In the master's thesis, we investigated one of the methods of using ICT (information and communication technology) in museum pedagogy, which would allow pupils and teachers to familiarize themselves with areas of our cultural heritage on the World Wide Web, as well as with active learning and teaching with the help of the World Wide Web in a broader scope. For this purpose, we used the online learning material the researcher herself designed for the needs of elementary education, related to the learning topic in the subject of History. This material represents an informal form of learning, intended to supplement learning and teaching in the process of regular education at school.
The research part focuses on the challenges museum pedagogues confront, related to new forms and ways of fulfilling the mission of museums' educational role. These challenges lie in setting up different ways of communication and meeting the learning needs of museums’ most numerous and regular group of visitors – pupils and teachers.
Contemporary guidelines of pedagogical work emphasize an active approach to learning. In the research among pupils and teachers in their school environment, we examined how the online learning materials enable this and what are the benefits of using such materials in e-learning.
To some extent, the theoretical part researches the situation in the field of museum teaching materials on the World Wide Web. Special attention was devoted to the study of those factors that are helpful for museum pedagogues to design qualitative online learning materials. Having expertise in multimedia principles of design and cognitive theory of multimedia learning plays an important role here.
Two types of the research – action and qualitative – demonstrated the advantages and disadvantages of e-learning through the use of museum online learning materials in school environment. The shortcomings refer mainly to the actual possibilities of using e-learning in regular classes, while the advantages are acquiring and advancing pupils' knowledge, as well as their satisfaction in learning through the use of ICT.
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