EU: Science Center To Go (SCeTGo)

Computer im Unterricht (3)

SCeTGo (Science Center To Go)

Partner from: FI, DE, GR, SP, UK, RO

The SCeTGo project clearly falls within the scope of the transversal sector programme and is tightly connected to the priority of ICT acting as a catalyst for innovation and creativity in lifelong learning. In this framework, the SCeTGo project will not only allow the utilisation of advanced technologies for experimentation in real settings but will also initiate an innovative pedagogical approach for promoting scientific advancement in society, supporting science education and helping citizens to acquire a better understanding of the role of science and technology in society.
The SCeTGo pedagogical concepts and learning practices would be addressed by implementing a set of learning scenarios (missions) tailored to the needs of the diverse groups of learners, employing augmented reality technologies and also personalised ubiquitous learning paradigms in order to enhance the effectiveness and quality of the learning process. In the framework of these missions, learners will be able to use a series of prototype miniature exhibits and educational analysis tools in order to experience science by actively manipulating the experiments.
The SCeTGo partnership aims
a) to train educators in teaching science through the use of advanced scientific technologies (mixed reality) in such a way that they will enhance their everyday educational practice (COMENIUS),
b) reinforce collaboration between university education and scientific research (ERASMUS) and
c) demonstrate new ways that enable learning outside the school environment & improve the quality of the adult learner’s experience (GRUNDTVIG).
Furthermore, through the exploitation of new technologies the user communities will be exposed to science through augmented reality visualizations in a way that is not only exciting but also appropriate to their individual level of understanding.There is sufficient evidence to suggest that both the persistence and the quality of learning are highly enhanced when the potential learner is actively participating in the learning process [S. Papert, 1994, M. Resnick, 1993]. Science Centers (SC) adopt this philosophy by offering intriguing exhibits that enable their visitors to experience science first hand by actively manipulating the experiments, thus delivering natural ways of active playful learning. Modern technologies like Augmented Reality (AR) are often used to enrich the experience and display otherwise hidden phenomena. However, experiencing mixed reality requires visiting the SC.
The SCeTGo approach goes one step further and aims to bring similar comprehensive learning experiences out of the SC into a school’s classroom and/or everyone’s home. Its miniature exhibits - by “fitting into a pocket” and operating with ordinary hardware - enable learners to experiment whenever and wherever they please. This way the consortium makes full use of the powerful capabilities offered by tailor-made exhibits combined with AR. The SCeTGo project builds upon the work performed in the very successful project, CONNECT (www.connect-project.net) where an AR system was developed, extensively tested and evaluated in science centres in UK, Sweden, Greece and Finland with school students.
In the framework of SCeTGo the consortium aims to:
a) develop a series of miniature exhibits that will illustrate various physical phenomena enabling learners to visualize the invisible through AR technology
b) develop a pedagogical framework that attempts to blend informal and formal learning and to situate learning in real- world contexts
c) develop advanced pedagogical scenarios that are shaped around a mission guided by a general scientific question
d) pilot, to validate and to demonstrate the SCeTGo approach in formal & informal educational environments
e) facilitate lifelong learning and to improve quality of learning