An Evaluation of MyArtSpace: a Mobile Learning Service for School Museum Trips

We report the main findings of the final evaluation study of the MyArtSpace project. MyArtSpace is a combined mobile phone and web-based service to support learning between schools and museums. On arriving for a museum visit the children are loaned mobile phones running the MyArtSpace software. They can view multimedia presentations of museum exhibits, take photos, make voice recordings, write notes and see who else has viewed the exhibit. After each action, the content is automatically transmitted over the phone connection to a website which stores a personal record of their visit. Back in the classroom they can review their visit and the media they have collected, share material with other children and create presentations. MyArtSpace has been deployed in three museums for a year-long trial during which over 3000 school students used the service, on organised visits from local schools. The final user study took place in one museum during November 2006, with a group of twenty-three students aged 11-14 and their teachers. It covered usability, educational and organisational issues, through focus groups, observational studies, questionnaire surveys, and face to face, telephone and email interviews. The study showed that MyArtSpace had a positive impact on school museum visits, and identified areas for improvement in the technical and educational aspects of the service.