Museums Engage Young Imaginations Online May 20th, 2009
Regina Hopper

In this modern age, young people flock online to chat with friends, play games, download music and videos, and connect with global learning opportunities.  Given the tremendous advances broadband is bringing to us all, it’s no wonder museums are harnessing the power of the Internet to teach younger generations.  From art to science to history, museums are creating customized websites to capture young imaginations with the latest technological innovations.

Curators know experiencing a work of art is a vastly different interaction for a five year old versus a teen.  That’s why The Museum of Modern Art in New York has launched two websites for different age groups.  With its bold, cartoon-like graphics and alien mascot, Destination Modern Art targets 4-8 year olds who are encouraged to select a painting in the virtual gallery to participate in a range of fun activities.  For example, Pablo Picasso’s “Three Musicians” invites kids to move their mouse to hear the instruments play, encourages them to scramble and reassemble the painting, or learn fun facts and quotes about the artist.  Red Studio, on the other hand, targets 13-19 year olds, and features teen interviews with artists and creative design contests.

Want to experience a piece of history?  The American Museum of Natural History invites kids on an animated tour of the ancient city of Petra on its Ology website.  Smithsonian features interactive learning activities for kids on a wide range of topics from postal history to giant panda trivia to a tutorial on building your own light bulb.  And, for teachers and families, The Whitney Museum of American Art has launched Learning@Whitney, which provides an array of useful online education resources.

Now many amazing musuem collections and lessons can be accessed via broadband, without taking school field trips and tourist vacations.  And as technology continues to evolve, educational websites will only become more innovative and engaging destinations for kids to visit.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 20th, 2009 at 1:25 pm and is filed under Benefits of Broadband. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.