that, when
applied to digital technologies, can remind
us of key issues. (It certainly eliminates the
mere act of pushing buttons or of clicking
a mouse, that some museums have
mistaken for interactivity.) Although, as
identified earlier, there may be worthwhile
learning outcomes other than
understanding, the emphases on clear
educational objectives, on choice and
initiative and on the social dimensions
are especially welcome.
The critical role of the social dimensions of
interactivity is highlighted by Heath and
vom Lehn (2002). For them, it is the
learners who are interactive rather than
the exhibit. Their Wellcome Trust-funded
study of interactives in science museums
highlights many of the false assumptions
inherent in many interactive galleries.
Museum visitors, they observe, rarely
behave in ways that exhibition designers
anticipate; they follow neither the
sequence nor the pace intended.
This leads us to consider the nature and
context of interactive exhibits. Bradburne
(2001) distinguishes forcefully between an
exhibition and an informal learning
environment. The former, he contends, is
designed to “broadcast facts”, the latter to
“support action (or, better, interaction)”.
If learning is associated with sustained
engagement then exhibits would structure
and sustain interaction between users,
rather than attempt to demonstrate
principles. Such an approach conflicts
with that of Gilbert and Stocklmayer
(2001). While recognising the need for
entertainment and for opportunities
for learners to build upon pre-existing
understanding, their focus is primarily
upon the exhibit as a (more or less)
effective way of conveying scientific
principles.
Taking an apparently similar perspective,
in that the sessions that they describe are
designed to lead to the acquisition of a
single right answer and its accepted
explanation, Hemmings et al (2001) report
an ethnographic study of the Magician’s
Road gallery at the National Railway
Museum. The exhibition itself, a ‘mélange
of apparatus, representation, texts and
physical artefacts’ is taken to be an
analogue of a digital, hypertext website
and leads them to conclude that, in terms
of ‘providing pathways through
information’, the problems posed by
developing an interactive museum gallery
are similar to those encountered in the
virtual realm. This may well be the case.
However, the nature and focus of the
interactives they chose may provide little
insight into more open-ended or enquirybased
learning whether in or beyond the
museum setting.
This is where the real conflict lies,
between fundamentally different
philosophies of the relationship between
museum and visitor. How are learners
treated? Are they seen merely as passive
recipients of the expert knowledge and
opinions of the curator? Is there emphasis
on transmitting knowledge or on fostering
inquiry skills? On providing answers or
on promoting questions? Is there active
engagement with objects or other
materials? Is there real learner choice?
3.2 PARTICIPATION
Resources that enable visitor participation
have the potential to offer a more complex
version of interactivity. In museums this
can vary from what is essentially a simple
yes/no vote – eg Antenna in the Wellcome
Wing of the Science |
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Museum – to creating a digital record of oneself for subsequent
retrieval. The museum’s In touch site
allows the visitor to make his or her own
web page and to access this after the visit.
(Such is the popularity of this interactive
activity that by 1 April 2004, over 200, 000
personal web sites had been created.)
This is also a feature of At-Bristol’s Get
Connected (www.at-bristol.org.uk/
explore/connected.htm), where visitors can
compare their ideas on a variety of topics
from cloning endangered species to using
robot cleaners.
In many museums of science and
technology – and, certainly, in science
centres – the axis of learning has shifted
from the deficit model to one of dialogue.
Learner participation is central to this
change of emphasis. An example,
which also highlights pan-European
collaboration, is Bionet (www.bionetonline.
com), in which both At-Bristol and the
Science Museum are partners. Accessible
online in nine languages through the
websites of eight museums and science
centres, Bionet facilitates exploration and
debate about current developments in
biotechnology. Fundamental to the
approach is the incorporation of ethical
and legal aspects in addition to the
science, but it is the capacity for users to
express opinions and to argue with each
other as well as with experts that makes
the project distinctive.
The Victoria and Albert Museum has
experimented with a number of projects in
which family learners were encouraged to
engage with exhibits by creating their own
digital images. Key to the success of the
Canon event was visitors’ appreciation
that, through learning new skills, they
could themselves create their own
masterpieces to stand – at least, virtually –
alongside those in the exhibition. Photomontage
and collage techniques were
applied to the digital images from around
the museum, displaying themes and interrelationships
chosen by the visitors as
learners rather than by the curators as
experts. Wish.you.were.here was a similar
project in which visitors learned to use a
digital camera and graphical editing
software. The work appeared as digital
postcards, e-mailed to friends and family
or subsequently accessed on the
museum’s website.
Durbin (2004) suggests going much further
than mere participation. “You don’t have to
sweat it out over all your content if you
are prepared to allow visitors to generate
it for you”, she asserts. She cautions
against the tendency for museum curators
to communicate in one direction only, but
affirms that the V&A is “keen to ensure the
site works in both directions” and that it
draws “on the expertise and enthusiasm of
visitors as well”. In this way, visitors to the
website will feel they can contribute to
the work of the museum while developing
their own creativity.
3.3 COLLABORATION
One of the powerful features of digital
technology is the relative ease with which
collaboration becomes possible. Learners
benefit from seamless access to resources
and ideas from other areas, both
geographical and conceptual – and to
other learners.
The collaborative aspects of learning are
generally high on the agenda in the
museum context. Galani and Chalmers
(2002) report an innovative study involving
a three-way collaboration between real learners
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in many
museums of
science and
technology, the
axis of learning
has shifted from
the deficit model
to one of
dialogue |
