Visibility of eTwinning Projects Group July 2017 Newsletter------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Embedding virtual field trip to a museum into an eTwinning project by Angeliki Kougiourouki
The purpose of this teaching proposal is to identify the educational role that museums can play in society ' s cultural memory based on the visual power of objects and heritage in the context of collaborative educational eTwinning projects.
According to the ICOM( International council of Museums) definition, adopted on 2007 by the 22nd General Assembly in Vienna,“ A museum is a non-profit, permanent institution in the service of society and its development, open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity and its environment for the purposes of education, study and enjoyment.”
It is widely acknowledged that the value and role that museums can play in learning is of great importance.( Johnson, Adams & Witchey, 2011) These environments are explicitly designed with the intention of facilitating engagement and learning with their content encouraging visitors to imagine, explore and experience our rich human heritage and natural world first hand.
Museums can be a fun and creative way to engage our“ empathy muscles” inspiring at the same time more empathy in our children as they create experiential learning opportunities, promote awe and wonder, provide a safe space for contemplation as they are a form of storytelling.( Gokcigdem E. M., 2017) They have the capability to bring together arts, technology, sciences, and literature to show how all living things are interconnected. Since 2005 researchers have underlined the growing interest in exploring the ways in which new technologies can enhance participation in museums and galleries( Lehn v. D. & Heath C., 2005).
Nowadays a lot of museums take this issue under serious consideration and try to find solutions which will enable them to claim a“ place” in cyberspace, aiming to make their exhibits more accessible( digitalisation and e-learning) and to attract wider audiences, especially those more difficult to reach, such as young people.
The use of New Technologies offers interesting perspectives for museums and the opportunity to add a new, digital dimension to the traditional ones, thereby creating a“ virtual museum”. A“ virtual museum” can be defined as“ a logically related collection of digital objects composed in a variety of media, and, because of its capacity to provide connectedness and various points of access, it lends itself to transcending traditional methods of communicating and interacting with the visitors being flexible toward their needs and interests; it has no real place or space, its objects and the related information can be disseminated all over the world( Schweibenz W., 1998).
Although a virtual culture-based educational museum could not replace the physical one, it can offer learning opportunities, improve perceptions and skills, exchange experiences and encourage student learning, providing a learning motivation through a simple visit or tour or use in educational practice( Anderson D., et all, 2002).
Limitations imposed by the traditional method of organizing and presenting information can be overcome in the context of museum visits by making a virtual tour. Such kind of museum provides multiple levels, perspectives, and dimensions of information about a particular topic: not only multimedia,( print, visual images through photographs, illustrations or video and audio), but, more importantly, information that has not been filtered out through these traditional methods( Andrew J., Schweibenz W., 1998).
At the same time, eΤwinning, the community of schools in Europe, enables pupils to“ escape” from the narrow boundaries of the classroom, thus making learning more interactive providing online
9