Using H5P

This page contains supporting resources for the session How To Use H5P To Build Engaging Learning Experiences For Students at the NC3ADL 2022 Conference.

The fine folks I work with at Open LMS would probably be bummed if I didn’t mention we host an H5P Creator Course on the Open LMS Academy site. This six-week course covers how to create and use several different H5P types, recurring weekly webinars, and ongoing access to course instructors who are experts in using H5P. The time commitment is approximately 1-2 hours each week.

Support Resources

Types to Avoid

Always Avoid

The following H5P activity types are not currently accessible (as of October 2022), and I do not recommend using them:

  • Arithmetic Quiz
  • Dictation
  • Find the Hotspot
  • Find Multiple Hotspots
  • Image Juxtaposition
  • Image Sequencing
  • Personality Quiz
  • Questionnaire
  • Speak the Words
  • Speak the Words Set

Avoid for Now

The following H5P activity types aren’t necessarily problematic, but they may not work the way you expect (Essay) or directly support your work (Advent Calendar).

  • Advent Calendar
  • Essay
  • Guess the Answer
  • Iframe Embedder
  • Impressive Slideshow
  • Personality Quiz

Types to Try

Types to Start With

The following H5P activity types are relatively easy to learn, and are designed to do one or two things very well. Many of these types are helpful to learn first because they can be added to more advanced types (like Interactive Book and Course Presentation).

  • Accordion
  • Audio Recorder
    • Note: This activity type does not consistently work on mobile devices.
  • Dialogue Cards
  • Drag the Words
  • Fill in the Blanks
  • Flashcards
    • Note: The difference between Dialogue Cards and Flashcards is Flashcards can be graded.
  • Image Hotspots
  • Multiple Choice
    • Note: The difference between Multiple Choice and Single Choice Set is Multiple Choice allows for multiple correct responses.
  • Summary
  • True/False Question

Types to Learn Next

The following H5P activity types are easy to learn on their own, but are made more powerful (and make more sense) if you’ve created some of the activity types in the Types to Start With list.

  • Column
  • Course Presentation
  • Interactive Book
  • Interactive Video

Types to Learn Eventually

The following H5P activity types are either more advanced or have specific use cases, but are worth the time to learn to use when you feel more comfortable with H5P.

  • Agamotto (easy, but specific)
  • Branching Scenario (complex)
  • Documentation Tool (complex)
  • Sort the Paragraphs (easy, but specific)
  • Timeline (moderate, and specific)
  • Virtual Tour (easy, but specific)

Differences Between Similar Types

Multiple H5P activity types are similar in functionality. The benefit to this is that when you learn to use one type, you can usually apply the same skills to building another type. But it can also be confusing. Here are the differences between similar activity types:

Dialogue Cards and Flashcards: The primary difference is Flashcards can be graded.

Column and Interactive Book: Column is like a single page of an Interactive Book. To put it another way: Interactive Book is just a collection of Columns.

Fill in the Blanks and Advanced Fill in the Blanks: Fill in the Blanks is just one exercise with multiple questions and no hints. Advanced Fill in the Blanks allows you to create a series of exercises (multiple Fill in the Blanks across several pages), and can include hints and feedback for specific questions.

Multiple Choice, Single Choice Set, and Summary: The primary difference between Multiple Choice and Single Choice Set is that Multiple Choice can have multiple correct responses, while Single Choice Set can only have one correct response.

The primary difference between Multiple Choice and Summary is that Summary is a specific type of question where learners select statements that summarize the content they (hopefully) just learned.

If You Learn X, You Can Learn Y

Multiple H5P activity types have overlapping features and settings. Learning one may make it significantly easier to learn a related activity. These are some of the most prominent examples:

If you learn to use…

Course Presentation

Column

Dialogue Cards

Multiple Choice

Fill in the Blanks

Multiple Choice, Fill in the Blanks, and True/False

…you can also learn:

Interactive Video

Interactive Book

Flashcards

Single Choice Set and Summary

Advanced Fill in the Blanks

Quiz (Question Set)