Game-Based Learning in Museums—Cultural Heritage Applications

Marijana Ćosović,Belma Ramić Brkić

doi:10.3390/info11010022

Marijana Ćosović, Belma Ramić Brkić

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/info11010022

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Abstract

As traditional museums migrate to the virtual world, they offer wider access to the exhibit collections but often fail to present content of those collections in more engaging way. Game-based learning is one of the solutions to mitigate this inevitable transition and support active learning in the process. It is increasingly gaining interest from the cultural heritage scientific community for the purpose of promoting cultural heritage, raising awareness of its importance and motivating users to visit cultural institutions such as museums more often. There are numerous examples of serious games that are based on or contain heritage content. Tangible cultural heritage is more represented in the virtual worlds and mainly based on applications of 3D technology. Recently, intangible cultural heritage is gaining more visibility within cultural heritage scope as a domain in which game-based learning could assist in its preservation. This paper attempts to address pros and cons of game-based learning in general and reflect on the choices of using serious games in the museum environment.

Highlights

With the rapid development of technology and its integration into all spheres of our lives, we need to consider its application and its greater use for the promotion of cultural heritage which has not remained unaffected
There are several frameworks [3,4] devised to guide virtual environment designers when designing for cultural learning; game-based designers could benefit from this knowledge as well
While empathy with the game character and plot might be considered valuable and useful in understanding the broader content of the game, the cultural heritage component, other people’s feelings, emotions, and the like, the authors did not offer a methodology for translating this into game-play [17]

Summary

Introduction

With the rapid development of technology and its integration into all spheres of our lives, we need to consider its application and its greater use for the promotion of cultural heritage which has not remained unaffected. Cultural heritage applications usually consist of stories, interactive virtual environments and 3D models. Users can explore around the virtual environment, focus on specific artefact, listen to stories, play games, and similar. Very often visitors find themselves in a position where they have to decide where to focus their attention, because the ultimate aim of virtual visits is to enhance the user experience and interest in particular works of art. Serious game designers in cultural heritage domain have to take into account end user’s perspective in interpreting digital heritage. Authors in [5] use multidisciplinary team to exemplify importance of cultural heritage interpretation in the interactive digital storytelling (IDS) application

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