A mobile learning system to enhance field trips in geology

Geology is a fundamentally important natural science that explores resources such as minerals, water, fossil fuels and many others. Geology´s field of knowledge also has social relevance in preventing natural disasters. Because of these features, geology is important not only as a science itself but in several other areas, such as engineering, biology, and oceanography. In this context of a natural science, the field trips are an essential activity for learning. During these classes, students need to make notes, take photos and perfom measurements using different equipment, and pay attention to the teacher´s instructions. This paper presents the specification, development and use of a mobile application to enhance and aid in geology field trips called Geomóvel. A case study was performed that exhibited good acceptance of the application by the students, who stated that the major benefits were ease of use and practicality of annotation in multiple formats. The application also enables data to be exported to Google Earth such that the teacher can analyze the data recorded in the case study.