Presentation at CHArt 2012 London

1. State of the Art: German Museum
Education on the Social Web
PhD Thesis "German Art Museums on the Social Web – Social Media for
Museum Education" by Bianca Bocatius
Institute of Information Science, Heinrich-Heine-University Duesseldorf

2. Outline
1. Designing the Social Web for Museum Learning
2. Online Learning on Museum Websites and with Blogs
3. Conclusions and Explanations

3. 1. Designing a Learning Place
 European museums are places of learning:
 Learning in informal contexts
 Learning of facts, improving or developing skills and
feeling or enjoying a creative experience
 Learning as the biggest challenge for museums today

4. 1. Designing a Learning Place
 The Web develops into a learning place as well.
 platform for different kinds of media to publish
information
 a place that enables participation, engagement, and
communication
 a place that enhances the visitor’s experience

5. 2. Online Learning on Museum Websites
 The online educational museum service in Germany
can be separated into three categories (PREHN,
2010):
general information specialized information educational service online

6. 2. Online Learning on Museum Websites
Jewish Museum Berlin

7. 2. Online Learning on Museum Websites
 The Website is used
 to publish information,
 to guarantee public access to cultural heritage,
 to enable visitors to prepare and review their visits
individually,
 to guarantee an online experience outside the museum
walls,
 to enable interested people to learn about the Jewish
culture in a receptive or interactive way

8. 2. Online Learning on Museum Websites
 A fourth category: educational service and
participatory/ collaborative learning opportunities
online
 Web-based participation: active engagement of visitor;
visitor or participant as prosumer
 Web-based collaboration: active engagement of visitors
who work together voluntarily

9. 2. Online Learning on Museum Websites
participatory
receptive
interactive
TATE museums

10. 2. Online Learning on Museum Websites
 The Website is used
 to publish information,
 to guarantee public access to cultural heritage,
 to enable visitors to prepare and review their visits individually,
 to guarantee an online experience outside the museum walls,
 to enable interested people to learn about art in a receptive,
interactive, participatory, sometimes even collaborative way
 to activate dialogues and enable creative expressions

11. 2. Online Learning with Blogs
 Functions of social media
 communication and information: microblogging, blogs,
social networks, podcasts, social tagging
 personalization: MySites/ Community-sites, social
bookmarking
 network and exchange: social networks, wikis, Sharing-
sites
 basic characteristic of all social media: participation and
collaboration (user-generated-content and user-

12. 2. Online Learning with Blogs
 ArchäoLOGIN
 exhibition project for the exhibition “Fundgeschichten”
 school classes (age 10-16 years)
 use of digital technology (iPad and a blog) to guarantee
self-directed and collaborative learning about the
different objects and their stories

13. 2. Online Learning with Blogs
 ArchäoLOGIN – Fundgeschichten blog

14. 2. Online Learning with Blogs
 The blog is used
 as a collective knowledge archive in a static way.
 The blog is not used
 to foster participation and/ or collaboration (no comments, no
exchange, no blogosphere);
 to connect and expand educational work by combining
activities onsite and online;
 to guarantee a communicative and participatory relationship
between the museum and its visitors onsite and online.

15. 2. Online Learning with Blogs
 Dulwich OnView blog
 since January 2008, currently with almost 25
volunteers involved
 by visitors for visitors to inform others about the
Dulwich Picture Gallery and its community
 inside stories, guest posts by Gallery staff

16. 2. Online learning with Blogs
 Dulwich OnView blog

17. 2. Online learning with Blogs
 The blog is used
 as a communication and information tool;
 to guarantee a communicative and participatory relationship
between the museum and its visitors onsite and online;
 to foster participation and/ or collaboration (comments,
exchange, blogosphere).
 The blog is not used
 to connect and expand educational work by combining
activities onsite and online.

18. 3. Conclusions and Explanations
 German Museum Websites
 participation, collaboration and knowledge exchange mostly not
intended,
 focus on receptive and interactive content mediation,
 information tool
 Social Media in German museum education
 no holistic concept,
 social media as another information tool,
 static and one-way communication,
 benefits and effects are not exploited,
 participation and collaboration are connected to the real site

19. 3. Conclusions and Explanations
 Anglo-Saxon Museum Websites
 different mediation approaches for different target-groups,
 Web-based participation and knowledge exchange,
 Web-based collaboration and knowledge acquisition within
communities,
 focus on a holistic content mediation concept,
 Website as another learning place
 Social Media in Anglo-Saxon museum education
 staff is mostly aware of the benefits and effects,
 Web-based participation and knowledge acquisition,
 Web-based collaboration within communities
 Web as another learning place

20. 3. Conclusions and Explanations
 Explanations
 lack of know-how (ELLIS et. al., 2007: WWW)
 reluctance of technologies (PEACOCK, 2008)
 fear of losing control (LOOSELEY et. al., 2009:
WWW)
 fear of marginalization (VOGELSANG, 2012)
 Web presence has no priority – lack of time,
money and will (ELLIS et al., 2007: WWW)

21. 3. Conclusions and Explantions
 Potential benefits and effects for learning with
social media in museums
 “understanding”, “learning” and “knowledge” as
individual results
 documentation, observation and evaluation
 easy to guarantee communication, information,
personalization, networking and exchange
 active participation and collaboration to foster
engagement, involvement and motivation to
guarantee learning online

22. Thank you for your attention!
Bianca Bocatius
biancabocatius@gmail.com
Meet me on linkedin