虛擬博物館使用者之學習經驗研究

Abstract

虛擬博物館本應承襲實體博物館的展示、教育、娛樂與研究使命而發展，然而目前研究重心卻多偏重於技術發展、系統好用性及如何支援正式學習之相關議題，關注使用者如何在虛擬環境中經歷自發性的學習者尚屬少數。本研究目的在探究（1）使用者如何於虛擬博物館內經驗學習，並產生哪些學習行為，（2）虛擬博物館的線上學習效果，以及該經驗與實體博物館經驗之關係，（3）使用者如何看待虛擬博物館在博物館經驗之良性循環中的角色。 本研究採以實驗觀察法與深度訪談方式進行資料之徵集，以故宮的虛擬博物館網站為例，招募15位半年內曾前往故宮本館參觀的網友為研究對象，紀錄受訪者在虛擬博物館中的瀏覽路徑與行為，並訪談他們先前的實體參觀經驗，以及虛擬博物館使用後的想法，再依據質性的紮根理論進行分析。 研究結果顯示（1）使用者在虛擬博物館中亦可以得到一種類似於實體博物館內的學習體驗，他們在虛擬博物館的學習行為可以歸納為九種學習歷程；（2）使用者不但自虛擬博物館中獲得相當的學習效果，而且每個人的學習經驗都會受到其個人背景、社會脈絡與虛擬博物館架構出的環境脈絡影響。此外，這些經驗也與他們的實體博物館經驗有所差異，而這些差異反映兩種經驗的優勢和限制以及相互輔助的潛能；（3）對使用者而言，虛擬博物館最為實際的功能便是輔助實體博物館的參訪經驗，包括參訪前的行程準備與參訪後的深入瞭解。 依據本研究結論提出以下建議：（1）對於虛擬博物館之資訊內容提供應依據使用者的需求而定，以滿足使用者之資訊需求為目的；（2）在虛擬博物館的網站功能設計方面，應注意網站之好用性設計，避免任何干擾使用者接收資訊的錯誤；（3）加強與實體博物館的策略合作，協助使用者架構更具學習效果的博物館經驗。

Virtual Museums, like physical museums, should be developed to fulfill the missions such as educational activity, exhibition, recreation and research. However, most of the studies in virtual museums merely focus on topics such as technique, user interface and educational support services, only a few studies concentrate on users’ experience in virtual environment. The purpose of this study is to research the following issues: 1) How do users learn from the virtual museum? 2) How efficiently is the virtual museum learning? What’s the relationship between physical and virtual museum? 3) How users view the role of the virtual museum in their museum experience? Fifteen participants who visited the physical National Palace Museum in past six months were interviewed in this study. Their browsing behavior on the website of National Palace Museum were observed and recorded. Follow-up interviews were conducted to verify and understand their thoughts about this experience. Finally, data were analyzed according to their characteristics. The results of this research indicate that 1) Users’ learning experiences in the virtual museum is similar to those in the physical museum. Their activities can be classified into nine indicative behaviors. 2) Users can gain informal learning outcomes from the virtual museum and their experience varied by their personal, sociocultural, and physical contexts. Also, the experience of virtual museum visiting was different from that of physical museum visiting. These differences reflect the advantages and limits of the two experiences and the collaborative potential. 3) In users’ opinions, the most important function of virtual museums is to support their physical museum experiences such as planning a visit to the museum and following-up on a recent visit to a museum visit. This study suggests that 1) Virtual museums should provide information contents based on users’ requirements and therefore satisfy users’ needs 2) The design of virtual museums has to focus on the usability and enhance the information flow from virtual museums to users. 3) The museum staff needs to create a virtuous circle between a museum’s online and physical spaces.