From information dissemination to information gathering Chapter for inclusion in E-learning and Virtual Science Centers From Information Dissemination to Information Gathering Using virtual exhibits and content databases in e-learning centers

Museums and science centers are increasingly launching e-learning centers to support their educational mission. Concurrently, large multimedia databases, termed content databases, are being created to store and manage digital representations of the museum’s physical collections, such as scanned images, text documents and videos. Content databases can provide valuable information and data for use in the development of elearning centers for tasks ranging from presentation of information about the museum’s educational resources to providing a full interactive learning experience for students and casual information seekers. There are at least three ways an e-learning center can support learning: 1) providing information on a given set of topics, 2) providing educational activities to reinforce learning, and 3) to support information gathering. In this chapter, we will present and discuss different e-learning center architectures that can be used to support different forms of learning. Background assumptions and definitions Figure 1, shows the 3 basic components of an e-learning center, the user/learner, the learning site and the (optional) content database. Figure 1: e-learning center components 1 The term e-learning center is used here to refer to a Web site developed with the intention to provide educational material to students as well as to information gathers from the general public.