Mobile phone images and video in science teaching and learning

AbstractThis article reports a study into how mobile phones could be used to enhance teaching and learning in secondary school science. It describes four lessons devised by groups of Sri Lankan teachers all of which centred on the use of the mobile phone cameras rather than their communication functions. A qualitative methodological approach was used to analyse data collected from the teachers' planning, observations of the lessons and subsequent interviews with selected pupils. The results show that using images and video captured on mobile phones supported the teachers not only in bringing the outside world into the classroom but also in delivering instructions, in assessing students' learning and in correcting students' misconceptions. In these instances, the way the images from the mobile phone cameras supported students' learning is explained using a variety of approaches to understand how images support learning.Keywords: imagemobile phonecameramultimediascience teaching AcknowledgementsThe authors thank the Dialog GSM Company of Sri Lanka who provided mobile phones for this study. Further, the authors thank the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka for supporting this activity and the teachers who designed and implemented the lessons.Notes on contributorsDr Jocelyn Wishart is Senior Lecturer in Education (Science) at the University of Bristol, UK, where she directs their MSc in Science & Education. She has been involved in initial teacher training and continuing professional development for science and ICT teachers for more than 15 years now. Her research has always focused on the use of technology in education and her current interests lie in the use of mobile technologies such as phones and digital cameras to support teaching and learning.Sakunthala Y. Ekanayake is a lecturer in the Department of Education in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. Her research interests include mobile learning, e-learning and science education and she was awarded her PhD by the University of Bristol, UK, in 2011.Notes1. Students use the term programme for Photostory.