kidding around: designing digital activities (#mw2012)

Kidding aroundDesigning Digital Learning Activities

Open drop-ins

Timed slot drop-ins

Workshops

Multi-day courses

How can people take part?

Open drop-ins

Highly flexible for families

High volume

Easy set up

Can be simplistic &

lack depth

Varied dwell-times

Can be overwhelmedMore staff needed

Create a comic

Welcome and selection

10 minutes

Create comic with Comic Life

20-30 minutes

Detail and polish5-10 minutes

Print and storytime

5 minutes

Dwell time 45-50 minutes

Story time is learning time

Gallery and studio photo/design

Time slot drop-ins

Preserves flexibility while reducing

wait

Scale complex activities gracefully

Danger of production line

Hard to estimate slot length

Reduces overall capacity

Non-optimal compromise

Hard to standardize technique

Dwell time to 90 minutes

Maximum number of families per

session

Could children do more of the editing? The children were keen to use the computers more themselves, but did not have the opportunity.

Fear the production line

Workshops

Allows in-depth engagement

Can include complex tasks

Produces meaningful result

Length still limited (2 hours)

Reduces capacity

Disappointed visitors if busy

Hard to setup

Greeks alive! animation

Intro and review of myth storylines

(15 minutes)

Demo of animation software

(5 minutes)

Making puppets and backgrounds(15 minutes)

Create animation(60+ minutes)

Screening(5-7 minutes)

Session format: interactive computer installation –

created using openFrameworks, the software was Open Sourced

Hellicar & Lewis - Mirror, Mirror

Some things to keep in mind…

Complement digital with analogue

Extending the digitalProviding an alternativeSupporting the digital

1) Design blended learning experiences

2) Entrust kids (and parents)

I liked when I got to take the photos.

(Maria, Age 5)

Instructions? What instructions?

3) Less instructions. More facilitators

Okay, where to next?

4) Integrate the galleries wisely.

Are you sure those objects are still in the gallery?

We enjoyed having the pictures taken and editing the photo. We decided to go back into the museum to find the artefact we'd had our photo taken with (the dragon).

A member of staff in the Centre said it would be in the museum. We were unable to find it despite asking staff in the Chinese and Japanese sections.

My niece, who is eight, was originally excited at looking for the item she'd had her photo taken with, and then disappointed that she couldn't find it and see it 'for real'.

5) Experiment with alternative interactions

Got it.

6) But don’t knock the usual suspects

Printing is the bomb! (or ticking timebomb)

6) Don’t forget the payoff or you’re sunk

Designing Content

Will crowds and noise

inhibit video/voice recording?

How are the

light levels? Do you care?

Is there easy access for families?

Are photographs allowed?

Which objects

will kids like?

What does your collection offer?

Photography is your friend

Unless…

And one more thing to watch out for!

DeathSex

Violence

Be prepared for searching questions!