Abstract:

While the number of people using digital technologies is growing increasingly, scientific and educational institutions are investigating new innovative tools for various purposes: some employ online technologies to support and promote their activities, others utilize collaboration tools to interact with their audience, collaborate with other institutions, and share information and resources. In science education, interactive digital technologies are being utilized as tools to support teaching and learning in informal science learning contexts; they can also be employed as platforms to involve students in discussions on science related topics with other students, teachers, scientists, and the public. However, the continuous development in digital technologies might require these institutions to identify the most effective tools to adopt. Moreover, there are a growing number of collaboration platforms that require their institutions to being active on. This highlights the need for continued research on and evaluation of these tools.

Using case studies of digital technologies employed by a sample of scientific and educational institutions for different purposes, this paper explores the role of digital technologies in promoting various activities conducted by the institutions. Furthermore, the paper highlights the collaborative features of digital technologies, and investigates online practices and activities used when institutions collaborate and share ideas and resources.

This study presents forms of digital collaboration, then describes cases where digital technologies are used at educational and research institutions. The study also compares how institutions employ digital technologies to reach the public and to collaborate with other institutions. The case study provides examples, recommendations and guidelines for institutions on factors to be considered when developing a marketing strategy.

Keywords:

Social Media, Science Centers, Education, Science Education, Digital Literacy, Educational Technology, Crowdsourcing Science, Digital Collaboration.