Abilene Christian University has utilized their students' cell phone addictions by using iPhones as a learning tool. The school provided students and instructors with phones that are linked to school maps, calendars of events, and lecture podcasts. Instructors use the search engines built into the phones instead of quickly outdated textbooks in class to teach students how to cut through the masses of information to find the best sources. And to accommodate introverted students, professors send anonymous polls directly to the phones.
The
American Museum of Natural History launched an
app earlier this year that creates a more interactive experience for guests of the museum. The app gives visitors turn-by-turn directions, acts as a tour guide, or leads visitors on a fossil treasure hunt. Guests use the app to read more detailed information about each exhibit and can explore other exhibits ranked alphabetically, by popularity, or by location.
On the local front, BYU opened "
Carl Bloch: The Master's Hand," an exhibit featuring biblical scenes painted by the Danish artist, with iPad tour guides. Visitors can rent an iPad from the museum for $3 and a special app created specifically for the exhibit.
The app gives information about each painting, like when it was created and its context in the Bible, and shows visitors panoramic pictures of where the art is normally displayed in Denmark. The app was created by BYU students and faculty and took more than a month (and a few trips to Denmark) to complete.
The Brooklyn Museum opened an
exhibit earlier this year on the women of pop art. To keep the simple pop art look of the gallery, information about each of the 25 artists was available on displayed iPads next to the art. This approach allowed the museum to provide oodles of information without cluttering the space with signage. A staff member at the museum spent the months leading up to the exhibit opening writing extensive Wikipedia articles on the artists, full of background information, links, images and more. The iPads were set with a "
Wikipop" app that allowed visitors to browse the new articles and look up more information.
I love the ways museums are using technology in unexpected ways to help the visitors learn. Do you have any great ideas on how we can use iPads when we open?
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2 comments:
I think it'd be a great idea to provide iPads around the Leo when it reopens. Who wouldn't want to try them out without having to pay the big bucks? I find it very interesting that a technology that's usually hyped and centered around music and movies can also be used in such a variety of ways.
There will need to be places to sit while having a Ipad experience. accessible, low cost sturdy places to site to encourage browsing and dwell times.
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