School Children
We want to bring museums and their expert knowledge directly into the classroom. Unique physical interactions and hands-on experience form the basis for novel curriculum grounded learning activities. We’ve also heard loud and clear from teachers that they think children would benefit from making their own 3D prints, postcards, and stories, so that’s exactly what we’re working to provide, called Make Your Own Museum in a Box.
Teachers
The last thing we want to do is impede teachers in the their day to day work with their students. We’ve asked teachers how Museum in a Box could help. It’s sad to hear that lots of schools find it hard to send their kids to see original museum objects in museums, so we’re hoping to send the museums to them, and provide teachers with as much as they need to support great lessons.
Museums, Libraries, Archives Staff
Our cultural organisations hold thousands of interesting and important historical objects, as well as a wealth of information and data about those objects, but only a tiny subset are on display at any one time, and even then, they’re often described in 100 words or less.
We see an opportunity for institutions to share much more of their collections and their associated contextual materials, projecting their incredible work beyond the the walls of their physical site.
We have also developed a simple technology called the Boop Log, which can report back to institutions exactly which objects were booped, when, and importantly, for how long. This is a unique and new kind of direct reporting of usage.
Lifelong Learners
While our work is currently focused on school age learners, our user research and prototype demonstrations tell us there’s a much broader audience who like the idea. Anyone interested in the history of humans on this planet, or who might find it difficult or impractical to visit a museum might enjoy a collection that comes straight to them. Perhaps it’s a handling collection for a visually impaired history lover, an Exhibition in a Box if you can’t get to the museum on time, or a set of high quality 3D prints for the discerning museum patron.
Become a Partner?
We’re currently seeking a few different types of partners:
- Content & Education museum partners
We’d love to hear from you! The best thing to do is say hi via our Expression of Interest form – that way we can make sure we don’t loose you in an email vortex.
- Schools & Teachers
Most of the emails and notes we get are from you, teachers. We’re trying hard to stay on top of all these enquiries! While we hope to dovetail with the education networks of our museum partners, we’re also on the lookout for schools who don’t get the opportunity to visit museums very much! And do keep an eye on our Make Your Own pilot project. Maybe start with #myomb on Twitter?
- Funders
We’d LOVE to hear from you. Please reach out to the CEO, George Oates: glo [at] museuminabox.org.
- Academic Partners & Students
If you’re an academic in education, museum studies, philosophy, or anything really, we’d love to hear from you about possible research collaborations. We’re especially interested in co-authoring papers about what we’re up to, if you fancy that. If you’re a student looking for practical experience, we’d love to have you work on a box, design educational materials, or help with user research in a classroom.
If you’d like to join in with Museum in a Box, please get in touch!