ICT4 Elderly/Explore - into action

Contents of the module

Explore cultural and natural heritage everywhere;
Information tools;
Navigation tools;
Mediaguides (Types, Registration, Usage);
Gamification: paper chase with digital tools.

Learning objectives

Raising awareness of tools and services;
Foster information skills;
Facilitate mobility (orientation, finding locations, get there by using public transport).

Learning outcomes

Teach how to identify personally interesting cultural or natural sights, events...;
Present how to find specific locations by using navigation tools;
Teach how to use digital tools and services (gudes) for visitors in museums, cities, cultural sights etc.;

Learning scenario

Participants are asked to talk about apps they use while traveling and their experiences in using media guides (e.g., in a museum);
Participants are introduced to the functionality and how to handle different media guides;
Participants are divided into teams to plan a discovery tour for one of four different target groups;
Participants visit and discover a sight / attraction in the city where the training takes place using digital tools and services;
Participants evaluate the digital guide they use in different categories (easily accessible, easy to use, usefulness);
Participants are led into discussion on how they evaluate the potential and limitations of digital and virtual instruments for themselves and for other target groups like elderly and people with limited mobility;

Evaluation

Assignments;
Ongoing evaluation;
Assessment (test/quizzes);
Feedback exercises.

Following this module learners will:

Raise awareness;
Participants be capable to present the possibilities and give an overview of existing technologies and future trends.

Introduction of the trainin

Mobile devices are excellent tools to explore interesting places and information locally and / or virtually. In this module, participants will discover and experience different applications such as media guides and virtual journeys. Numerous cities, sites to visit and nature parks all over the world today offer media-guided tours that visitors can carry out locally with their own mobile devices (BYOD) or devices they can rent. In addition, there are now very varied and valuable offers in the virtual world. Virtually it is possible to travel to places and to get to know things, that are not reachable in the real world or only with immense effort. This module aims at rising interest and awareness of digital offers and services which provide guidance and give information on cultural and natural sites or heritages.

Particularly interests and digital skills in the areas of information literacy (research) and mobility (finding places) are required and promoted. Participants will also come into contact with new technologies such as Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality. Participants can explore digital instruments in three different experience spaces:

Indoor (e.g. museum)
Outdoor (e.g. City Guide, Nature Park)
Virtual (Online, 360°, VR)

Depending on the conditions where the training is carried out, different spaces can be tried out within the scope of the training. A visit to a museum or exhibition nearby (if possible) can be arranged to try-out it’s media guide. Alternatively, or in addition, virtual tours using VR glasses can be organized. As a result, participants will be familiar with various digital tools for exploring cultural and natural attractions and will be able to introduce other people to the possibilities of these instruments.

In addition an outlook can be given how a digital tour / media guide can be developed in a creative and entertaining way by yourself – e.g. using of a virtual tour (w/ google expeditions) or a digital scavenger / treasure hunt. (w/ actionbound)

Keywords

Information, Navigation, Culture, Nature, AR, VR, Media guide, BYOD.

Learning subject/ field

→ First session

Introduction

The first session begins with a presentation of the structure and sequence of the module by the trainer, followed by a group discussion as an introduction. The participants report where and how they have already used digital guides on mobile devices and what their experiences were with them.

Input

After this initial debate, the trainer presents application areas and possibilities to use digital instruments locally in museums, nature parks etc. but also virtually. Cultural and natural sights as well as distant places can be explored in an individual way (interest, preferences, sequence of exhibits, pace …) and made accessible to people with handicaps / impairments (hearing, sight, mobility).

The Trainer also gives input on different media types: text, audio, image, video, 360° video, AR and VR.

The trainer emphasises for which persons / target groups the offers are suitable. Personal interests (nature, culture), requirements and limitations (ability, availability, mobility, impairments) will be taken into account.

For the virtual sector different providers and platforms will be presented. The trainer gives indications where to find these offers and how to use them: Arte VR, Video platforms: youtube, vimeo; Google arts and culture, Google expeditions etc.

Videos, live demonstrations and / or a slide presentation can be used for this purpose.

Exercise

The input by the trainer will be followed by a group activity where participants plan real and virtual visits at a museum and journeys for different personas / target groups using digital instruments.

Four scenarios are given:

Explore a museum locally
Explore a museum virtually
Explore a distant place / city locally
Explore a distant place / city virtually

The Trainer supports the groups by providing information and links. The results of the small groups will be presented in the big round.

Discussion

After this exercise it will be discussed how helpful or beneficial digital and virtual instruments are and how they might change the visitor’s experience. What do the participants think - will there be more or less visitors to museums and exhibitions? What opportunities do digital technologies offer for different people, what are challenges and risks? The trainer will wrap-up the session with a debriefing moment.

→ Second session: Hands on - into Action

There are three options to implement the 2nd session: Two are local trips / excursions, the third is a virtual journey. Depending on where and under what conditions the training takes place, the requirements of the participants and the scope of the training, it is possible to conduct only one or more of the three options:

Excursion – visit a museum and use a digital media guide
City Tour – Explore interesting places nearby
Virtual Journeys e.g. to museums, distant places

In the second session, participants will learn how to navigate and be guided by digital instruments and applications, and experience how to get information about specific locations, exhibitions, etc. On the excursions, the participants reflect on various questions which are then discussed with the group: How easily accessible and well to use (user experience) are the tested digital instruments? How useful are they? Have they found contents according to their interests? Following the excursions, there will be a discussion round summarizing the first and second sessions and discussing the potential of digital instruments for discovering interesting places and topics for different groups of people. Participants are encouraged to express their questions, doubts, ideas and feelings. The discussion is led by the question, how do they assess the potential and limitations of digital and virtual instruments for themselves and for other target groups like elderly and people with limited mobility? The trainer finally will wrap-up the module with a debriefing moment.

→ (Optional) Third session: How to create guided tours – real and virtual

Session 1

The purpose of the session will be:

to provide an overview of applications to discover cultural and natural sights
to discover the variety of virtual offers and their potential
to experience concrete examples of these applications

Group discussion

The participants are asked to talk about apps they use while traveling and their experiences in using media guides e.g. in a museum: What kind of apps do you use while travelling? Have you ever dig a virtual journey (VR)? Where and how have you already used guides on mobile devices? What were your experiences? This is important to establish a learning field where both trainer and participants come together to share experiences, knowledge and ideas.

After this initial debate the trainer briefly summarises the contributions and introduces the objectives and the structure of the sessions.

Application areas and types of digital media guides

The trainer presents application areas for media guides and gives examples for illustration:

traveling (Berlin GoingLocal)
in museums (Louvre, British Museum)
in (nature) parks (Central Park, NY)

With regard to the subsequent group task, the trainer should also provide information on which persons / target groups the offers are suitable for. Personal interests (e.g. nature, culture), requirements and restrictions (e.g. ability, availability, mobility) will be taken into account.

This part should be supported by videos, a slide presentation prepared in advance or with live demonstrations. Links: see link collection at the bottom and separat table (xlsx-file)

Functionality

The trainer gives an introduction to the functionality of media guides and gives input on different media types (audio, image, video, 360° video, AR/VR).

Handling and operation

The trainer explains how to use media guides:

1. in a museum:

connecting to a wifi hotspot
triggering of the content with numbers, QR codes, NFC, beacons, markers, positioning (GPS) etc.

2. virtual: Overview of Platforms and Applications

Arte VR
Video platforms: youtube, vimeo etc.
Google arts and culture
Google expeditions

This part of the session can be supported by a slide presentation prepared in advance and live presentations.

Exercise

The participants form groups of 3-4 persons. The splitting is organized by the participants themselves or with prepared lots.

The trainer formulates the task

Each group plans a discovery tour for one of four different target groups by researching suitable platforms presented beforehand:

The trainer's input in the previous explanatory section must make it clear which offer is suitable for which group of people.

Participants must pay attention to 3 points:

personal conditions / handicaps
area of interest
technology

Trainer can provide links/solutions or help only on demand

Group activity

The participants form groups of 3-4 persons. Each group plans a discovery tour for one of four different target groups (selection by lots pre-prepared in advance) by researching on suitable platforms previously presented:

Scenario 1: person with interest in culture or nature and which is mobile / able to visit a touristic place, museum, exhibition, nature park -> multimedia guide in museum or exhibition

Scenario 2: person with interest in culture but not able to visit a museum, exhibition etc. locally (immobile or too far away) -> virtual Tour: e.g. Louvre, Museum of Natural History, Natural History Museum

Scenario 3: person with interest in new / distant places - able to make journeys -> City/Tour-Guide Berlin App, Malta App, Actionbound App

Scenario 4: person with interest in distant places / nature - not able to make a journey Virtual journey -> Google Expeditions, Arte VR, 360° videos

The trainer gives recommendations and assists the search for offered.

Group presentation

Each group presents the digital tour they planned. The presentation can be oral, with flipchart or digital, as a live demo.

Group discussion

How will digital and virtual offerings change the visitor’s experience? What do you think - will there be more or less visitors to museums and exhibitions?

Overall duration of the session

1 hour and 35 min

Homework

Debriefing

Evaluation

References

See session 2.

Session 2

The purpose of the session will be:

to discover new digital technologies for guided visits and virtual tours
to experience the possibilities and functionalities of digital guided tours / visits and virtual journeys
to facilitate participants to introduce other persons into these digital instruments

Excursion

There are three options do do an excursion using digital instruments.

Option 1: Visit a museum or exhibition and using media guide (if available)

The participants visit a museum, exhibition or gallery etc. (60 – 90 min) This can be done individually or as a group activity. The trainer can accompany the group. The participants shall evaluate the digital guide they use in different categories: How

visible
easily accessible
well to use
useful

the media guide was. (It is recommended to the participants to take short notes on their impressions during the visit.)

Option 2: use a digital city guide (if available)

The participants explore new places by using a city guide (app) or doing a treasure hunt (with the actionbound app) (60 – 90 min) The participants shall evaluate the digital guide they use in different categories: How

easily accessible
well to use (user experience)
useful (recommendations of POI’s, commercial offers etc.)

the media guide was.

Option 3: Virtual Exploration

Participants discover foreign places and cultural offers with tablets or / and in VR. → preparation

It is important to prepare technical infrastructure in advance:

Devices: Smartphones, Cardboards or VR glasses, (Tablets and Laptops)
Apps pre-installed, or time to install at the beginning of the session (BYOD)
Earphones
internet connection

→ discovery (60 – 90 min)

Each participant defines a certain topic and according to her or his interests: nature, arts, culture etc. After that they discover various opportunities and contents in these areas on different platforms:

Arte VR
Video platforms: youtube, vimeo etc.
Google arts and culture
Google expeditions

They could ask questions to the trainer and the group. The trainer helps with the usage of the devices and supports finding suitable offers with recommendations and a list of links.

Group Discussion

After the exercise, participants describe what they have visited during the excursion and share and discuss their impressions with the group. The discussion is led by the questions how participants assess the potential and limitations of digital and virtual instruments for themselves and for other target groups like elderly and people with limited mobility:

Have they found contents according to their interests?
Was the tool or technology easy accessible and easy to use?
What were expectations and how they match with the experiences they had during the (virtual) excursion?

Debriefing

To wrap up the training scenario (sessions 1 and 2), the trainer will facilitate a debriefing moment where participants are encouraged to reflect their experiences of exploring cultural and natural sights using digital instruments. They can express their questions, doubts, ideas and feelings about the topics introduced.

Homework

Debriefing

Evaluation

Overall duration of the session

1 hour and 25 min

References

Malta

https://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2016-02-29/newspaper-lifestyleculture/Heritage-Malta-launches-new-audio-guides-at-the-National-Museum-of-Archaeology-6736154112
https://heritagemalta.org/
https://heritagemalta.org/malta-maritime-museum/ (Streetview Tour)
https://heritagemalta.org/national-museum-of-archaeology/ (Streetview Tour)
https://www.visitmalta.com/en/audiotours (outdated? commercial)

Berlin

Museum guides (local)

Museum guides