Student Informal Learning at Museum Field Trips using Tablet Computers

Informal learning at museums are an important complement to formal school learning. Children arriving on field trips can expand their knowledge, and gain new understanding and perspectives of real world phenomena. Electronic mobile applications are often used in museums to provide information about the exhibits, as well as support student's engagement with the museum items. However, it is unclear whether they support learning better than conventional non-technological aids. Furthermore, it is unclear what type of electronic guide best supports learning. In this work, we examine young students' mobile learning in the museum, comparing three types of activity guides: a paper booklet, an information-based mobile application and a constructivist-based mobile application. Results indicate that students using the constructivist guide learned better than students using the informative guide but not better than ones using the paper booklet, and that overall, students preferred the mobile application over the paper booklet.