Virtual museums are aimed at people with disabilities who face severe difficulties or inability to move. They are also suitable in cases of partial loss of sight or hearing, as the user can adjust the sound or focus on the image. In addition, people with disabilities often do not participate in educational trips and visits, as there is no proper museum infrastructure or no attendant.

Objectives:

Objectives of this activity is to give trainers the opportunity:

To get acknowledged with new types of tools on the Internet
To be able to handle applications for virtual museums
To have the ability to work together online and to solve problems
To apply an interdisciplinary approach of knowledge
To develop ability of transferring skills from one context to another

Duration: 45 – 60 min

Number of participants: 10 – 20

Materials:

Computer, tablets, smartphones, Internet connection, speakers.

Description:

Preparation: Each participant has access to a computer so he or she can walk around a virtual museum freely. https://www.louvre.fr/en/online-tours

Exercise flow:

We can present portraits of famous artists as well as samples of their work in the computer. We can focus on certain paintings such as Mona Lisa or the work by Michael Angelos in the Cappella Sistina.

Exercise course

Phase 1

Participants take a tour in the virtual Louvre Museum. Through it they can find information about the exhibits and the artworks that the museum hosts.

Phase 2

In the second phase, participants discuss and present a work of art (preferably paintings) that they met at the museum.

Participants with their group make a tour in the Virtual Museum of Louvre. Through it, they can find information about the exhibitions and the artworks that the museum hosts.

In the first phase, the youth worker presents basic information about the museum. He explains the term “virtual museum” so as to understand the meaning of the term and to have a virtual walk from which trainees will gather information. Exact instructions should be given in order to understand what they are going to do.

In particular, they should answer:

“What can we find in the virtual museum?”
“What are the benefits of the virtual museum?”
“What did you find that you liked?”
“Describe what you liked in the museum and why”
“Which famous painting did you find that you liked?”
“Where is the real museum?”
“What does it look like?”

We can even use Bing Maps / Earth maps to help participants find the location of the museum itself. In this case, we can ask questions about the location of the museum and its description. Such may be:

We need to give participants freedom to work their way through the museum. The instructor should highlight important parts and links to information useful for participants.

In the second phase, each team

should prepare a short presentation

on 2-3 pages about an art work that

they choose, during their virtual visit

in the museum. They should describe

the artwork themselves orally to other

participants. In particular, it is important

to state:

Name of painting
Painter
Painted in: (year)
Style of painting

Summary of exercise: In an interactive table we display the story written by each group based on one painting

Expected outcomes:

At the end of the activity participants will be able to:

Search for and filter the information they are interested in about a work of art
Use tools and services of a virtual museum
Discuss exhibits and exchange information with other visitors

Sources

Craig A., Sherman W.R., & Will, J.D. (2009). Developing Virtual Reality applications: foundations of effective design.

Morgan Kaufmann. Holmes, J. (2007). Designing agents to support learning by explaining. Computers & Education, 48, 523-547.

Lee, E. A.-L., & Wong, K. W. (2008). A review of using virtual reality for learning. Transactions on Edutainment, 1, 231-241

Museum 2.0, URL: http://www.museumtwo.blogspot.com

https://www.louvre.fr/en/online-tours