german museum education with social media
DESCRIPTION
Presentation at CHArt 2012 LondonTRANSCRIPT
State of the Art: German Museum Education on the Social Web
PhD Thesis "German Art Museums on the Social Web – Social Media for Museum Education" by Bianca Bocatius
Institute of Information Science, Heinrich-Heine-University Duesseldorf
Outline
1. Designing the Social Web for Museum Learning
2. Online Learning on Museum Websites and with
Blogs
3. Conclusions and Explanations
1. Designing a Learning Place
European museums are places of learning:
Learning in informal contexts
Learning of facts, improving or developing skills
and feeling or enjoying a creative experience
Learning as the biggest challenge for museums
today
1. Designing a Learning Place
The Web develops into a learning place as
well.
platform for different kinds of media to publish
information
a place that enables participation, engagement,
and communication
a place that enhances the visitor’s experience
2. Online Learning on Museum Websites
The online educational museum service in Germany can be separated into three categories (PREHN, 2010):
general information specialized information educational service
online
2. Online Learning on Museum Websites
Jewish Museum Berlin
2. Online Learning on Museum Websites
The Website is used
to publish information,
to guarantee public access to cultural heritage,
to enable visitors to prepare and review their visits
individually,
to guarantee an online experience outside the
museum walls,
to enable interested people to learn about the
Jewish culture in a receptive or interactive way
2. Online Learning on Museum Websites
A fourth category: educational service and participatory/ collaborative learning opportunities online
Web-based participation: active engagement of visitor; visitor or participant as prosumer
Web-based collaboration: active engagement of visitors who work together voluntarily
2. Online Learning on Museum Websites
TATE museums
receptive
participatory
interactive
2. Online Learning on Museum Websites
The Website is used to publish information,
to guarantee public access to cultural heritage,
to enable visitors to prepare and review their visits
individually,
to guarantee an online experience outside the museum
walls,
to enable interested people to learn about art in a
receptive, interactive, participatory, sometimes even
collaborative way
to activate dialogues and enable creative expressions
2. Online Learning with Blogs
Functions of social media
communication and information: microblogging,
blogs, social networks, podcasts, social tagging
personalization: MySites/ Community-sites, social
bookmarking
network and exchange: social networks, wikis,
Sharing-sites
basic characteristic of all social media:
participation and collaboration (user-generated-
content and user-generated-tools)
2. Online Learning with Blogs
ArchäoLOGIN
exhibition project for the exhibition
“Fundgeschichten”
school classes (age 10-16 years)
use of digital technology (iPad and a blog) to
guarantee self-directed and collaborative
learning about the different objects and their
stories
2. Online Learning with Blogs
ArchäoLOGIN – Fundgeschichten blog
2. Online Learning with Blogs
The blog is used as a collective knowledge archive in a static way.
The blog is not used to foster participation and/ or collaboration (no
comments, no exchange, no blogosphere);
to connect and expand educational work by combining
activities onsite and online;
to guarantee a communicative and participatory
relationship between the museum and its visitors
onsite and online.
2. Online Learning with Blogs
Dulwich OnView blog
since January 2008, currently with almost 25
volunteers involved
by visitors for visitors to inform others about the
Dulwich Picture Gallery and its community
inside stories, guest posts by Gallery staff
2. Online learning with Blogs
Dulwich OnView blog
2. Online learning with Blogs
The blog is used as a communication and information tool;
to guarantee a communicative and participatory
relationship between the museum and its visitors
onsite and online;
to foster participation and/ or collaboration (comments,
exchange, blogosphere).
The blog is not used to connect and expand educational work by combining
activities onsite and online.
3. Conclusions and Explanations
German Museum Websites participation, collaboration and knowledge exchange
mostly not intended, focus on receptive and interactive content mediation, information tool
Social Media in German museum education no holistic concept, social media as another information tool, static and one-way communication, benefits and effects are not exploited, participation and collaboration are connected to the
real site
Anglo-Saxon Museum Websites different mediation approaches for different target-
groups, Web-based participation and knowledge exchange, Web-based collaboration and knowledge acquisition
within communities, focus on a holistic content mediation concept, Website as another learning place
Social Media in Anglo-Saxon museum education staff is mostly aware of the benefits and effects, Web-based participation and knowledge acquisition, Web-based collaboration within communities Web as another learning place
3. Conclusions and Explanations
3. Conclusions and Explanations
Explanations lack of know-how (ELLIS et. al., 2007: WWW) reluctance of technologies (PEACOCK, 2008) fear of losing control (LOOSELEY et. al.,
2009: WWW) fear of marginalization (VOGELSANG, 2012) Web presence has no priority – lack of time,
money and will (ELLIS et al., 2007: WWW)
3. Conclusions and Explantions
Potential benefits and effects for learning with social media in museums “understanding”, “learning” and
“knowledge” as individual results documentation, observation and evaluation easy to guarantee communication,
information, personalization, networking and exchange
active participation and collaboration to foster engagement, involvement and motivation to guarantee learning online
