Designing Wireless Applications for Exhibit-mediated Inquiry and

Extended Experiences

Sherry Hsi2003 ASTC Conference

November 11th, Minneapolis

Research Projects

• Electronic Guidebook Project– 1998-2000, NSF ISE– http://www.exploratorium.edu/guidebook

• iGuides – 2002-2004, NSF ITR– http://www.exploratorium.edu/iguides

Key Research Question

How do we promote and sustain nomadic inquiry across (1) formal and informal learning contexts and settings, and (2) physical and virtual spaces?

Physical

VirtualWeb Content

Outdoors

ExhibitsMuseum

During Visit

• Experimentation

• Conversation

• Bookmarking

• Recording

After Visit

• Personalization

• Analyses

• Reflection

• Artifact creation

Another Visit

Wireless device in exhibit space

Computer at home, school, or museum

Network server with exhibit-related activities, digital library, & personalized Web space

Wireless device in exhibit space

Another Visit

Network Paradigm

EG book Evaluation

• How do users (visitors, teachers, explainers) respond to an Electronic Guidebook?

• How can a museum experience be extended with wireless technologies?

• Do users go online after a visit?

Wireless Set-up

802.11

Pi-station: beacon (infrared), barcode, RFIDplus processing, I/O and networking

contentserver

Internet

RFID IR

exhibit

PI-station & photo capture

Mobile Web Content

top page(image map)

info nuggets

Participants

• Member visitors (N=5)

• Field trip Explainers (N=5)

• Weekend Explainers (N=5)

• Teachers (N=5)

Data Collection Methods

Transcript analysis

User quotes

User quotes

The Bottom Line

Learner Interactions in Informal Settings

• Exploring• Communicating/Collaborating• Requesting information/Asking a question• Documenting/Remembering• Playing a Game• Collecting/Measuring/Monitoring• Assessing/Evaluating• Seeking expert advice/Recommending• Creating/Building/Modeling• Reflecting

iGuides (NSF ITR)

• Can wireless technologies be used to support better mediation, nomadic inquiry, and explanation?

• Can wireless technologies be configured to extend museum experiences?

Visitor Scenarios

Explainer Scenarios

Teacher Scenarios

RFID tokensLightweight

Unobtrusive

Fun, keepsake

Durable, waterproof

Inexpensive

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RFID token designs

Paper prototype evaluation

After museum experience

• Personalized content

• Exhibit-based activities

• Link to digital libraries

• Online guidance• Ask us via Email

Explainer Support Tool

Search Interfaces

Future Work

• User Testing of RFID reader/transmitter set-up• Media Format Comparison Study• Evaluation Study - Explainers & Visitors• Learning Impact Study

• Link to Exploratorium digital library• Link to network of museum partners• Multi-lingual interface• Collaborative applications - Cellphones?

http://www.exploratorium.edu/guidebookhttp://www.exploratorium.edu/iguides