Alexandra Angeletaki1, Marina Angeletaki2, Eveline Wandl-Vogt3
1University of Science and Technology, Trondheim/Norway
2Freelancer, Mykonos/Greece
3Austrian Centre for Digital Humanities, Vienna/Austria
Integrating Technology in team-based learning
Museums and libraries were created as repositories of memory, initially as rarity-cabinets and archives by rich collectors in the 16th century. These resulted in the museum and library archives as public institutions of the 18th century with a mission to educate their visitors. During the 19th century the past was defined as the product of ‘intellectual enactment and study’. Today, the use of Virtual Reality (VR) applications in Archaeology and Museology and the ever-increasing development of interactive software and new technological platforms have provided museum and library archives and historical collections with a new space of contact to their users. In other words, Museums, libraries and institutions of memory have been challenged to find new forms of dialogue with their users and have turned to VR technology to entertain and inform their audience. Hooper-Greenhills (2000) theoretical approach to visitor experience provides us with the argument that we cannot simply impose pre-selected narratives to the visitors and expect a consistent response. Each individual will have his own experiential perception according to his own individualized level of pre-understanding. That the visitor’s background, nationality and identity may influence and vary the outcome of the experience is to be expected.
Mubil and ARK4 were established as a digital and 3D lab initiative funded by the National library of Norway and NTNU university. The lab has developed open access educational workshops using multimedia educational tools in game form for University students with source material drawn from archives and museum objects. ARK4 is an ongoing project that focuses on archaeological content, and in collaboration Digital Curation Unit Athena RC and Europeana Research and has been experimenting with user interactivity, with user interactivity, digital technologies and gaming. The broader impact of our study contributes to the discussions on issues pertaining to educational activities from the users’ perspective.
The main focus of this workshop was the question whether the introduction of VR and mobile technology tools in dissemination practices has led to a change in the experience of the contemporary museum-archive perception. By using the case of the Archaeological Museum and library in Trondheim and the projects Alexandra has organized and managed since 2012 until today for the University library of Trondheim, organisers tried to take the discussion on integrating technology tools in team-based learning a bit further.
The workshop explored Open Innovation for Cultural Heritage Institutions and presented findings of three workshops organized in collaboration with museums and schools in Norway and Greece between 2014 and 2015. Organizers tried to apply learnings to Austria and discuss opportunities of collaboration.
During the hands-on part attendees worked with participatory design workshops adapted to the subject and background of the participants.
The workshop was based on a set of practices and design methods whose core philosophy is to include end-users as active participants in the design process and reflect on how we interact, work and learn in the context of a targeted activity, through observation, discussions, and teamwork so that a concrete idea is produced.
This workshop focused on participative teamwork where interactive narrative design and techniques for embedding scientific inquiry and new media literacy practices into gameplay allow teachers or museum professionals to build an understanding and form strategies to approach digital technology implemented in their outreach activities and experiment with new ideas.
ACDH Contact
Eveline Wandl-Vogt