THE USE OF MOBILE PLATFORMS IN SCIENCE LEARNING: A COMPARATIVE STUDY BETWEEN PORTUGAL AND THE UK

As mobile technology develops, it creates new opportunities for enhancing the learning and teaching experience. In this paper, the results of a comparative study between two countries (Portugal and UK) will be described, regarding the relationship between technologies and the teaching-learning process in science. Specifically, the paper investigates the pupils' relationship with mobile technologies, including for learning purposes. At the same time, it aims to understand the use of mobile platforms and applications by teachers, including their use in classroom activities. The study uses a quantitative methodology. The data were collected by means of an online survey administered to pupils who were studying science in years 7, 8, 9 (12 to 14 years) and to teachers in six schools in Portugal and three schools in the UK. A total of 131 pupils and 17 teachers responded the survey in Portugal and 170 students and 13 teachers responded the survey in the UK. Findings shows that half (53.3%) of Portuguese teachers stated that they didn't use any mobile platforms in class for teaching and learning purposes, compared to none of the teachers in the UK. Almost half of the UK teachers stated that they used both smartphone and tablets in class and 40% used the tablet only. In Portugal, only 13,3% of the teachers used both, while 6,7% only used the tablet. Moreover, findings show that almost 88% of the Portuguese pupils considered it was easy or very easy, compared to just under 70% of the UK pupils, to find the information they are looking for through a mobile platform. These overall results suggest that the teaching/learning context could be favourable to the use of these technologies, although with some noteworthy differences between the two countries regarding the integration of mobile platforms in the teaching and learning context.