Abstract:

The development and design of new technologies like computers and sensors has allowed the scientific community reach new horizons in the research and teaching of physics sciences, but for many decades these technologies have been reserved only for universities, laboratoires or large companies. But with the arrival of mobile technologies such as smartphones and tablets and many built-in sensors the opportunity to do experiments in school is now possible.

In this contribution, we will discuss two questions. Based on work within a larger research and development project at the University of Geneva:
1) Can we use mobile devices in school and what is the potential for sciences education, in particular in laboratory courses?
2) Beyond that, can we do scientific research with mobile devices?

Our contribution will give a short overview about the state of research regarding the first question, with a rather clear « yes » as answer, and complete it with some new studies of our own (eg. for classical mechanics). It will the address the second question, and present several experimental studies, among others about biomechanics of vertical jump and acoustical phenomena in the human body (knuckle-cracking), and our natural environment.

We will conclude with a discussion of a tentative « yes » as answer also for the second question, of limitation of the approach, and of new perspectives in the framework of citizen science.

Keywords:

Smartphones, tablets, mobile devices, mobile technologies, sciences education.