Smithsonian Learning Lab

What Smithsonian Learning Lab is

Smithsonian Learning Lab is a free web platform for discovering Smithsonian digital resources, creating learning experiences, and sharing work. Its library includes millions of images, recordings, texts, and videos across history, art and culture, and science. The Smithsonian describes the Lab as a resource for teachers, students, and lifelong learners. Educators and subject experts organize resources into collections, which users can copy, add resources to, annotate, and enrich with hotspots, quizzes, or assignments. Collections can be shared online, embedded in another website, or assigned to learners, with responses and progress tracked. Collections are private by default; publishing makes them public and searchable. Listed upload formats include documents, images, spreadsheets, presentations, and text, with a maximum file size of 4 MB. Assignment and Roster tools are limited to students aged 13 or older, and each student responding to an assignment needs a Learning Lab account. The Smithsonian Office of Educational Technology produces and maintains the Lab. Free professional development programs model ways to use digital museum resources in teaching.