Virtual museums can build up

2:06 PM by Ornisa
Computer enjoyment – Pleasure a student derives from using computers

Computer Importance – The perceived value or significance of knowing how to use computers

Computer Learning Engagement – Students are actively involved in their own learning by using computers


Virtual museum and inquiry-based learning

Virtual museum is a database-driven source where the student can explore and learn in an interactive manner. Students can study an organized collection of electronic artifacts and information resources. A good virtual museum will provide information which the student can perform searches ranging from simple questions to those of greater depth. For inquiry project, students raise a question and do the research to support their assumption. They will have greater depth of knowledge as they can construct their own knowledge. This is a shift of paradigm where in the old approach, teachers give lecture and students bank information in their brain. Virtual museum can be a very good resource for students to search for knowledge to support their ideas.

Some more interesting virtual museums

National Museum of Women in the Arts http://www.nmwa.org/

The Museum of Unnatural Mystery http://www.unmuseum.org/unmain.htm

Virtual Museum of Arts El Pais http://muva.elpais.com.uy/flash/muva.htm?&lang=en This is an award winning site.

Reference: Mindi Donaldson, Virtual Destinations and Student Learning in Middle School: A Case Study of a Biology Museum Online, 2006
12 comments

Personal Virtual Museums

11:19 PM by Ornisa
Tons of virtual museums can be found on internet. Teachers can create a lot interesting lessons from these virtual museums- another innovative online edutainment. They are very good resources for students to learn with fun element. However, in another way round, teachers can ask students to create exhibit for their personal virtual museums.

The possible activity can be:
  • Select a person, event, or culture to study


  • Research for information on the selected topic of study


  • Edit and write research so that it can be read by people from the ages of 10 to 60


  • Create a virtual museum exhibit

By the end of this task, students will have more knowledge on the chosen topics, have information presentation skills and have acquired new computer skills. This activity can be another interdisciplinary activity for classroom such as Science, Technology and Literacy or History, Technology and Literacy.

The link below shows museum literacies in a second grade classroom
http://books.google.co.th/books?id=4UrpSH1JG3UC&pg=PA64&dq=virtual+museum+classroom&hl=th#v=onepage&q&f=false

Reference: Computers, thinking and learning: inspiring students with technology, David Clive Nettelbeck, p.108, 2005

5 comments

Making Interdisciplinary Lessons with Natural History Museums

10:24 PM by Ornisa

American Museum of Natural History

This museum contains collections of specimens and cultural artifacts. Surfing through the collections which include more than 30 million items can be a great experience for students to learn about life forms and cultures on earth.

Possible activity in the classroom: Have students explore the fossils in the Fossil Halls and then ask them to use Microsoft Publisher to make a four-page illustrated brochure with informative and inviting messages about fossil halls. This activity integrates elements of Social Studies, Science, Technology and English into one assignment.

The Worldwide Museum of Natural History

The Worldwide Museum of Natural History (WMNH) is an online museum of photo galleries that features excellent educational products for schools and homes. New galleries and updates are added every month. Categories of exhibits are Vertebrate Life Galleries; Invertebrate Life Galleries; Planetary Science and Astronomy Galleries; and Gem and Mineral Galleries.

Possible activity in the classroom: Encourage students to visit the Dinosaurs Galleries in the Vertebrate Life Galleries. Then have them click the image of Dreamstar's Dinosaurs and draw their own imaginary dinosaurlike creature from the photographs they see and write about extinction. Students will learn Science and apply drawing skills in the task.

Reference:

http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr057.shtml
6 comments

At this moment there are 100

3:40 PM by Ornisa

At this moment there are 100’s of museums and the like that have created virtual tours of there facilities. After spending some time looking into this tool I realize that the world is at our fingertips.

This will indeed spark great interest in students of all levels. The limits of normal field trips are now forgotten. There can be nothing in between the students and learning. Money and time can now be forgotten as excuses for not going. Of course a power failure could damper the virtual tour!

An example of an excellent tour is the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. Online exhibits include AIDS: The War Within; Apollo 8 Command Module; the Big Dig Construction Site; the Coal Mine; Hatching Chicks; Giant Heart; and Animated Industrial Gears. A nice aspect of the virtual museum is the inclusion of exhibits that will appeal to students in grades 1 to 4 as well as exhibits more suitable for older students.

Activity: Invite students to explore the Coal Mine exhibit and then ask them to write a paragraph explaining whether they would like to work in a coal mine, and why or why not. A more complex activity for students in grade 5 o above involves visiting a local business or industry and photographing its operations. Students can then use the photographs as a basis of their own exhibit on the business or industry.

Optional Activity: Have students visit the The Chick Hatchery exhibit and write captions for the online photographs of a chick's birth.

Reference website- http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr057.shtml

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