Learning in Museums with Use of Digital Technologies and Virtual Reality

Learning in Museums with Use of Digital Technologies and Virtual Reality Vânia Marins 1, 2 Cristina Haguenauer 2 Gerson Cunha 3 Francisco Cordeiro Filho 2 1 CEDERJ - Centro de Educação a Distância do Estado do Rio de Janeiro. marins@terra.com.br 2 Laboratório de Pesquisas em Tecnologia da Informação e da Comunicação Escola de Comunicação - Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro WWW.latec.ufrj.br e-mail: contato@latec.ufrj.br 2 Grupo de Realidade Virtual Aplicada do Laboratório de Métodos Computacionais em Engenharia GRVa/LAMCE/COPPE - Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro - grva@lamce.ufrj.br Abstract This paper presents a research project developed in partnership between the Group of Applied Virtual Reality, Laboratory of Computational Methodologies in Engineering - LAMCE / COPPE / UFRJ and the Information and Communication Technologies Research Laboratory of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (LATEC/UFRJ), aiming to develop technologies and methodologies to promote learning, from the collection of museums. Key Words: Virtual Reality, Digital Technologies, Games. 1

Introduction An exploratory study about the use of game engines, on the development of educational games for use in museums, was developed by the Applied Virtual Reality Group, Laboratory of Computational Methodologies in Engineering (LAMC / COPPE / UFRJ), together with the Information and Communication Technologies Research Laboratory of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (LATEC/UFRJ). This exploratory study is part of a larger study, involving the virtualization of the collection of museums, with the use of virtual environments and resources of Virtual Reality, which aims to investigate techniques, methodologies and strategies that contribute to advantage, enrich and expand the opportunities for access knowledge to people who visit the museums, a subject that assumes particularly importance especially for societies, such as Brazilian one, where the exclusion to cultural and scientific are experienced by most of the population. Group of Applied Virtual Reality (http://www.lamce.ufrj.br/grva) has acquired since its founding in 1995, the domination of Virtual Reality technology, through its use in different contexts and applications, while the research group of Information and Communication Technologies Research Laboratory (http://www.latec.ufrj.br/) has been focusing its efforts on developing methodologies for the creation of interactive multimedia systems with educational applications, using the assumptions of Educommunication. Learning in Museums "The museums are boxes that store and present dreams, feelings, thoughts and insights that get body through images, colours, sounds and shapes. The museums are bridges, doors and windows that turn on and off worlds, times, cultures and different people" (Brasil: 1956). One of the goals of museums today is to promote rapprochement and public understanding of science and technology through activities and informal educational 2

experiences supported by interactive, experimental and playful approaches. (Sabbatini, 2003). According the International Council of Museums (ICOM) museums are institutions that acquire, conserve, research and show, with entertainment and educational purposes, material and immaterial evidence of peoples and their environment, in other words, the museums are repositories of objects and knowledge that is associated with them. In this sense, museums represent an invaluable opportunity for cultural and social inclusion, especially for communities that have limited access to cultural and scientific riches. The types of learning that occur in museums are, according to Resnik (2002), continued and informal learning. He states that educational initiatives must create learning opportunities not only in schools but also in homes, community centers, museums and working environments, the learning of "free choice" (Falk and Dierking, 2002). A first aspect to be observed, when drawing up these learning opportunities, regards to the various sections of public which comes to museums. An example of segmentation of activities is given by The Natural History Museum which available content in order to encourage people to enjoy nature, relating it to scientific knowledge, so they understand the impact of science on their lives. The contents available meet the following segments: (1) schools - assisting students in their homework and research. (2) teachers - providing themselves information about events and scheduled visits. (3) adults - providing content of interest to adult learners. (4) families - publicizing events for participation by family groups during the school vacations, and (5) children - providing specific content for this age group. The opportunities of learning offered by the museums can or can t be mediated by the digital technologies; however it s observed an increasing for the use of interactive resources in educational contexts, because a teaching-learning methodology based on digital technologies, stimulates a bigger autonomy of learning. In this sense, we give prominence to Lévy (2000) who highlights that the digital technologies favoring 3

new ways to access information and consequently education, exteriorizing and changing human cognitive functions such as the memory (database and hypertext), the imagination (simulation), the perception (digital sensors, telepresence, virtual reality) and the reasoning (artificial intelligence). However, in order they can understand and explore the use of digital technologies in Brazilian museums, it s necessary to investigate how they can help to create new visions and solutions so that the various audiences, who attend or who will be attracted to attend museums, can get ownership and benefit from knowledge that is associated to the collected objects by establishing connections with the culture in which they are embedded and thus provide opportunities for "free choice", informal or continuous learning. For further clarification of the issue, are presented below, different views about the educational function of museums and several digital technologies available. Reports of its use in institutions of different countries were also raised, and through them we got information about the possibilities and advantages of using new digital technologies in educational settings, attending thus to the museum's role in the formation of a critical consciousness of a constant changing world. Digital Technologies in Museums The use of digital technologies in museums must establish linkages between objects and knowledge, offering the visitor opportunities of learning related to these objects in their original context linked with current issues and topics of interest to the visitor. The new digital technologies allow establishing an interactive dialogue which implies in a conservative paradigm shift which reduced the mere observation of the collection by the visitor. According to Hawkey, (2006) the educational objectives of museums can be facilitated and / or accelerated by digital technologies, since they allow interactive activities to be developed from the exhibited aims that were impossible before. Thus, 4

a concept of paramount importance is the handling, or hands-on, which implies a physical action on the exhibition. The concept of manipulation is a prerequisite, but not a sufficient condition to reach the understanding, for the perceptual experience to be meaningful, information must be at the same time, relevant to the visitor. Digital technologies include a scope of characterized systems and devices, but not limited, by the use of computers (Hawkey, 2003). Hawkley presents a list of resources of digital technologies applicable in the educational context of museums, which can be used in the own environment of museums, or conveyed over the Internet: (1) Internet and Intranet, (2) multimedia, (3) communication through computer, that includes e-mail, discussion lists, newsletters, chat rooms, video conferencing, (4) Presentation Technologies, (5) simulations, (6) microworlds and games, and (7) video streaming, detailed below: (1) Internet and Intranet - Nowadays using the Internet as possible access to information about the museum is already a fact, since most museums have at least a Homepage. In addition, there are other possibilities for using the Internet for the dissemination of knowledge related to museums, such as the availability of online libraries and databases of information. An example of very advanced use of digital technologies in museums is offered by the Collective Memory of Virtual Museum in the region of Lombardia (MUVI), an Italian project that uses the Web and the radio to collect reports in form of images and sounds from members of the own community, creating, thus, a kind of alive database. (2) Multimedia - As multimedia we understand materials that include images, graphics, photographs, animations, sounds and video. One advantage of using multimedia is the variety of approaches that allow to support different learning styles. An example of the use of multimedia in museums is found in the International Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art - Tate Modern, in England, where the visitor uses a multimedia guide to broaden the knowledge of the works exhibited (http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/multimediatour). Holding a small computer while go sightseeing through the galleries, the visitor can watch a series of static images and 5

videos, participate in interactive games, hear comments and listen to music related to the artwork in question. (3) computer-mediated communication (CMC) - The computer-mediated communication can support the discussions and collaborative activities. The development of the Smithsonian Museum of American Art (http://americanart.si.edu/index3.cfm) is an excellent example of the evolution of a traditional model of providing information for a multimedia publishing. (4) Presentation Technologies Presentation Technologies include interactive projections or not. An excellent example of using interactivity in museum sites is given by the Science Museum in London, which uses presentations through IMAX system. The name IMAX comes from Maximum Image, which refers to a more powerful and engaging experience related to the cinema. The difference between watching a conventional film and watch a film with the IMAX technology is the greatest feeling of immersion that involves the viewer. (Http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/imax/film_times.asp?film=bugs3d). Another very interesting example of the use of interactive objects is offered by the Museum of Television (http://www.mztv.com/mz.asp) has published on the Web an interactive gallery of old appliances, where you can manipulate the object in 3D to observe it from different angles, and videos, where the characteristics of the object are presented. (5) Streaming Audio and Video - The technology of streaming audio and video allows access through the Internet to situations in real time, facilitating the development and publication of audio and video over the Internet. An excellent example of the use of streaming technology in museums is given by the Canadian Museum of Civilization (civilization.ca - http://www.civilization.ca/media/mediae.asp) that gets available high quality video for public in general. (6) Virtual Reality - The use of virtual reality allows performing simulations and interactions with objects from museum collections, experiments and other activities that would otherwise be impractical, for reasons of time, location, safety or cost. An 6

example of simulations use in museums is the technique called the Virtual Heritage (http://www.virtualheritage.net), which characterize by the use of virtual reality to explore and reconstruct historical or cultural value environments, providing the opportunity to enter and walk in these environments and examine objects. Another example of virtual simulation is given by Microworlds and Games, where visitors can walk through a scene and interact with objects and characters, becoming part of a narrative. Within the perspective of using games in museums are the Serious Games (http://www.seriousgames.org/index2.html), which are games with educational aims. As an example of using virtual reality in museums, we can cite the three dimension replica of Tyranossauro, available on the website of the Natural History Museum of London (http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit-us/whats-on/temporary-exhibitions/dinojaws/dino-facts-tyrannosaurus.html). Virtual Reality in Museums Games and Microworlds are examples of simulations in virtual reality that are based on computer use and human-computer interfaces to create the effect of three dimensional spaces with interactive objects. The aspects that allow virtual reality create this sensation of reality are: interaction, immersion and navigation (MARINS, et al: 2009). The potentiality of using virtual reality in museums is based exactly on these features, because allowing the visitor to explore environments, processes or objects and try the knowledge in an interactively way, learning from his own immersion in the context of this subject. Clark (2006) suggests that virtual reality can be used to: (1) make learning more interesting and entertaining in order to improve motivation and attention, (2) reduce costs when the using of the object and of the real environment is more expensive than the simulation, (3) to enable it to do things that are impossible to be done in the real world, for example: to explore the planet Mars, traveling inside the human body, making underwater or in caves explorations, visiting places too small to be seen (molecules) or too expensive or too far, or because that place is in the past (historic 7

places), (4) accelerate the learning, (5) integrate skills and knowledge, (6) increase retention through reinforcement, (7) increase retention through realism (8) improve the transfer of learning to the real world, (9) access the learning content anywhere and at any time (in case of use of Virtual Reality on the Internet), (10) eliminate risks and hazards to the environment, to the teacher or to the learner. Because of this last benefit, risk reduction, the simulations have been increasingly used in military training, in medicine and aviation, in fields where decisions and actions of learners can cause injury or death. Using Virtual Reality in the form of games in educational activities has been advocated by researchers such as Gee (2004) and Clark (2006). The first says that, though the games are quite complex, especially for beginners, the players learn without the help of teachers and still pay for it; the second explains that this happens because the good game designers have discovered methods to encourage people to learn and enjoy learning No teacher, no guidance, just pure learning (Clark: 2006) Clark (2006) also lists the following pedagogical features observed in the conceptions of games: (1) goals and sub goals, (2) learning from mistakes, (3) reinforcement, (4) feedback, (5) collaboration, according the games can be played by multiple players simultaneously, on network or on the same computer or video game console, provided this has the option of multiplayer. This capacity is aligned with the learning theories that point to the importance of collaboration and social-interaction (Vygotsky, 1987) as learning strategies, (6) learner-centered learning, (7) Zone of Proximal Development. The notion of Zone of Proximal Development was introduced by the Russian thinker Lev Vygotsky (1987). According to him, the effective teaching is not the one which expects full cognitive development, but that one which anticipates to it, boosting it. This idea is present in the design of games, in that they allow players to start acting even before they are fully competent for the task (Gee, 2005). A game or micro world for educational use is a software product whose development involves a team of professionals with expertise in various areas. Laurel (1999) states 8

that the designer of such systems needs to be a super designer with the skills of an engineer, an artist and a psychologist. In the specific case of interactive systems with educational purpose, the designer must also have knowledge of teaching because the system must rest on some theory of how people learn (Santos, 2003). However, even a designer who integrates these skills and abilities would be meaningless without the participation of the teacher, because his authorship which is going to give the final finishing to the design (Marins, 2003). Virtual Reality in the form of games and micro worlds is one of the possibilities that digital technologies offer to treat the educational content in order to captivate the attention of the learner, interfering positively in the motivation for learning and retention of learning. For getting a better advantage of the possibilities offered by the use of virtual reality in the form of games and micro worlds, we must first of all, identify the most appropriate techniques and methodologies for its construction and test its efficiency. In this sense, the first step to be fulfilled is the definition of a design methodology that includes: (1) new concepts in software engineering and include interdisciplinary aspects (HCI, software engineering, design, architecture, game design, film, psychology, instructional design, pedagogical theories, theatre, literature, among others) applicable to such environments; (2) different learning styles (Felder, 1988); (3) free software alternatives; (4) a modular architecture of design for the environments and objects providing its reuse and standardization at all levels; (5) the multiplayer ability of the games as a proposal for collaborative learning. Final Considerations From the analysis of the context of this research, it gets evident the importance of using new digital technologies, in particular of the Virtual Environments, interactive and immersive, developed with Virtual Reality resources in order to contribute for the expanding of the possibilities of access to the collection of museums. The differential of this research lies in the fact of integrating several knowledge areas as High Performance Computing, Education, Educcommunication and Museology, 9

apart from specific knowledge to museums, aligning the digital technologies and learning opportunities with the use of Virtual Reality, favouring thus the scientific and cultural inclusion. To get a better use of the possibilities offered by Virtual Reality in museums, it is necessary, however, identify suitable methods and techniques for the construction of these learning contents and test its efficiency. The analysis of several prototypes developed with different tools for development of immersive and interactive virtual environments, confirmed the hypothesis of flexibility of systems, that can be used both in the personal computer and in display halls. The use of Virtual Reality resources resulted in a significant increase in the potential of affective and cognitive of the Virtual Environments. This finding points to the need for further research of the differences in cognition and learning terms in relation of the degree of immersion and the type of immersive environment that the user is subject, as well as evaluating other tools for building of immersive Virtual Environments References BETTIO, R. W. & MARTINS, A. Objetos de Aprendizado Um novo modelo direcionado ao Ensino a Distância, Disponível em http://www.abed.org.br/congresso2002/trabalhos/texto42.htm Acesso em 2006. BRASIL, Definições de Museu, http://www.museus.gov.br/oqueemuseu_museusicom.htm, Acesso em setembro de 2006. CLARK, Donald Motivation in e-learning. Epic, 2006. Disponível em: http://www.epic.co.uk. Acesso em 26 de maio de 2006. Games and e-learning. Epic, 2006. Disponível em: http://www.epic.co.uk. Acesso em 26 de maio de 2006. 10

Simulations and e-learning. Epic, 2006. Disponível em: http://www.epic.co.uk. Acesso em 26 de maio de 2006. FELDER, R.M. and SILVERMAN, L.K. Learning and Teaching Styles in Engineering Education, Engr. Education, 78(7), 674-681 (1988). Disponível em http://www.ncsu.edu/felder-public/papers/ls-1988.pdf GEE, James P. Learning by design: Games as learning machines University of Wisconsin-Madison, http://www.ub.es/multimedia/iem, 2006 Video Games, Mind and Learning, University of Wisconsin-Madison, In: The International Digital Media & Arts Association Journal, Florida, 2005. What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004 GEROSA, M. Aurélio; LUCENA, C. J. P ; FUKS, H. Tecnologias de Informação Aplicadas à Educação construindo uma rede de aprendizagem usando o ambiente AulaNet. Laboratório de Engenharia de Software (LES) Departamento de Informática, Pontifícia Universidade Católica. Rio de Janeiro, 2000. LAUREL, Brenda. The Art of Human Computer Interface Design. USA: Addison- Wesley Publishing Company, USA, 1990. LÉVY, Pierre Cibercultura. São Paulo: Loyola, 1999. MARINS, Vânia Projeto de Aprendizagem um Modelo de Interface Gráfico- Pedagógica de Conteúdos para e-learning, Diss. de Mestrado, NCE-UFRJ, 2003. MISANCHUK, Earl R. Preparing Instructional Text - Document Design Using Desktop Publishing. New Jersey. Educational Technology Publications, 1992 Niccolucci, Franco. Technologies for the public understanding of teh past: Epoch's contribuion ICHIM 2005. Sabbatini, Marcelo. Museus e centros de ciência virtuais: uma nova fronteira para a cultura científica http://www.comciencia.br/reportagens/cultura/cultura14.shtml, 2003. Obtido da internet em 12/2007. 11

SANTOS, Neide Interfaces de Ambientes Educacionais: Diretrizes de Projeto Disponível em http://www.ime.uerj.br/professores/neidenew/interfaces.htm. Acessado em 07/2003. SILVEIRA, Sérgio Amadeu & CASSINO, João. Software Livre e Inclusão Conrad Editora do Brasil, São Paulo, 2003. SWALES, Christine, Edição e Revisão de Materiais para Ensino a Distância, The Commonwealth of Learning, 2003. VYGOTSKY, L. A formação social da mente SP, Martins Fontes, 1987. Authors: Vânia Marins Nobre Graduate in Architecture and Urbanism from Federal University Fluminense (1982), Master in Informatics from Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (2003), with dissertation about interfaces to Distance Education. Currently she is the coordinator of the subject of Introduction to Informatics of the distance graduation courses offered by Consórcio CEDERJ, of the subjects of Educative Informatics I and II of the pos-graduation course in New Technologies in the Math Teaching, and of the subject of Media and Virtual Environment of the pos-graduation course in Planning, Implementation and Distance Educational Management offered by UFF/UAB/CEDERJ. She has experience working with instructional design to Distance Education, working in this area since 2004. Cristina Jasbinschek Haguenauer Graduate in Civil Engineering from the State University of Rio de Janeiro (1985), Master in Civil Engineering from the Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (1988) and Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (1997). Associate Professor at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, working in teaching, research and consultancy in the field of Information and Communication Technologies, with focus on Distance Education, Professional Training, Continued Education, Hypermedia, Games, Virtual Learning Environments, Information Portals and Virtual Reality. 12

Gerson Gomes Cunha Ph. D. in Civil Engineering - COPPE/UFRJ (2004), Master in Civil Engineering - COPPE/UFRJ (1991), Graduate in Civil Engineering - Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (1985). Currently, he is Engineer/Researcher at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Manager Partner of Simset Technology of Simulation Ltda., Researcher Participant of COPPETEC Foundation. Coordinator of the Group of Virtual Reality applied at the Laboratory of Computational Methods in Engineering (GRVa/LAMCE/COPPE/UFRJ). Has experience in the Computational Science field, with emphasis on Computational Methodology and Techniques, dealing with Virtual Reality, Computational Graphics, Fluctuating Platforms, and Petroleum Exploration. Francisco Cordeiro Filho Ph.D. in Brazilian Education from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro UFRJ (1992), Master in Education from UFRJ (1983), graduate in Physics from UFRJ (1967). Associate Professor from UFRJ. Coordinates the group of Environmental Education and Science Teaching (GEA / UFRJ) and The Information and Communication Technologies Research Laboratory (LATEC / UFRJ). He develops researches which involves teacher training, Pedagogical Theories and Practices, and Theories and Methods of Science Teaching and Environmental Education. 13