Teachers' perceptions of virtual museums in the context of information mediation and learning

Abstract

This research presents a study about the uses and mediation of information through virtual museums. It reflects on this informational environment as an innovative pedagogical resource for teaching and learning at school. From this perspective, it aims to understand the teachers' perception of virtual museums as a source of information capable of enhancing student learning. For this, it analyzes the Brazilian portal Era Virtual, which houses several virtual museums and public access exhibitions. As a methodology, it is an exploratory research, through action research, carried out through a pedagogical workshop with participants of the International Pedagogy Forum. As a result, it appears that teachers know about virtual museums and consider them important for the teaching and learning of students, however, they are not yet present in pedagogical activities and practices. One of the possible factors to justify this conclusion would be the lack of structure of laboratories and school libraries that do not have adequate equipment and quality internet access. In addition, there is a lack of professionals, such as librarians, in the school. Finally, it is concluded that there is still a long way to go to raise public awareness of the importance of digital and virtual information environments, such as digital libraries and virtual museums, for educational or even entertainment purposes.