Use of mobile phones for teaching and learning
Research studies on the use of mobile phone for a range of different teaching and learning processes have been carried out worldwide. It is recognised now that mobile phones could add a completely new dimension to the teaching and learning process due to a wide range of attributes, such as spontaneous, personal, informal, contextual, portable, ubiquitous, pervasive and the functions such as talk, text, still camera, video, radio, and the internet (Kukulska-Hulme et. al. 2005). Furthermore, Bressler, D, et.al. (2007) state that teenagers should be the target user group of mobile based teaching and learning, because the front-end research showed that teenagers had a higher than average interest in every mobile phone activity that was evaluated
Are mobile phones suitable for Science teaching and learning in Sri Lanka?
As mobile phones are cheap and wide spread in Sri Lanka, and the users are well acquainted with their functions, it is worth exploring the use of mobile phones for teaching and learning Science. The penetration level of mobile phones in Sri Lanka is about 55% and it is much higher than that of computers. If mobile phones can be used successfully for the teaching and learning process, they would become a popular and effective teaching tool in Sri Lanka. The Government of Sri Lanka has banned students from using mobile phones in schools after an unfortunate incident. However, it is emphasised in this study to use a set of mobile phones belonging to schools which are on a private network. This will enable to harness the potentials of the mobile phones to make the teaching and learning process more effective. Further this will minimise disciplinary problems as the phones will be just like any other laboratory equipment in the school.
Mobile Phones for Learning
The work reported in this document is based on a study conducted at the Department of Education of the University of Peradeniya in collaboration with the University of Bristol, UK as a part of the PhD study by the author. A series of workshops were conducted with 18 science teachers from the Central Province to develop plans for four lessons where mobile phone are used together with ICT applications to enhance science teaching and learning
Later these lessons were implemented in four schools and the views of students and teachers were collected. A set of mobile phones were provided for three schools (this is in line with the proposal to use mobile phones belonging to the school) while in an International school students' mobile phones were used.
Students see many things at home which are relevant to their science learning. However a link between what they familiar at home and what they learn in the classroom is often missing. The purpose of this lesson is to make this link using photos taken from mobile phones....
Contributors: Mr.S.I.S Wickramasinghe, Mrs.N.M.R.Kumarihamy, Mrs.R.M.C.K. Ratnayake, Mrs.S.N. Thilakarathne, Mrs.W.M.N.P. Walisinghe,
There are things you will see only once during an experiment. For example if you set-up an electrochemical cell (a simple voltaic cell), the meter deflects only once and when students work in a group some students may miss that ....
Contributors: Mrs.M.S.Vathanie, Mrs.T.L. Ishak, Mrs.L.M.G. Manoja Kumari, Mr.D.W.U. Rajapaksha, Mrs.A.H. Wanasinghe,
The mobile phones will allow pupils to transcend the barriers imposed by a classroom‘s four walls without losing their ability to gather, and process information, by bringing the real world into the classroom and taking the classroom into the real world.....
Contributors:Mr.R.G.Sumith Udayashantha, Mr.E.M.V.B. Ekanayake, Mrs.R.M.A. Pushpika, , Mrs.M.M.Sakalasuriya
To learn about the diversity of leaves students have to pluck the leaves thus damaging the plants. A more interesting approach is where students collectively took photographs of leaves while observing them .....
Contributors: Mrs.B. Chamanthi, Mrs.V. R. Iddamalgoda, Mrs.R.G.N.K.Rajapaksha, Mr.S.J. Wijewardhana,