Abstract:

Virtual museums offer digital exhibitions with collections and objects shown on the Internet. The abstract term virtual museums take multiple forms, depending on demand, such as in 360-degree tour videos. On the one hand, virtual museums can be created in digital form by performing a three-dimensional reconstruction of physical collections and objects, using data captured from 360-degree cameras. Nevertheless, virtual museums can be developed in an entirely virtual environment in the form of distinct rooms in which objects are exhibited. These virtual museums have been created by a range of cultural institutions, including museums, libraries, and archives, to provide visitors with enjoyment, learning, and accessibility (Styliani, 2009). Virtual museums have the powerful roles of
(1) conserving and securing collections and objects by digitizing them;
(2) delivering data for visitors on when and where to access museums;
(3) using storage beyond the public-facing part of the museum and back storage (back yard), extending to a new digital reception area; and
(4) accommodating diverse visitors, including those with audiovisual or speech disabilities.

University museums and libraries have proven that object-based learning plays a meaningful role in interdisciplinary learning involving collections and objects across diverse disciplinary fields (Csikszentmihalyi, 1988; Thogersen et al., 2018; Hannan et al., 2013; Kador et al., 2018). In university museums and libraries, object-based learning—including the use of collections and objects shrined within university museums and libraries—aided the acquisition of knowledge related to specific disciplinary fields such as cultural and natural history and archaeology. At present, other modes of object-based learning have been acknowledged the use of digital technologies under the field of the digital humanities (Oxford Internet Institute. 2015). Also, academic and cultural institutions in Japan are also fitted to digital archiving systems. Among universities in Japan’s, the University of Tokyo was early equipped with a digital archiving system to disclose its catalog and image data online and to serve an easy catalog search and browsing of image resources (The University of Tokyo library system).

The author, educational curator, prepared to provide an online lecture on sustainability issues stemming from the perspective of life sciences students to encounter the specimens of leaves, cones, and wood at the digital yard. Then, students discuss the group members and plan their presentation content using several approaches, such as a poster tour or creating a jigsaw portrayal with posters/panels. These works can be presented either online, through the breakout room function in Zoom, web meeting software, or onsite. These active learning approaches are more efficacious due to the use of digital archiving systems. It is important to combine alternative object-based learning, both with intangible and tangible objects.

Keywords:

Digital object-based learning, life science objects, virtual museums.