A survey of networked and Wi-Fi enabled practices to support disabled learners in museums

This article reports on a survey of network and Wi-Fi enabled technologies to support disabled learners in museums and similar cultural heritage environments. In this study, literature is classified using the Epistemological Model of Disability, classifying and defining methodologies and ontologies as it does so. Data was collected using a systematic literature review using six academic databases, which included peer-reviewed articles from a range of sources. The analysis addressed two research questions, and was developed in three phases: the first phase examined trends, definitions and methods of teaching and learning in cultural heritage; the second categorized genres that emerged in the first phase and discussed meta-levels; the third developed a critical discussion on teaching and learning models. The study had two principal findings: 1) museums have done much to make themselves part of the inclusion agenda, 2) more needs to be done to improve management strategies, increase agency and reduce practice using deficit models.