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exploratorium.edu 2006
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exploratorium.edu 2002
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exploratorium.edu 2000
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exploratorium.edu 1997
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The
Exploratorium is a museum of science, art, and human
perception located in San Francisco, California. Online
since 1993, the Exploratorium was one of the first
science museums to build a site on the World Wide
Web. Included in our award-winning site
are more than 18 thousand Web pages and many sound
and video files, exploring hundreds of different topics.
We currently serve 20 million visitors a year on the
site—more
than thirty times the number of visitors who come to
the museum in San Francisco. That makes us one of the
most visited museum Web sites in the world.
The Exploratorium's Web site is designed to extend
the kinds of experiences our visitors have beyond the
museum's floor. Today, the medium of the Internet makes
it possible for the museum to reach homes and schools
all over the world. This has changed the way formal
and informal learning takes place, both in the classroom
and in the home. The Exploratorium online, and the
resources it provides, are available 24 hours a day,
worldwide, to anyone with an Internet connection.
Many of the resources on our Web site are examples
of very simple uses of information technology, but
thoughtfully implemented. For example, the site contains
instructions for over 500 simple experiments,
all of which may be viewed on any type of Web browser,
with even the slowest connection, and easily printed
out.
Other
types of content have required more creative use of
existing or new technologies. In order to demonstrate
certain phenomena, for instance, we have created a
variety of online exhibits
using Shockwave, Flash, QuickTime VR, and other technologies.
Many of these online exhibits are patterned after real
exhibits on the museum floor, providing equally rich experiences.
Our newest experiments with information technology
have revolved around Webcasting and podcasting,
in which we broadcast live video and/or audio directly
from the museum floor (or from satellite feeds in the
field) onto the Internet. Webcasts provide access to
events, scientists, artists, educators, and other museum resources
for audiences on the Web. Using video and audio with
information and images lets a visitor choose
among different methods of learning about a particular
topic. Video and audio also provide the ability to hear
or view interviews with scientists, "meet" interesting
people, or tour unusual locations, from factories to
rainforests.
Our Web audience has given us very positive feedback
on our use of new technology. This may be because we
don't use technology for its own sake -- we use it when
it's the best or the only way to provide information.
We are very careful whenever we implement a new technology.
We try to make sure that whatever we do or create online
is as accessible to our visitors as possible.
But
more than the use of technology, what makes the Exploratorium's
site unique is its approach to developing content.
Our focus is on investigating the science behind the
ordinary subjects and experiences of people's lives.
The topics themselves provide "hooks" that get people excited about
science. Then, when we investigate these topics, we
can also look at the historical and social issues surrounding
them, thus providing a context for scientific exploration.
The Exploratorium's Web site, like the museum itself,
is a work in progress, continuing to grow and provide
our visitors with meaningful, revealing experiences.
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