Observing, recording, and reviewing: Using mobile phones in support of science inquiry

Teaching science can be challenging, particularly if it involves the incorporation of inquiry approaches. Collaboration and co-construction of ideas and understandings requires changing teaching and learning practices to allow students to learn how to collaborate ‘inquiry style’. There is increasing evidence that the use of mobile learning devices can support inquiry learning by increasing the opportunities for student participation and collaboration in the learning process.

This paper reports on the preliminary findings from a New Zealand Teaching and Learning Initiative funded project concerned with how electronic networking tools such as the Internet and mobile technologies can support authentic science inquiry in junior secondary classrooms. Three qualitative case studies involving science teachers from three high schools together with their year-9 and year-10 classes from the project will be presented.

The findings illustrate how student use of mobile phones to video record practical group investigations was valuable in providing multimodal opportunities to expand their critical observational skills to reflect on and talk about science. Student reviewed recordings prompted the pursuit of new questions and investigations, and increased student ownership of their learning. Sharing the mobile phone recordings of their learning with their peers and community further enriched students’ developing science understandings beyond the classroom.