Leveraging H5P plug-in technology to increase interactivity within an asynchronously delivered physiology lecture in the first year of medical school

With the advent of a hybrid medical school curriculum and the entry of Generation Z (Gen Z) learners into the classroom, faculty need to adopt innovative strategies to design their virtual asynchronous lectures. An hour-long prerecorded didactic lecture often results in passive learning without immediate feedback for learners. Therefore, our goal was to increase learner interactivity in a traditional prerecorded first-year medical school lecture taught asynchronously by utilizing virtual teaching tools and technologies. We successfully redesigned the traditional asynchronous lecture by implementing interactive activities using the H5P plug-in technology. Guided by the principle of "backward design," we reduced didactic lecture time by incorporating two H5P activities: <i>1</i>) a drag-and-drop activity for recall and immediate feedback, and <i>2</i>) a branching scenario for application of foundational knowledge in a clinical case scenario. This increased learner interactivity with asynchronously presented material and provided an opportunity for immediate feedback to learners. Our work provides a practical and transferable guide for educators wishing to apply the H5P plug-in technology to convert passive asynchronous lectures into structured, interactive modules.<b>NEW & NOTEWORTHY</b> As educators, are you looking to boost engagement in your asynchronous lectures? This paper provides a practical guide for implementing interactive activities using the H5P plug-in, a virtual teaching technology to increase student engagement and learner feedback. The authors detail their strategies to create a targeted "drag-and-drop" exercise and a "branching scenario" to complement their asynchronous lecture recording. Additionally, they also provide their rationale behind choosing these two activities as part of their lecture.