museumsandtheweb.com - teenagers

Beyond Cool: Making Mobile Augmented Reality Work for Museum Education

smannion — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 06:24:31 +0000

MW2012

Published Paper:

Beyond Cool: Making Mobile Augmented Reality Work for Museum Education

Keywords:

digital learning

Keywords:

mobile devices

Keywords:

research

Keywords:

study

Keywords:

education

Keywords:

education

Keywords:

teenagers

Abstract:

***PLEASE NOTE THIS IS AN INDIVIDUAL PAPER PROPOSAL, NOT A DEMONSTRATION.

In June 2011, more than a year of intensive experimentation with Augmented Reality at The British Museum culminated in a large-scale education project with 700 teenagers. This paper presents results of quantitative and observational research on the project focusing especially on how AR impacts learning and the use of tablets in museum galleries. It explores the challenges of implementing the two main styles of mobile AR (marker-based and location-based) in gallery environments with low lighting, visitor overcrowding and without wireless networks. The aim is to share our experience of implementing AR applications for children and families within the constraints faced by nearly all museum education departments: small budgets, lack of staff resources, technical expertise and technical infrastructure.

The British Museum’s digital learning team launched its first mobile AR application in November 2010. Despite a tiny budget and only three weeks development time, the Passport to the Afterlife (http://bit.ly/dLSwtH) activity successfully introduced marker-based AR into museum galleries. It revealed crucial insights about the appropriate use of AR for children, the potential of mobile AR for kinesthetic learning and the importance of blending AR interaction with analog techniques to ensure a rewarding learning experience. Three more AR projects built on this initial experience.

The most recent and ambitious is the Gallery Explorer (http://vimeo.com/25782400), a location-based AR game that runs across five different galleries and features 35 carefully selected museum objects. It runs on Samsung Galaxy 7” Tablets which are shared by students age 14-15 working in groups of 5-6. This project provided the opportunity for formal evaluation (http://wiki.museummobile.info/archives/91923) of how groups work together with tablet-sized mobile devices, what specifically AR adds to students’ experience of the gallery and how to design a compelling AR interface.

During the past 12-18 months, most museum use of AR was for one-off events or temporary installations for adult visitors. While incredibly exciting, these applications were not designed to run in the day to day context of museum education, with its continuous and demanding stream of children, teachers and parents. This paper gets down to the nitty gritty of how AR’s game-like interaction can be integrated into proven and sustainable models for gallery learning activities and become a core element of digital education programs in museums.

Type:

Paper - in formal session

NextGen Mobile Applied

Site:

http://vimeo.com/25782400

Authors:

Shelley Mannion

Science LinX: the neXt level in augmenting science center Xperiences

Science LinX — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 18:14:25 +0000

MW2011

Published Paper:

Science LinX: the NeXt Level in Augmenting Science Center Xperiences

Keywords:

Science communication

Keywords:

teenagers

Keywords:

user experience

Keywords:

new media

Keywords:

physical and virtual

Keywords:

defining your target group

Abstract:

In recognizing its societal role as a research university and in facing an (inter)national decline in science students, the University of Groningen developed a successful outreach program to attract teenagers to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), even doubling its student numbers in STEM.

Science LinX, the science center of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences of the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, plays a pivotal role, linking formal to informal learning. The major task of Science LinX is to inspire hard to get teenagers with often hard to communicate cutting-edge science.

In our strategy we’ve experienced the usefulness of the BètaMentality Model, which maps the attitudes towards science and technology of teenagers and distinguishes four basic groups (High Techs, Career Techs, Curious Generalists and Non Techs). Combined with the learning theory of Kolb and Brainstyles Model, it gives us a grip in linking our physical and virtual activities in tailor made programs to the specific needs of each group.

Science LinX offers science activities, exhibits, expos, serous games, demonstrations, workshops, debates, speed dates with role models, science café’s and competitions, constantly combining the virtual with the physical. Science centre and website are set up simultaneously and in accordance with one another. To connect to the RL (Real Life) and SL (Screen Life) of teenagers, we’ve blurred the walls of our science centre even further, by participating with an Arts & Science pavilion at the yearly Performing Arts Festival in the city.

Like other science centres and musea we aim at the most effective mix of media and blended learning, generating a better image of science and technology towards teenagers. Often referred to as the Net-generation or Generation-Z: with preference for tweets and sound bites, low attention span, but also 2nd nature talent for problem solving and collaborating, seemingly controlling the world at their fingertips. We deliver them different types of unexpected and exciting user-experiences, and challenge them to hang out, mess around en geek out with science in the different informal learning spaces of Science LinX, according to the categories of the Digital Youth Project.

In our newest AR (Augmented Reality) exhibit, virtual researchers of our faculty hang out with teenagers who play the AR game. Meeting scientists in new ways like this, telling the stories of science in short text message formats, without loosing the scientific value, are new and Xperimental ways for Science LinX to investigate the new possible ways of bringing the hard to communicate scientific subjects like nano-technology, closer to the daily lives of our visitors. We’ll present a number of these examples, directly connected to the varying types of teenagers.

Type:

Paper - in formal session

Augmented Reality

Site:

http://www.rug.nl/sciencelinx

Authors:

Ingeborg Veldman

Tanja van der Woude

Bart van de Laar

From Boring and Non-Offensive to Dancing Unicorns and Glitter Text: How a Create a Teen Web Site with Teenagers

jtrant — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 21:01:03 +0000

Heideman, J., & Siasoco W. (2008). From Boring and Non-Offensive to Dancing Unicorns and Glitter Text: How a Create a Teen Web Site with Teenagers. (Trant, Jennifer, David Bearman, Ed.).Museums and the Web 2008. Proceedings.