07.+Case+Study+4+-+The+Exploratorium

=Case Study 4 - The Exploratorium=

**Summary**
The Exploratorium is the museum of science, art and human perception located physically in San Francisco and here online: []. In 2003 Live@Exploratorium was created, a web presence which allowed for live transmissions of real life demonstrations of issues relevant to science research and public information (Bernier 2005, p. 397). In 2005, they provided a Hubble space telescope servicing mission webcast which received almost 100,000 hits in ten days (Bernier 2005, p. 397). As of 2005 the virtual museum website receives approximately 15 million annual visits, with over 15,000 pages of educational resources (Bernier 2005, p. 397).

When a user first visits the Exploratorium website, they arrive at the home page, which has 5 tabs along the top - explore, educate, visit, partner and shop, as well as a search function. The main content area of the home page is filled with small pictorial examples of various "everyday science" categories, for example gardening science and sports science.There are also afterscshool activities and science teaching tips, indicating that the website is targeted not only at a range of age groups but also teacher and learner alike. At the top of the website is an interactive flash banner displaying a range of the latest virtual exhibits the website shows, posed in the form of a simple question that might trigger a learner's interest, such as "what makes us human and how did we get this way?" on an evolution exhibit.



If a user were to click through to one of the categories, for example gardening science, they would be taken to the latest exhibit related to this. In the gardening science category, an interactive image is displayed which allows the user to select the area of gardening science of interest to them. A small video then pops up to accompany the information provided. Here it is clear that the content is made more engaging and interesting by the use of interactive software, such as Flash, video and sound files.



Clicking on the explore tab takes the user to another page of categories of “every day” science that the learner may be interested in. It also begins to give the user the opportunity to interact, both with the content and each other. By clicking on an “online activities” link the user is taken to a page of interactive online activities aimed at allowing them to learn first hand, for example a user can build a solar system.



An online communities page lists the range of online environments in which the user can meet other users and also keep up to date with Exploratorium, such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, flickr and Second Life.



The Exploratorium also keeps a blog, which the user can comment on, thus interacting with other learners and the museum’s facilitators. Keeping in tune with the range of interactive technology used on the website, the blog posts contain a range of images, sounds and video footage.



Of particular interest is explo.tv, a new webcast section of the website that is currently in beta. Here, the user can select from a large range of webcasts, podcasts and clips. The website has a schedule of upcoming programs that a user can watch live if interested, as well as an archive of previously aired webcasts.



Towards the bottom of the page is a link called “ask a question” which takes the user to a form through which they can submit any science questions they may have to the webcasts, which may be answered during or in subsequent webcasts.

These are just a handful of areas available on the Exploratorium website. To best understand the size and scope of its available online activities, one is best exploring it for oneself. As such, the above summary is just a small sampling of some of the aspects of the museum relevant to this project.

**Critique**
As it is clear that the intended audience for the museum is very diverse, with a range of topics, content and interactions available to suit a broad variety of learner interests, intentions, background and learning styles. Posing questions and topic areas to learners using an every day science context makes it more likely that the subject areas are relevant to their interests and backgrounds, thus making it potentially easier for the learner to self-teach. The benefit of the virtual museum set up is that it permits exploration from home – the learner can determine what information they are looking for (Bernier 2005, p. 394).

With regard to theoretical application, given the broad range of learners and learning styles the Exploratorium has been created for, aspects of many theories become applicable. Constructivism, for instance, presents information in conjunction with past experiences, which helps the learner to build new ideas and concepts onto this. The way that the Exploratorium poses its questions in an "every day science" manner allows the learner to make these connections. The relevance of the question to the particular learner will depend on their interests and past experiences, thus they use this background to construct knew knowledge around their background and the new content they view on the Exploratorium website.

Situated learning theory is also particularly applicable as the museum website places science learning in a relevant content. For example, by placing the gardening science aspect of the website in the context of the activity of gardening, learners are able to draw connections between their own experiences of gardening and the science they are learning about through the website. This also indicates a constructivist element to the situated learning, drawing a link between the two frameworks.

Scaffolded knowledge integration framework is applicable to the Exploratorium because it suggests that curriculum design and learning objectives should be structured such that knowledge can be applied and built onto views previously held to. However the downfall that could arise here is in designing the modules of the website itself. Given the hugely varied user base it could potentially be difficult to design objectives appropriate for all users. It could also be difficult to determine the background knowledge and interests of the users. Therefore I believe the huge subject area and range of difficulty levels of content on the website is in part to compensate for this. Scaffolded knowledge integration also discusses the visibility of thinking, and I think to some extent this occurs through the blog, discussion and webcasting section of the website. That the webcasting section allows the users to ask questions allows them to reflect on the response they receive and integrate the new information with what they previously know.

While the website does not emphasise social or collaborative learning as much as some of the other case studies have, its blog and discussion board section and question section in the webcasts are beginning to encourage this and provide opportunities for learners who want to move beyond the individualised learning that is emphasised by the rest of the website. However these areas of the website are not as easily found (they are below the fold of the screen and in smaller font than other areas), so less attentive or less technically savvy users may not discover them. With this in mind, these learners may not learn as effectively and may have less opportunity to move beyond their zone of proximal development, as this is increased with social interaction.

It is difficult to apply Bloom's Taxonomy without noting some sort of assessment on the website, or being able to view user feedback. From my own explorations of the content I would suggest that the levels of the taxonomy best covered are those that involve lower order thinking - knowledge, comprehension and application, with online activities giving learners the opportunity to apply what they have learned from browsing the website's content. However there seems to be little reflective opportunity built into the website which allows the learner to analyse, synthesise or evaluate what they've learned. Though they may reflect on their learning in their own considerations of the content, it would be more likely to promote higher order thinking if this were a part of the website structure. With regard to the affective domain of Bloom's Taxonomy, it is interesting to note that the Exploratorium may have a positive influence on this domain. The website aims to teach the general public about new research and the general state of knowledge in science in a positive way which does not overwhelm them with scientific detail, thus increasing the opportunity for the learner to develop a positive attitude towards knowledge.