Tying it all together (with an ethernet cord)

So we’ve got all these technological tools, and each one has the potential to be useful for museums (and their audiences) in a significant way.  Our goal in doing this tech-newbie project was specifically to discover ways we can use technology to reach new audiences; that endeavor requires overcoming boundaries of perception (from both institution and individual), socioeconomic standing, location, culture, knowledge, interest, and accessibility.

So where can we take it from there?

As museum enthusiasts as well as educators, we are wont to aim for rather lofty goals.  Social justice!  Universal literacy!  Worldwide understanding!  Productive dialogues!  Sustainable practices!

Courtesy of Silver Glimmer Dust

Before the doubts creep in about whether these things could be accomplished by new technologies like social media, think back to the protests and triumphs of Arab Spring.  Would that revolution have been (or continue to be) possible in a world without Twitter and Facebook?  And even if it was, would we really hear about it on this side of the pond?  

Take another lofty example: think about the obstacles overcome by the Occupy Wall Street movement; its core is a forum for the fielding of ideas, solutions, changes to be made, and those ideas are primarily shared across social media platforms.  In addition to live-tweeting their protests and events, Occupiers use social media to publicize their committee meetings.

Occupy Wall Street march, courtesy of The Atlantic

It’s a wonder the whole thing didn’t start on the steps of the Met, home to ageless depictions of human trials and victories.

Is the museum field really itching to jump into the middle of a political fight?  Probably not.  But can we be facilitators in the dialogue that coaches the players?  Absolutely.  Learning is the only way we can overcome the issues that face us as a society; if we already knew what we needed to know, the problems would cease to exist.

The 2012 Trends Report from the Center for the Future of Museums highlights seven significant trends in the museum world.  One of them is the possibility that the educational system will eventually blend with the museum network to create a multi-location, place-based, passion-driven learning environment.  As places of informal learning with a long history, museums can lead the formation of a new educational framework that is based on individual interests, motivations, learning styles and collaboratively solving real-world problems by developing 21st-century skills.

Courtesy of The Red Balloon

Those 21st-century skills will undoubtedly involve using and understanding technology. So will fully participating in our democracy and being members of an "enlightened, humane citizenry" (Excellence and Equity, AAM 2008) that can take the country, even the world, in a new and better direction. 

Museums have quite a trove of resources at their disposal; we have vast collections that can represent many different times, places, and peoples.  We have objects, images, and stories that can provoke intense conversation and perhaps allow us to see through one another's eyes to a better understanding.  If we don't shy away from controversy and difficulty, we can foster the kind of multi-perspective thinking that will be necessary to solve some of the world's social injustices.  

A few specific ways to use technology for furthering social justice:

• Holding events with a keynote speaker, panelists, or a town hall meeting and streaming it live as a webcast with the invitation for people to Tweet/email responses and join the conversation that way.
• The Tweets/emails could even be projected onto the screen in the lecture hall and made an integral part of the event. 
• The conversation could later be made available as a podcast or YouTube video.
• Polling the public about controversial or complicated topics to get a sense of the feelings, opinions, and priorities that affect it; this information would guide how the museum approaches an exhibition or program on that topic.
• This data collection could be done through the museum's website, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or more visually through Pinterest.
• In the spirit of learning for the future by studying the past, Historypin could be used to examine a particular area's visual history in detail.
• The changes that have taken place since the time of the photographs could be discussed as a jumping-off point for analyzing what is changing now.
• Connecting experts with laypeople so the general public can learn about ways to make their daily living choices more sustainable, culturally-aware, or otherwise sensitive to needs beyond their own.
• This could be done through podcasts, live streaming video on the web, Twitter conversations, exhibitions and related programming with feedback submitted by visitors through various means.
• Museums could create an app or mobile website in which users could log sustainable or culturally-aware actions anytime, anywhere.  Recycling could earn you rewards (Check out RecycleBank to see this idea in action).

The possibilities are nearly endless, but that's what will make our jobs fun and interesting in the future; figuring out the new ways to connect with new people and make big things happen.

You never know, maybe we'll start the next revolution!

Courtesy of http://www.pophistorydig.com