From sea to screen: Bringing the ocean inland with online learning at the Monterey Bay Aquarium
Tuesday, April 4th: 1:30pm - 3:00pm
Presenters:
Katy Noelle Scott
Education Programs Director @ Monterey Bay AquariumJeanine Ancelet
Principal @ Audience FocusEmily Kotecki
@Davis Mendez
@Andrea Montiel de Shuman
Museums Education & Digital Experience Designer + Audience Evaluation @ Independent Contractor & Collaborator @ Audience FocusPaper Abstract
While museums have been providing distance learning opportunities for over thirty years, the demand for online education programs skyrocketed in the unfolding of the COVID-19 pandemic. Environmental organizations faced the added challenge of moving outdoor education to digital platforms. The Monterey Bay Aquarium responded by rapidly developing English and Spanish self-paced online courses for PK-12 students and their caregivers. Designed to help learners build empathy for animals, connect to local outdoor spaces, and take conservation action, these free online courses have since attracted more than 55,000 enrollments from more than 95 countries.
In 2022, the Aquarium partnered with Audience Focus for an in-depth study of the online courses, uncovering the motivations and satisfaction of the courses’ main audiences. It also measured how well the courses met the intended learning outcomes, and how they impacted user affinity for the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
Audience Focus devised various methods to measure the Aquarium’s success in developing students’ empathy for wildlife and environmental identity with the courses. Using innovative embedded assessments, the evaluation showed that courses specifically designed around less-loved animals (such as sharks) led to large jumps in animal empathy. It also showed that students’ confidence in their ability to take environmental action increased, especially in courses for older students.
We will also address:
– The surprising finding that 40% of online learners described their communities as rural or small towns;
– Our approach to rapidly designing and releasing courses in creative sprints based in an Agile Scrum framework;
– Our innovative use of embedded assessments to gather data from children;
– Strategies for measuring empathy and environmental identity with children;
– The expanding opportunity for digital engagement with early learners (preK-2), in particular.
Bibliography:
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Cieko, Pryor, Torres, and Stirn (2020). “Supporting Schools and Educators as a Cultural Organization,” Cuseum.
Ennes, Megan, and Imani N. Lee. “Distance Learning in Museums: A Review of the Literature.” The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning 22, no. 3 (2021): 162–87. https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v21i3.5387.
Khalil, K., Cote, E., Weber, M., & O’Morchoe, C. (2020). Embedded Evaluation Tools Effectively Measure Empathy for Animals in Children in Informal Learning Settings. Ecopsychology, 309-319. https://doi.org/http://doi.org/10.1089/eco.2019.0067
Khalil, Kathayoon, & Ardoin, N. (2011). Programmatic evaluation in association of zoos and aquariums–accredited zoos and aquariums: A literature review. Applied Environmental Education & Communication, 10, 168–177.
Owen, K., & Khalil, K. (2015). Best practices in developing empathy toward wildlife. https://resources.informalscience.org/best-practices-developing-empathy-toward-wildlife
Milligan, Darren, Wadman, and Ausman (2017). “Discovering, Creating, And Sharing Digital Museum Resources: A Methodology For Understanding The Needs And Behaviors Of Student Users.” Museums and the Web 2017.
(n.d.). Museum Facts & Data. American Alliance of Museums. Retrieved February 1, 2023, from https://www.aam-us.org/programs/about-museums/museum-facts-data/
Sliger, M. (2011). Agile project management with Scrum. Paper presented at PMI® Global Congress 2011—North America, Dallas, TX. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute.
Stapleton, S.R. (2015). Environmental Identity Development Through Social Interactions, Action, and Recognition, The Journal of Environmental Education, 46:2, 94-113, DOI: 10.1080/00958964.2014.1000813
keywords: distance learning, empathy, aquarium, online learning, rural, environmental identity
Proposal Url: https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/for-educators/learning-at-home/online-courses
ID: 11044
