Tablet-based Field Work: Opportunities and Challenges of Mobile Learning for Geography Education

Abstract

Our daily lives are increasingly dominated by new technology. 90% of youngsters between the ages of 14-19 years use mobile phones and the internet several times a week and thus develop their own images of the world. A responsible school has to address this development as well as other current social developments. For geography education in particular, field work is considered beneficial in developing students’ spatial orientation. Experiencing the world “outside” extends many facts that one learns from the text book. Taking these preliminary considerations into account, this paper approaches tablet-based field work in geography classes by combining both beneficial and impeding factors of using technical devices in class. An example of tablet-based field work on a field trip to Berlin will be presented in order to show to what extent tablets can enhance geographic field work.