With the current state
of many school budgets, costs for field trips have often been reduced, calling
on teachers to find other ways of bringing experiences into the classroom. One way of doing this is through interactive
tours. In scenario 2, a high school
history teacher located on the west coast wants to show her students some new
exhibits at museums in New York City.
The teacher wants the students to take a “tour” and interact with the
museum’s curators. After the “tour,” the
teacher would like the students to choose artwork from each exhibit and
participate in a group critique of the artwork. There are a variety of technology tools that
could be used to help make this distant learning experience as success.
To interact with the
museum curators in an asynchronous environment, podcasting is one technology
that could be used. Podcasting allows
for audio and/or video material to be recorded and stored on the internet so
that it can be played back using iPods, MP3 players, computers, as well as
other electronics that allow for the playback of audio and/or video (Simonson,
Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2012).
There are various benefits to using podcasts. Using multiple forms of media in a podcast helps
to enhance the learning that takes place.
Research has shown that using both audio and visual content helps
learning increase significantly. In
addition, the research also shows that online students who use podcasts have
shown more effective learning as well as greater satisfaction, autonomy, and
motivation compared to students that do not use podcasts (The Technology of
Distance Education). This could be used
because students could listen to thoughts and comments regarding the artwork in
the different collections by the museum curators as the students look at the
different collections. In addition, the
content could be paused or replayed as needed to help student
understanding. One example of podcasts
being used in art museums is in the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the
Renwick Gallery. American Art staff
produces podcasts that feature the voices of artists, curators, museum staff,
lecturers, as well as students (Smithsonian Art Museum). If a synchronous environment is available,
videoconferencing is another technology tool that could be used. With videoconferencing, audio and video is
used so that the students and presenter can interact in real-time. As the curator shows students different
pieces of art, students would be encouraged to ask and answer questions as well
as share their opinions and ideas (Smithsonian Art Museum). The Smithsonian Art
Museum offers a variety of videoconferencing programs like this, showing that
it can be successful.
To help with the
discussion component, a threaded online discussion forum could be used. With a threaded discussion, the teacher posts
questions that are related to the content being studied. Students then posts comments and thoughts
that they have relating to the question in a discussion area that is provided (Simonson
et al., 2012). The class should be
broken down into smaller groups for discussion in this manner, however, rather
than a whole class discussion forum.
Bentley and Waters (2006) established various guidelines for successful
threaded discussions. This included
creating subgroups of 10-15 students for the discussion (Simonson et al.,
2012). This means of discussion is also
beneficial because students can post as they think of ideas rather than trying
to remember something until another day to be able to share with the class.
As I was looking around
the internet, I found one example of a virtual tour that shows the actual
inside of the museum and you can maneuver through the museum with clicks of the
mouse and audio is also included. This
particular virtual tour is from the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural
History and can be viewed at http://www.mnh.si.edu/panoramas/. Also, the Smithsonian Art Museum which has
virtual tours and videoconferencing programs that were discussed can be viewed
at http://americanart.si.edu/visit/about/.
The Technology of Distance Education. (ND). Laureate
Education, Inc.
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