Abstract:

Mobile devices (tablet, smartphone) have been expanding a lot in Czech schools these days. Either the schools own them, or the pupils themselves, because their price is dropping down and they are becoming available for more people. Tablets offers many possibilities how to use them in education. In our research we deal with usage of these devices in second grade of grammar school (pupils 12-15 of age), namely in Natural history lessons. Of course using the tablet as a notepad, web search or a camera is obvious. But when using special sensors, the tablet can be transformed into a device that can measure temperature, pH or even EKG. Another functions of tablets arise when we equip them with suitable app, which can be acquired from specialized stores (according to the OS type). There are already apps that are focused on Natural history and they contain finished activities for lessons (for example 3D Brain, Dinos 360). We can also find apps that allow the teacher to create his own educational content. In our research we orient on these kinds of apps. This article presents the analysis of Kahoot! Mobile app, which allows to create quizzes and a pupil can use the tablet as a voting device. In lessons we attended, the app met with great success. Because of the research, we also conducted a questionnaire among the pupils of 9th grade of grammar school (14-15 of age), which helped us to find out children’s opinions. In the findings, positive opinions dominate. The pupils also agreed that the app helped them to fixate the curriculum faster.

Keywords:

Natural history, grammar school, tablets, apps for education, iPad, Kahoot!, research, questionnaire.