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At 15:03 10/11/2006, Nina Simon wrote:
>If we want people to engage with exhibits in more open-ended ways, 
>we have to extend exhibit literacy.  I'm not sure how that change happens.

At 15:45 10/11/2006, Wendy Coones wrote:
>...most often these visitors with a very open concept of exhibit 
>literacy seem to be mischievous pubescents, ...

At 17:41 10/11/2006, Anna Grace wrote:
>Plain and simple:  Who doesn't like playing ...?

"It's OK to play." Could this message be the key to extended 'exhibit 
literacy'? I've just been involved in developing Underwater Street, a 
new children's discovery centre in Liverpool, UK. What freaked me out 
at first was its formal education agenda. There wasn't one. We 
decided our stated objective was to promote play. That was it. We 
focused on playful experiences, not on formal learning outcomes. And 
next, the visitor response amazed me. Typical stay-times are several 
hours, or longer, in a space of 8000 square feet (~800 square 
metres). Now schools are showing considerable interest...

Of course, playing is only called experimenting when grown-ups do it, 
or when grown-ups control it...

It seems to prove that we often focus on learning outcomes at the 
cost of reduced visitor-engagement.

We even have 'visitor-generated content' in Underwater Street. It 
gets messy. This is what it looks like! 
http://www.interactives.co.uk/hands_uwsaa.htm and also here 
http://www.interactives.co.uk/hands_uwsiv.htm

Not exactly science centre stuff! Although there are also many 
science interactives in Underwater Street. But if only we could 
communicate science with this playful level of engagement, 
experimentation, creativity and visitor-input, yet without losing the 
magic ... surely it would be a great thing to aim for?


[log in to unmask] * http://www.interactives.co.uk
*
Give people facts and you feed their minds for an hour.
Awaken curiosity and they feed their own minds for a lifetime.
*
Ian Russell 

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