Exploratory Multi-media Environments

Abstract

This chapter describes an on-going research and development project, funded by a grant from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, that is attempting to bring insights from the design of exploratory environments in museums to bear upon the design of multimedia environments that can be integrated into classrooms. Features of exploratory environments observed in interactive museums are described, with the identification of features that can guide attempts at translating these environments into forms compatible with classroom constraints. Such an exploratorium differs from other applications of computer technology in being deliberately designed to invite exploration, evoke curiosity, and stimulate further exploration. We describe “rooms” that have been created in this computer-based “exploratorium” and the experience of testing these environments. The exploratory environment seeks to give children the feeling of freedom to run, roam, pause, poke, and play with images, ideas, and “objects” at their own pace and as they wish. The goal is to create an enclave in the corner of the classroom that allows children’s imaginations to roam the universe.