Abstract
The last 5 years have been a turning point when speaking about education and learning. User-generated knowledge and connectivity seem to be at the basis of ever more personalized learning experiences, while the debate on the 21st century competences is gaining ground. What does all this mean for the field and profession of learning experts and facilitators in museums? What change in skills and competences, training, programme development, and face-to-face interaction with visitors is taking place? How are learning experts expected to contribute to the consequent evolution of the museum’s mission, policy, and practice? This chapter reflects on the above questions by (a) analysing the current trends and their implications for museums and learning experts; and (b) focusing on the specific case of the National Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo da Vinci. It will attempt to answer the above questions by putting together theoretical and methodological principles with inputs from practice aiming to emphasise the great potential that museum learning experts have for individuals’ learning, experience and social engagement as they appear to be evolving today.
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Notes
- 1.
See also the policy and strategy of the European Union: http://ec.europa.eu/europe2020/index_it.htm; http://ec.europa.eu/education/policy/strategic-framework/index_en.htm.
- 2.
One of the most popular IT-based education contexts is MOOCS and other online courses: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/17/education/consortium-of-colleges-takes-online-education-to-new-level.html?_r=1; https://www.coursera.org/; http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324906004578288341039095024.html.
- 3.
For further discussions about learning see also: www.exploratorium.edu/IFI/resources/constructivistlearning.html; http://caise.insci.org/news/99/51/ISE-Summit-2010/d,resources-page-item-detail; http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?isbn=0309053269; http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2000/nsf99148/pdf/nsf99148.pdf; http://www.inspiringlearningforall.gov.uk/.
- 4.
On training see also the materials developed by the PILOTS EU-funded project available at http://www.thepilots.eu/results.html.
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Xanthoudaki, M., Miotto, E. (2017). ‘User-Generated’ Educators: The New Frontier or a Far-Fetched Dream?. In: Patrick, P. (eds) Preparing Informal Science Educators. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50398-1_23
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