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Hi all,

Here is my take on innovation.  Things that are innovative don't necessarily
plug in or have an on/off switch.  The very first thing I ever invented as a
teaching aid was a model of how a bird's gizzard works. I put a couple Ritz
crackers in a paper bag with a few rocks and gave it a shake.  With out the
rocks nothing happens.  With the rocks you have a fine Ritz powder.

Anyway you can change how you are doing things to help visitors learn
more, engage in more thoughtful conversation, or just have more fun can be
an innovation.  A great example comes from an exhibit we developed for the
Ojibwa people in Northern Minnesota.  At the missionary Indian schools kids
were often punished for speaking their native language by being made to say
prayers while kneeling on a hard bean.  We could have put up a video of
folks telling the story of how this was done and how painful it could be.
But instead we glued a bean to the floor and had people kneel on it while
they read the explanation.

Creative solutions to interesting problems come in all shapes and sizes.
Sometimes it might include using infrared lighting and cameras to develop a
shadow based gestural interface for interacting with molecular models in 3
dimensions and sometimes it is putting some pebbles in a lunch sack with a
couple of crackers. Both solutions have the potential for learners to have a
more meaningful experience with the content.  It is all about using the
technology or method that is going to have the most impact on the visitor.

My two cents,

Mike 



On 5/26/08 3:47 AM, "Tal Berman" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
> *****************************************************************************
> 
>  
> 
> Dear Eric, Dear colleagues,
> 
> What is innovation? The million dollar question!
> I want to share with you some ideas we have on innovation, especially
> technological innovation. The use of multimedia/innovative technologies,
> as we see it, can be divided into three sub-groups:
> a. Information and instruction signs and such- plasma screens to guide
> and make way signs.
> b. Scientific information, text oriented exhibitions- for example, PDA,
> information kiosk, ribbon bar codes, and so on.
> c. Multimedia/innovative exhibits.
> 
> As to points (a) and (b), they are not a priority for us since they are
> according to needs. There is a desire constantly existing aimed at
> bettering the visitor museum interface, i.e. making it more useful and
> more practical.
> 
> Moreover, as for (b), it is true that we comprehend PDA, text messages
> over the cellular phone as innovation. I am not entirely sure our target
> visitors think so as well (them being somewhat younger, and having been
> born not virtually may be but with a live web cam present...).
> Furthermore, having had difficulties in the past and present with
> visitors not paying notice to a designed hardcopy sign, I don't quite
> believe they would read a text message instead. The attention and
> concentration disorder of the youngest will hardly improve as a result.
> Since the museum is a social experience we think an interaction
> visitor-exhibit-explainer is always preferable to
> cellular/PDA/electronic interaction.
> 
> As for (c), as a finger rule, we prefer interactive exhibits to
> multimedia/innovative since the museum is a social experience rather
> than a one person experience. An additional disadvantage is that the
> experience is less comprehensive since you mostly use "black boxes" and
> don't actually observe the process.
> In addition multimedia exhibits have high costs and their life span is
> short. Their maintenance is high because of equipment costs and trained
> instructors needed at the exhibition hall. Nevertheless, it seems rather
> easy to get sponsors for such exhibitions since this is what people
> expect to see in a science museum.
> On the fund raising side, it is rather easy to get money for a
> multimedia exhibition, especially when you compare to your chance of
> getting a sponsor for the explaining instructors at the exhibition
> floor.
> 
> We are aware that as time flies by there is a growing need for more and
> more assimilating approach for virtual/interactive/innovative
> technologies based on computers/websites/long distance operation etc.
> The advantage is that the communication language between the young
> visitors is familiar and is becoming much more a dominant part of their
> lives. 
> 
> C U in Toronto
> Tal
> 
> _______________
> Tal Berman; Ph.D.
> Director of Exhibits
> The Israel National Museum of Science, Technology & Space;
> Daniel and Matilde Recanati Center
> 25 Shmaryahu Levin St.; Haifa, 31448; ISRAEL.
> Tel: +972-4-861-4452 Fax: +972-4-861-4352; Cell': +972-54-6115577
> Email: [log in to unmask]; Site: http://www.madatech.org.il
> Skype: tal_berman
> 
> 
> 
>  LONGITUDE 320 48.587' N   LATITUDE 0340 59.790' E
> 
>  
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Informal Science Education Network
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Eric Siegel
> Sent: Friday, May 23, 2008 4:22 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Innovation Questions
> 
> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology
> Centers Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related
> institutions.
> ************************************************************************
> *****
> 
> Hello, all:
> 
> At the world science center congress in Toronto, I have put together a
> panel with Andrea Bandelli, Beverly Damonse, Jennifer Martin, and Nina
> Simon on the topic of innovation in science centers.  As we had
> originally conceived it, the panel was to be an inquiry into the value
> of innovation in science centers, rather than a simple celebration of
> innovation.  In part, this is a critical response to the mantra of
> innovation that one hears in the corporate, commercial, and government
> sectors, leading one (or at least me) to wonder about the intellectual
> and cultural underpinnings that value innovation over, for example,
> tradition, durability, or the-well-understood.   In exploring this
> idea with colleagues, I have discovered that many are concerned that the
> word innovation is elided with "shiny new things" or "new technologies,"
> and that they are skeptical of the value of that type of innovation in
> science centers.
> 
>   At the Hall, as we put together strategic plans for the coming years,
> we have the opportunity and obligation to question the rationale for
> devoting so much of our time and energy toward coming up with new ideas
> (which I think is what innovation means, though I am open to other
> definitions).  A few rationales have emerged, in no particular order:
> 
> 1) To explore important and influential new technologies and ideas.
> 2) To remain competitive in the merit-based grant funding marketplace,
> whether NSF, IMLS, or private sources, where new approaches are
> explicitly or implicitly valued more highly than time-tested or
> replicated ideas
> 3) To engage the most creative and energetic staff and partners
> 4) To increase the stature and impact of the Hall in our field
> 5) To identify new ways to serve our audiences more effectively
> 
> In our efforts to make our world science center congress presentation
> more engaging, we are gathering questions from colleagues about
> innovation that we might explore.
> 
> Are there other good rationales for innovation?  What are the costs of
> innovation? Is innovation the best way to meet these goals?  What are
> some projects that embody innovation? and what are some that explore
> more deeply the "well-understood?"  What does innovation mean to our
> audiences?  How do we know?
> 
> Any ideas?  We will be setting up a "voicethread" conversation shortly
> for those of you who would prefer to talk to your computers...
> 
> Thanks in advance.
> 
> Eric Siegel
> Director and Chief Content Officer
> New York Hall of Science
> 47-01 111th Street
> Queens, NY 11368
> www.nyscience.org
> 718.699.0005 x 317
> esiegel at nyscience dot org
> 
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> For information about the Association of Science-Technology Centers and the
> Informal Science Education Network please visit www.astc.org.
> 
> Check out the latest case studies and reviews on ExhibitFiles at
> www.exhibitfiles.org.
> 
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