Day in the museum

Organising institution:

Edukaciniai Projektai (EDUPRO)

Country:

Lithuania

Age:

15-17

Key question:

Do ICT connect or separate us from our parents, grandparents?

Objectives:

1. Using different ICT tools to improve communication between different generations.
2. To transfer learning from schools to museums, galleries.
3. To encourage lifelong learning.
4. To encourage knowledge share between different generations.

Time:

6 hours.

Software and apps to be used:

• http://oedb.org/ilibrarian/5-free-and-open-source-tools-for-creating-digital-exhibitions/
• storybird.com
• For poster: canva.com or poster maker app (James Thomas Carter)
• For postcard: mixbook.com or canva.com or https://spark.adobe.com/make/card-maker/postcards/.

Brief presentation:

Workshop is organised in the premises of museum or gallery. Participants are mixed (teenagers, parents, grandparents). At first a tour is organised in the museum (its history, presentation of the current exhibition). Afterwards in an education room everybody is sitting mixed or intergenerational groups are formed. The following tasks are being performed: trying to remember a poem and filling in the missing words; creation of the poem looking at a piece of art; power point about stereotypes about elderly people (presented by students); then a discussion between students and elderly people – what do people say about young/ elderly people; creation of a postcard with an elderly person and a piece of art, printing it out and sending best wishes to him/ her; work in intergenerational groups – creation of a poster (using online tools, apps) – “Positive sides of being older”, printing posters and making an exhibition in the museum/ gallery/ school or making an online exhibition.

Topics covered:

1. Modern technologies and different generations;
2. Arts, Native language, literature, history, history of arts;
3. Development of creativity, imagination.

Civic engagement:

To encourage communication between schools and museums, galleries. Learning in different spaces and from each other. To include different generations into learning process – children/teenager, parents, grandparents or elderly people from care home (a social project possibility).

Preparation of space for the Atelier:

DA involves moving from one space to another: education room in the museum, then walking in the museum and watching the exhibitions, stopping in front of the piece of art work to create a poem, then again education room and back to the art spaces and once again education room. Cooperation between the teacher/trainer and museum educational programmes/ exhibition curator is necessary.

Materials needed:

Worksheet with pre-prepared poems with missing words; a big sheet of paper to write the created poem; printer, paper pens.

Main inspirations taken from personal research:

• Learning in a different environment (since learning happens everywhere) – in the museum.
• Participants are students, their parents and/ or elderly people from social care home.
• In this DA we join some ICT technologies with intergenerational learning.

Mass media and social media connections: For making the presentation about stereotypes, students make a research in the social media networks and collect pictures illustrating stereotypes.

How do you collect information as the starting point of a Digital Atelier?

“What you don’t know about me?” worksheet.

Introducing students to the key question - the research begings:

Can ICT help different generations to communicate?

Experimental phase

Action that unfolds the practical activity to clarify the question:

During the experimental phase students work alone in the museum space dedicated for educational activities (making a presentation about stereotypes related to elderly people).

Active work of the students:

1. Tour in the museum of all group (students + parents and/ or elderly people/ grandparents (conducted by the museum/ gallery employee);
2. Creation of the common poem in front of a piece of art work (each participant has to say any word which comes to his/ her mind;
3. Common work in intergenerational group (in a space dedicated for educational activities in the museum/ gallery): trying to remember a poem and filling in the missing words in a pre-prepared worksheet.

Presentation of findings and results (visualisation of information):

Students make presentation they have about stereotypes they found in the mass media about elderly people (multimedia is used).

Analysis of results:

The results are analysed during a discussion where everybody is encouraged to share what is true/ false and what stereotypes elderly people have/ know about young people.

Project/design phase - part 1

Second action that unfolds the practical activity:

How can we include elderly into learning process related to ICT?

Active work of the students:

1. Each student is working one elderly person (in pairs; or if there are more students than elderly people, then 2 students + 1 elderly person). Students have to choose (together with an elderly person) a piece of art work. Elderly persons become models. Students take pictures of them and art works (using their smartphones). Then using any app they have to create a postcard (consulting the elderly person about the design matters), print it out and write impressions from that day and sending best wishes to give as a present to elderly person.
2. Then students have to upload their postcards for online exhibition (one Facebook page has to be created for this purpose, everybody gets access and uploads their work with an interesting title)/ as an alternative, a tool might be used to create digital exhibition (http://oedb.org/ilibrarian/5-free-and-open-source-tools-for-creating-digital-exhibitions/).

Presentation of findings and results (visualisation of information):

Another printed copy of the postcard composes a part of additional exhibition in the museum. The title is given for the exhibition in consultation with everybody. It is arranged with the museum that they exhibit the postcards for some time.

Analysis of results:

Self-evaluation by participants and evaluation from the elderly people.

Project/design phase - part 2

Third action that unfolds the practical activity:

How ICT tools can help to show the positive sides of aging?

Active work of the students:

1. Students again in cooperation with elderly people, parents try to distinguish the positive sides of aging. First, the discussion is carried out and points distinguished are recorded on the sheet of paper;
2. After the discussion the storybird.com is being explored;
3. Afterwards, a story using the online tool is being created about the positive sides of aging/ becoming older: the title has to be given, the main character has to be given the name, the plot should be developed and ending created with a wise thought.

Presentation of findings and results (visualisation of information):

The created books are printed in colour, given for elderly people to read out loud for everybody.

Analysis of results:

After reading the book, a one big catalogue is being formed and given as a present to the social care home.

Approach to a new software or a new app:

Storybird.com programme use might take some time to get acquainted so the trainer in order to successfully facilitate this activity should analyse the programme beforehand.

Links between the Digital Atelier and real life of the students:

DA is strongly related to the real life – establishing good relation between different generations, transferring the learning environment into a different space, publishing their works on their social networks, making live videos from the museum and activities.

How do you plan to evaluate knowledge and skills?

To give an evaluation sheet for self-evaluation about what they have learned after the digital atelier; Also evaluation is done by others during discussions after each stage of digital atelier.

Conclusion:

DA is transferred into a different learning environment and lifelong learning opportunities are ensured for different target groups (not only students but also their parents, grandparents and elderly persons from social care home.

A changed version of this Digital Atelier was tested to foster inter-generational cooperation.

The publication was created as part of the project: APP YOUR SCHOOL.

This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.