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I have repeatedly seen chaperones sit on the sidelines and text/check mail/talk on the phone instead of being engaged with their charges' learning opportunity.  Yes, it drives me nuts.  However, does that mean that everyone will do it if wifi is available?  Probably not.  Still, it does raise the spectre.  

Every time I have had a computer-based kiosk in an exhibit, I have had to have them hardwired so people could not break out of the program and engage in websurfing.  People will always find a way...

I would be interested to hear from folks who use handheld devices in their exhibits as the interactive device.  What are you seeing?

Beryl 
On Jun 21, 2010, at 1:59 PM, Bob Raiselis wrote:

> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
> *****************************************************************************
> 
> On Jun 21, 2010, at 1:05 PM, Wendy Pollock wrote:
> 
>> Last week, there was an exchange about public Internet access in museums. Bob and others seemed to be saying they'd like to avoid the "Internet cafe" atmosphere. I'm curious about why.
> 
> 
> We were wondering if a public wifi connection would encourage parents (and teens) to sit on the sidelines and surf the web or catch up on email while their children/younger siblings were engaged in the exhibits, rather than participating with them. I believe there were a couple of responses to that question that brought this up.
> 
> We don't actually have a cafe. If we did that would be a good place to catch up on email, probably. The exhibit floor, maybe not so much.
> 
> So I guess the question might instead be "is it appropriate to encourage wireless Internet usage by museum visitors on the exhibit floor?"
> 
> Bob Raiselis
> Montshire Museum of Science
> 
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Beryl Rosenthal
Executive Director, Waterworks Museum
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617.277.0065

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