The future museum and the future school
A team of researchers across Europe is conducting an experiment to bring the museum into the school using virtual reality technology.
Following is a contemporary example of education outside the traditional institution of schooling:
Researchers want to turn the sci-fi classroom of the future into a science fact, by linking the classroom with museums and science exhibitions using augmented reality. The CONNECT project goal is to unite formal curricula with informal learning to move education, especially science and technology, from boring to absorbing.
Students sit together silently absorbed in their classroom. Heads covered by virtual-reality visors, they watch a herd of grazing protoceratops, a sheep-sized dinosaur. The class gasps suddenly; a velociraptor just has leapt upon one of the grazing beasts.
This is how science fiction sees education in the future. Science fact is now trying to bring that day a little closer. The CONNECT project team believes that by linking the classroom with science centres, museums, planetariums and observatories, it can marry the best elements of formal curricula with informal learning.
It's an ambitious project, allying education theory, information technology, and augmented reality (AR), which enhances an environment with computer generated information. Ultimately CONNECT researchers want to link science, technology and education.
‘The whole idea of school is not really engaging for students, they don't find it motivating,’ says Sofoklis Sotiriou, a researcher with the ... CONNECT project ...
So far the pilot projects are aimed at 8-10 year old children, and link four science centres with participating classrooms in each country. The Aerofoil exhibit from Explore@Bristol in England demonstrates the Bernoulli principle, relevant to aero- and hydrodynamics, by using a wing and a fan that students can manipulate to see the lift force generated by airflow across the wing.
In Greece, the Airtrack at the Eugenides Foundation uses a cart on a track to demonstrate the principles of friction, while in Heureka, Finland a hot air balloon rises when air within the balloon is heated, and descends as the air cools.
Meanwhile the Biotube at Xperiment Sweden, allows students to control plant growing conditions such as water, nutrients, light and CO2. The exhibit teaches aspects of photosynthesis for sustainable plant growth in outer space.
Bridging the classroom and the museums could lead to a better learning experience
‘We're not trying to bring the museum to the school, but to connect the different educational environments, keeping alive their strengths,’ notes Sotiriou. It means children “learn to learn”, and it recognises that learning is a process that continues outside the classroom.
This aim creates demanding technical challenges. A museum needs a series of access points around the various exhibits, for example, so students can really 'visit' the museum instead of watching a series of presentations. ‘In some museums that's easy because there are high ceilings to fix the access points, in others it's quite a challenge,’ explains Sotiriou ...
In its software, CONNECT has produced a stunning virtual museum, featuring colourful, exciting graphics that allow a student to try experiments and then view the results. This advanced learning environment is called the CONNECT Virtual Science Thematic Park – it acts as a ‘hub’ for the resources available and distributes suitable educational activities. Currently the pilots are all stand-alone activities, but ultimately they will be linked through this virtual museum.
Sotiriou, Sofoklis A. 2006. 'Taking Education from Sci-fi to Sci-fact.' in IST Results.
http://cordis.europa.eu/ictresults/index.cfm/section/news/tpl/article/BrowsingType/Features/ID/88540
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