Evaluating accessibility and efficiency of museums' online teacher resources

In conjunction with technological advances since the 1990s, museums are uniquely positioned to collaborate with classroom educators, in part because core pedagogies of museum education are now aligned with formal education policy. In this thesis, the development, implementation, and evaluation of online teacher resources on museum websites is examined. A literature review and a national survey of museum online resources at more than 300 museums is conducted. After a discussion of key themes that emerge from the literature review and survey, it is concluded that adequate staff time and resources are essential to developing and maintaining high-quality teacher resources and an active web presence. One recommendation is that the museum community create a centralized website with aggregated resources. Ultimately, online teacher resources could have a profound impact for an institution and help foster a vibrant, dedicated online audience of teachers and learners able to compete in the global economy.