Project description
BILAD: An international research network
BILAD stands for "Educational Research at Informal Learning Sites in the Interplay Between Authenticity and Digitality" and thus for an international research network. A total of 17 research institutions and museums from all over the world are involved in the joint project initiated by the Technical University of Munich and the Leibniz Institute for Knowledge Media. The project is funded by the BMBF and started in October 2021.
The network's research focuses on informal learning sites, such as museums and science centers, because these places offer a unique interplay of authenticity and digitality. So far, however, these learning sites have been considered rather marginal in empirical educational research. Therefore, the goal of the project is to establish an interdisciplinary network and to strategically connect international experts from museums, science centers and memorial sites. This interdisciplinary exchange between research and practice offers a unique opportunity for the research field.
Online workshops and three face-to-face conferences are intended to promote exchange between network members and provide the opportunity to mutually provide an overview of the respective activities, methods and findings of empirical educational research on informal learning sites as well as to identify and discuss central topics. In this way, joint research ideas and projects can emerge. The project offers especially for junior researchers the opportunity to visit other participating institutions during five-day lab visits.
This website will document the results of the network and create a knowledge base for educational practice and policy.
The following institutions are involved in the project:
- BIOTOPIA: Naturkundemuseum Bayern
- Deutsches Museum München
- Experimenta Heilbronn
- Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics Education
- Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien
- Leibniz Institut zur Analyse des Biodiversitätswandels, Museum Koenig
- National Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo da Vinci
- Oregon State University
- Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Karlsruhe
- Städel Museum
- Stiftung Brandenburgische Gedenkstätten
- Technical University of Munich
- UCL
- University of Duisburg
- Leiden University
- University of Oslo
- University of Helsinki