USE OF TABLETS IN BIOLOGY LESSONS AT PRIMARY SCHOOLS AND THEIR IMPACT ON STUDENTS' PERFORMANCE

At present, tablets are experiencing a big boom in the Czech Republic. Although their use in education seems only natural, many schools are still reluctant to use them, because they do not see the benefits. This fact probably stems from low awareness among teachers and the lack of information on whether tablets are beneficial for the learning process or not (e.g. research results, experience from other teachers etc.). In this study, we decided to use tablets in the teaching of biology to the 9th year of primary school (14-year-old students), especially in the explanatory part of the lesson. In the course of the study, we had to determine which applications are the most appropriate to use, how many tablets should be provided to students and how precisely they should be employed in the lesson. Our research included a pedagogical experiment carried out in natural environment, which used specially designed tests to compare the results of the experimental group (students working with tablets) with the results of the control group (students working with traditional textbooks). Our research involved primary schools from around Pilsen. The obtained results show whether the children who, during the explanatory part of the lesson, worked with tablets were more successful in the verification tests than the children who worked without tablets or not, and which advantages and disadvantages of using tablets have been revealed.