Users expressed dissatisfaction with how informed they
were about objects they interacted with after using the system,
with the majority of users across groups and locations
choosing “not very informed” (see Figure 4). It is not surprising
that users found both the experimental Blobgects system
just as uninformative as the control version since in the focus
groups, several users stated that they had to leave the system
entirely to look up unfamiliar words that were used in the tag
cloud (e.g., “toggle” or “baleen”). Furthermore, participants’
responses revealed that they did not enrich their actual understanding
of objects through the experience of accessing them.
Focus group and observational data indicate that this was
because the metadata presents very little of the cultural context
for the objects with which the students interacted, making
them accessible, but not useful, for learning and deeper
engagement.