virtual Environments
Education has gone through big transformations over time, and every change has left its mark. It is not just about moving from one teaching method to another, it is about the way people relate to knowledge itself. As Jasso & Villagran (2025) suggest, education has become a stage where teachers, students, and even policymakers play a role, and where methods and models are constantly questioned. Calderón et al. (2020) remind us that these shifts are not superficial: they affect how content is delivered, how it is absorbed, and even how experiences are lived. The truth is that the arrival of digital platforms has pushed this transformation faster than ever.
When we talk about meaningful learning, we are talking about a different way of teaching and learning, one that is deeper and more personal. Zurita et al. (2025) point out that this kind of learning can completely reshape how knowledge is built in the classroom. Vargas-Hernández & Vargas-González (2022) explain it well: meaningful learning happens when students connect new experiences with what they already know, and in doing so they do not just memorize, they truly make sense of what they are learning. Imagine a student who learns about market segmentation not by reading a definition, but by designing a small survey among classmates. That experience sticks, because it links theory to life.
Virtual environments are key in this because they give students room to go at their own pace and connect with others in ways that the traditional classroom often does not allow. Comas González et al. (2017) note that this flexibility is one of their strongest features. And yes, as Vergara et al. (2019) show, these tools can make training more effective. But, as Horna Li, & Seminario Unzueta (2023) warn, not everything is perfect: virtual learning also brings doubts and debates. Some students thrive in these spaces, while others get lost, distracted, or even discouraged. It is a double-edged sword.
There are also many flavors of virtual spaces. Vargas-Murillo (2021) and Rubio et al. (2022) talk about four in particular: structured e-learning platforms, personal blogs, collaborative wikis, and interactive social networks. Each has its strengths. Blogs can give students a voice, wikis build collective knowledge, and social networks create vibrant communities. But all of them share one condition: they only work if there is real preparation and feedback behind them (Albitres-Mendoza & Duran-Llaro, 2024). Otherwise, they risk becoming noise instead of tools. And we cannot ignore the hard reality: lack of connectivity, limited access to devices, and insufficient training for teachers are still obstacles that weigh heavily, especially in rural or vulnerable areas (Guarnizo Cajamarca et al., 2025).
And then come the bigger challenges. Beyond the technical issues, there is the question of how to keep students engaged for the long run. Anyone who has taught online knows this: one click away is social media, games, or distractions that can pull attention elsewhere. Motivation, self-regulation, even the sense of belonging, all of these are harder to maintain online (Horna Li, & Seminario Unzueta, 2023). The so-called digital divide is another thorny issue: it is not just about having or not having a laptop, it is about the quality of internet, the stability of the connection, the ability of a family to support that learning process.
And to be honest, many times schools simply move the same old methods online. A static PowerPoint on a shiny platform is still a static PowerPoint. As Bicalho et al. (2023) argue, the real challenge is to use digital environments to rethink pedagogy, not to digitalize tradition.
That is why training teachers is so crucial. Without updated skills, the tools stay underused, and their potential for fostering creativity, collaboration, and problem-solving is wasted (Díaz Vera et al., 2021). In the end, VLEs are like musical instruments: powerful, versatile, capable of beauty, but only in the hands of someone who knows how to play them.
So yes, virtual environments open enormous doors for meaningful learning, but they are not a magic bullet. They demand critical thinking, careful design, and above all, an awareness of their limits. The next step is clear: bridge the digital divide, support teachers with real training, and design environments that do not just move old practices to new screens, but genuinely invite students to learn in richer, more interactive ways. Only then will VLEs be more than platforms. They will be authentic bridges to deeper learning.
Implementation and Advantages of Mil Aulas in Moodle
The strategies and resources used in the educational field aim to guide teaching actions towards the management of learning processes that are aligned with the students' interests and expectations, with the goal of generating real transformations and changes in their way of knowing, doing, and internalizing content for the achievement of meaningful learning. According to Moreno-Laje et al. (2024), the design of didactic strategies supported by e-learning platforms seeks to meet the student's needs from the perspective of an individualized, interactive, and participatory scheme to develop skills in areas of interest, even in critical points.
In this sense, the most widely used tool in education is Mil Aulas, which offers “multiple activities, such as quizzes, consultations, databases, chat, forums, surveys, lessons, workshops, tasks, labels, books, wikis, among other free resources that favor interaction with the content” (Moreno-Laje, 2024, p. 6728), proving highly useful in education. For their part, Maji-Chauca et al. (2024) consider that Mil Aulas tools facilitate the strengthening and development of scientific skills and promote creativity and innovation. It is ideal for creating interactive and flexible virtual environments with digital resources and activities that foster active, collaborative, and meaningful learning. Similarly, Granados Muñoz (2021) mentions that it is applicable to all fields of knowledge, offering students, based on their needs and interests, more dynamic, motivating, and personalized learning experiences.
It is important to note that the Moodle platform and Mil Aulas operate under a negotiation system that makes it attractive to both the provider and the user, offering it free of charge.
It also presents certain advantages and disadvantages, as shown in Table 1. For de Sousa (2024), “Mil Aulas is a virtual platform that allows the teacher to be at the forefront of ICT, in addition to obtaining meaningful learning, as students build knowledge alongside their tutor” (p. 8).
Table 1.
Implementation, Advantages, and Disadvantages of Mil Aulas in Moodle
Based on the information presented by the cited authors, it is understandable that the Moodle platform is the most widely used by designers of virtual environments, not only in the business area but also across all disciplines of knowledge, presenting an opportunity to adapt and apply it in the educational field due to its free usage, ease of access-management, and the availability of a suitable environment that helps strengthen and develop skills, given the important set of digital resources commonly used in the teaching-learning processes within active methodologies.
Materials and Methods
The research adopts a mixed approach (quantitative–qualitative) that allows for both measuring and interpreting data. It is structured through an applied design with descriptive depth, as it seeks to understand the characteristics of the phenomenon, situation, or population, and it is cross-sectional since it analyzes variables collected over a specific period of time. The purpose is to verify whether the proposed pedagogical intervention generates significant changes in students' academic performance. For this reason, a pedagogical knowledge test aligned with the curricular program was designed and validated, and it was administered to the same group of students at two points in time: before the implementation of the Mil Aulas educational tool (pretest) and after it (posttest).
In addition, a survey was administered to third-year students immediately after the use of the Mil Aulas platform. The instrument included items organized in a five-point Likert scale (1 = Strongly Disagree; 5 = Strongly Agree), aimed at exploring multiple dimensions of the user experience: collaboration in activities, integration of technology, adaptability of the environment, speed of access, ease of navigation, connection between theory and practice, perceived academic improvement, and transfer of learning to different contexts. The survey allowed the collection of students’ perceptions and levels of satisfaction to complement the quantitative results of the intervention.
For data processing, descriptive statistics (mean, median, and standard deviation) were first calculated for each item in the test and the questionnaire, mapping central tendencies and dispersion of responses. Subsequently, paired-samples t-tests were applied to compare pretest and posttest scores and to determine the statistical significance of the observed differences. All statistical analyses were performed using SPSS v.26.0, ensuring compliance with assumptions of normality and homogeneity of variance.
Population and Sample
The study population consisted of the 90 students enrolled in the third year of secondary education at Colegio de Bachillerato Tonchigüe, located in Atacames, Esmeraldas, Ecuador. Since the entire population was included, the study corresponds to a census, ensuring that the findings reflect the full group under study. To safeguard ethical standards, informed consent was obtained from both the students and their legal guardians, guaranteeing voluntary participation, confidentiality of responses, and adherence to research integrity principles for studies involving minors.
Theoretical Explanation
The study takes place over a five-week period, with a total of 10 hours of classes. In the first three weeks, the teacher applies the traditional methodology to teach the basic concepts. The students use the textbook provided by the Ministry of Education of Ecuador, covering the following content:
Table 2.
Structure of the Mil Aulas Platform Used During the Fourth and Fifth Weeks
The proposal is implemented through the Mil Aulas virtual learning environment, a digital educational platform structured with a dynamic and interactive instructional design. This tool enables the progressive sequencing of content, promoting active student participation through multimedia resources, collaborative forums, and evaluative activities. Below is the QR code that directly links to the access to the platform.
Figure 1. QR Code to Access the Mil Aulas Platform: The Market and Advertising
Note: To enter, use the following credentials: username admin and password 1305966044Israel.
This improvement proposal has been validated by five experts: two in pedagogy, two in technology, and one in the subject of Entrepreneurship and Management. The validation considered the indicators of clarity, coherence, relevance, and pertinence across the 18 aspects involved in the development of the proposal, with 100% approval.
Results
Comparison of Posttest and Pretest Pedagogical Test Results
The results show a consistent increase in the means of the groups evaluated before and after the intervention (see Table 6). In parallel A, the mean increased from 4.59 to 9.00; in parallel B, from 5.08 to 9.68; in parallel C, from 5.01 to 9.35; and in parallel D, from 4.83 to 9.07. Additionally, in all cases, both the median and mode increased, which reinforces the trend towards a generalized improvement in student performance. The standard deviations were reduced in most cases, suggesting greater homogeneity in the results after the intervention.
Table 3.
Descriptive Statistics of the Pretest and Posttest
Hypothesis Testing