SunDial: embodied informal science education using GPS
Science centers serve a number of goals for visitors, ideally providing experiences that are educational, social, and meaningful. This paper describes SunDial, a handheld application developed for families to use at a science center. Inspired by the idea of geocaching, the high-tech treasure huntin...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | Danish |
| Published: |
Sammenslutningen af Medieforskere i Danmark (SMID)
2010-12-01
|
| Series: | MedieKultur: Journal of Media and Communication Research |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://ojs.statsbiblioteket.dk/index.php/mediekultur/article/view/3341 |
| _version_ | 1818291756867780608 |
|---|---|
| author | Megan K. Halpern Max Evjen Dan Cosley Michael Lin Stephen Tseou Erica Horowitz Tejaswi Peesapati Geri Gay |
| author_facet | Megan K. Halpern Max Evjen Dan Cosley Michael Lin Stephen Tseou Erica Horowitz Tejaswi Peesapati Geri Gay |
| author_sort | Megan K. Halpern |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Science centers serve a number of goals for visitors, ideally providing experiences that are educational, social, and meaningful. This paper describes SunDial, a handheld application developed for families to use at a science center. Inspired by the idea of geocaching, the high-tech treasure hunting game that utilizes GPS technologies, SunDial asks families to use a single handheld device to locate and participate in a series of learning modules around the museum. Observations of 10 families suggest that it supports rich informal science education experiences, provides insights about families’ interaction patterns around and with single handheld devices, and demonstrates the value of navigation as an educational experience. Further, using recently released guidelines for Informal Science Education (ISE) experiences to inform the design process proved valuable, tying features of the technology to educational and social goals, and giving evidence that explicit reference to these guidelines can improve ISE experiences and technologies. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T02:49:08Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-861a2e1e400e45b68fd9a42cf2a6198b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0900-9671 1901-9726 |
| language | Danish |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T02:49:08Z |
| publishDate | 2010-12-01 |
| publisher | Sammenslutningen af Medieforskere i Danmark (SMID) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | MedieKultur: Journal of Media and Communication Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-861a2e1e400e45b68fd9a42cf2a6198b2022-12-22T00:02:07ZdanSammenslutningen af Medieforskere i Danmark (SMID)MedieKultur: Journal of Media and Communication Research0900-96711901-97262010-12-0127503519SunDial: embodied informal science education using GPSMegan K. Halpern0Max EvjenDan CosleyMichael LinStephen TseouErica HorowitzTejaswi PeesapatiGeri GayCornell UniversityScience centers serve a number of goals for visitors, ideally providing experiences that are educational, social, and meaningful. This paper describes SunDial, a handheld application developed for families to use at a science center. Inspired by the idea of geocaching, the high-tech treasure hunting game that utilizes GPS technologies, SunDial asks families to use a single handheld device to locate and participate in a series of learning modules around the museum. Observations of 10 families suggest that it supports rich informal science education experiences, provides insights about families’ interaction patterns around and with single handheld devices, and demonstrates the value of navigation as an educational experience. Further, using recently released guidelines for Informal Science Education (ISE) experiences to inform the design process proved valuable, tying features of the technology to educational and social goals, and giving evidence that explicit reference to these guidelines can improve ISE experiences and technologies.http://ojs.statsbiblioteket.dk/index.php/mediekultur/article/view/3341GPS, museum, informal science learning, science center, handheld |
| spellingShingle | Megan K. Halpern Max Evjen Dan Cosley Michael Lin Stephen Tseou Erica Horowitz Tejaswi Peesapati Geri Gay SunDial: embodied informal science education using GPS MedieKultur: Journal of Media and Communication Research GPS, museum, informal science learning, science center, handheld |
| title | SunDial: embodied informal science education using GPS |
| title_full | SunDial: embodied informal science education using GPS |
| title_fullStr | SunDial: embodied informal science education using GPS |
| title_full_unstemmed | SunDial: embodied informal science education using GPS |
| title_short | SunDial: embodied informal science education using GPS |
| title_sort | sundial embodied informal science education using gps |
| topic | GPS, museum, informal science learning, science center, handheld |
| url | http://ojs.statsbiblioteket.dk/index.php/mediekultur/article/view/3341 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT megankhalpern sundialembodiedinformalscienceeducationusinggps AT maxevjen sundialembodiedinformalscienceeducationusinggps AT dancosley sundialembodiedinformalscienceeducationusinggps AT michaellin sundialembodiedinformalscienceeducationusinggps AT stephentseou sundialembodiedinformalscienceeducationusinggps AT ericahorowitz sundialembodiedinformalscienceeducationusinggps AT tejaswipeesapati sundialembodiedinformalscienceeducationusinggps AT gerigay sundialembodiedinformalscienceeducationusinggps |