Museums and the Web 2000

When is the next
Museums and the Web?

Archives & Museum Informatics
158 Lee Avenue
Toronto, Ontario
M4E 2P3 Canada

Virtual Objects & Real Education: Prolegomenon version 0.1

Glen Hoptman, Lightbeam Group/Studio, USA
Marsha Weiner, Lightbeam Group/Studio
Jonathan Latimer, Lightbeam Group/Studio

http://www.bigchalk.com

Session: Aggregators: Your Alligators or Just Aggravators

Since the material and informational assets of our cultural institutions are now liberated from bricks and mortar, the challenge facing museum professionals and educators is how to best apply technology to fulfill the needs of the general population and the aspirations of the institutions. Against the backdrop of the popular PBS production, The Antiques Road Show; Prolegomenon version .1 integrates the foreword thinking of James Burke's work The Knowledge Web, and presents how the traditional museum-based orientation of artifact-as-history can finally fulfill our highest democratic ideals of education, once stated by John Dewey. Those ideals now have an opportunity to be fulfilled in the triune function of CONTENT, CURRICULUM, and COMMUNITY, a credo that is embraced by efforts like bigchalk.com, sponsor of our current work in this arena. Prolegomenon version.1 projects a blueprint as to how the cultural assets of museums can provide a true interdisciplinary approach to learning that will reflect Burke's suggested," glimpse of what a learning experience might be like in the twenty-first century." It is the beginning of a community-based dialogue related to evolving an enhanced philosophy and practice of education.