Smithsonian Learning Lab Receives Grant To Study Use of Digital Learning Resources
The Smithsonian Center for
Learning and Digital Access (SCLDA) has received $500,000 in funding from Carnegie Corporation of New York for a two-year study of teacher and student use of the Smithsonian Learning
Lab's digital learning resources.
The Smithsonian Learning Lab is a
new Web-based digital platform for educators and students to find and interact
with more than 1 million digital learning assets and tools from the
Smithsonian's collections, including digitized collection objects, videos,
podcasts, lesson plans and project-based learning experiences. The Smithsonian
Learning Lab, which launched in public beta this fall, will replace the
Smithsonian's existing educational sites: Smithsonian Education, Smithsonian Education
Conferences and Smithsonian
Quests.
The research project will be conducted by the center in partnership with
Mark Warschauer, professor of education and informatics and interim dean of the
School of Education at the University of California,
Irvine, and participating classroom teachers. The researchers will analyze
how K-12 teachers and students use the Learning Lab "based on those who receive
professional development and mentoring at pilot sites and those who access the
material online independently without support," according to information from
the Smithsonian.
The goals of the research project are to enhance the Smithsonian Learning
Lab and "advance digital teaching and learning strategies throughout the
education field," according to the Smithsonian. The project is also intended to
build on the findings of previous studies to ensure that educators can locate
and make effective use of online educational resources provided by cultural
institutions and ensure those resources have the potential to improve student
learning outcomes.
About the Author
Leila Meyer is a technology writer based in British Columbia. She can be reached at [email protected].