Mobile and web 2.0 technologies in undergraduate science: Situating learning in everyday experience

Abstract

Mobile and Web 2.0 technologies have the potential to support learning that is situated in "real-world" contexts, dissolving boundaries between formal learning and social spaces. We describe a case study in which first-year students in an undergraduate chemistry course used digital cameras or camera phones to capture images that illustrated chemical processes in everyday life. They then shared these images with other students on the Flickr website. We present qualitative findings from the case study evaluation, identifying students' perceptions of the activity and their reactions to using everyday technologies in this formal learning setting. While the evaluation identified positive aspects ..