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What Is the Smithsonian Learning Lab?

The Smithsonian Learning Lab is a free, interactive platform for discovering millions of authentic digital resources from the world’s largest museum, education, and research complex, creating content with online tools, and sharing in the Smithsonian’s expansive community of knowledge and learning.

Here’s what you’ll find in the Smithsonian Learning Lab:

Resource Overview

Resources may be from the Smithsonian or may be uploaded by Learning Lab users.

These icons appear in the lower-right corner of each resource:

You can interact with a resource in a variety of ways.

Each resource has information attached to it. This information can be as brief as acquisition date or as lengthy as contextual information.

Collection Overview

Collections are aggregations of resources and can be as simple as a themed group of things or as complex as a complete lesson plan aligned to standards. Using the Learning Lab’s online tools, you can customize and enhance groups of resources to engage learners, or freely adapt collections already created.

You can interact with a collection in a variety of ways.

The icons show actions you may take:

	Copy the collection to your account so that you can modify it to better suit your needs. Copying the collection does not affect the original version.
	Favorite, or bookmark, the collection.
	Share the collection through social media and email, or embed it on a website.
	Alert the Learning Lab team to a concern, a broken link, or something you find to be awesome.
	Generate a citation in MLA, APA, or Chicago style.
	Print / Export the collection to use offline.
	Learn more about the collection (how it might be used, age ranges, and applicable standards).
	Navigate back to the main collection view when viewing a resource in a collection.

Signing Up and Basic Navigation

Become part of the Smithsonian learning community.

On the homepage, click the “Create a Free Account” button and follow the prompts.

	Click the Smithsonian sunburst in the upper-right of your screen to access your collections, favorites, and more.
	Click this button, located in the lower-right of your screen, to access the Notes tool. Use this tool to take persistent, private notes that travel with you throughout the Lab. Notes can be edited or deleted after creation, can be searched for specific keywords, and can include links to specific pages. Consider using this tool to carry guiding questions with you or your learners, copy content related to learning or discoveries, and more.
	Click this button, located in the lower-right of your screen, to access the History tool. This tool shows your browsing history as you travel through the Lab, making it easy to find previously accessed searches, resources, and collections. Histories can be cleared at any time.
	Click this button, located in the lower-right of your screen, to visit the Help Center, contact us, or activate screen tips and collection progress tracking. Screen Tips: These pop-up tutorials will guide you through basic features throughout the site. Collection Progress Tracking: When viewing a collection, the thumbnails of previously viewed resources will appear dimmed when this feature is on.

Personalize Your Public Profile

Add a profile picture and tell others a little about yourself.

To access your profile, click the Smithsonian sunburst in the upper right and click “Profile.” As you publish collections, they will appear on this page.

Click the pencil button to edit your profile.