Does the use of dedicated mobile devices in magnetism classes improve student learning?

Mobile devices have been evaluated from multiple perspectives as tools to support classroom learning; however, devices specifically dedicated to learning activities still require further research to elucidate their influence in the classroom. This study aimed to evaluate whether the use of dedicated mobile devices for teaching basic magnetism content improves learning among secondary school students. A quantitative, comparative quasi-experimental study with non-equivalent groups was conducted ( <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="IM1"> <mml:mi>n</mml:mi> <mml:mo>=</mml:mo> <mml:mn>77</mml:mn> </mml:math> ) with secondary school students in Ecuador. The experimental group used an educational application running on a dedicated mobile device (M5Stack Core2) and interacted with an electromagnet as a didactic peripheral, whereas the control group received a traditional teacher-centered lesson supported by slides. Learning outcomes were measured using a teacher-designed theoretical test administered at the end of a 90-min session. Mean scores were similar between groups (experimental: 7.32; control: 7.58). After verifying assumptions of normality and homogeneity of variance, an independent-samples t -test showed no statistically significant differences ( <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="IM2"> <mml:mi>p</mml:mi> <mml:mo>=</mml:mo> <mml:mn>0.461</mml:mn> </mml:math> ), and the effect size was small (Cohen’s <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="IM3"> <mml:mi>d</mml:mi> <mml:mo>=</mml:mo> <mml:mo>−</mml:mo> <mml:mn>0.169</mml:mn> </mml:math> ). Under the conditions evaluated, the dedicated mobile device did not produce measurable gains in knowledge performance compared to the traditional lesson. Longer interventions, larger samples, and longitudinal study designs are needed to clarify when and how this technology may provide educational benefits.