Virtual Museums in Arts Education. Results of a Pilot Project in Primary School Settings

Aims: The study presents the results of a pilot project in which virtual museums were used for teaching modern painters to sixth-grade primary school students. Study Design: Experimental study with one experimental and two control groups. Place and Duration of Study: A total of 132 students participated in the study coming from 6 primary schools located in Athens, Greece. The duration of the projects was between January to February 2017. Methodology: The virtual museums were developed by the students using the program Artsteps. For comparing the learning outcomes, two additional groups of students were formed. To the first, the teaching was conventional, while in the second the teaching was supported by multimedia presentations. Research data was collected using questionnaires and evaluation sheets. Results: From the analysis of the results it became evident that students that developed the virtual museums surpassed, in most cases, the other groups of students. The views of students for their work with virtual museums were highly positive. Conclusion: The results lead to the need for further investigation of the matter