Convention Time!

March ushered in a tremendous amount of convention and conference fun in New York City and abroad. Last week our Education team was in full force at the National Art Education Association Convention, and we had great representation and learning experiences. I asked those who attended to list the biggest take-away from the Convention, and here are just a few responses:

” Meaningful and transformative educational experiences are all about meeting the student where he or she is at and building from there. Learning activities should be as multi-model as possible to develop and inspire the entire student.”

“Museums can play an important role in a school curriculum.  Programs are most successful when they have the full support and cooperation of teachers, parents, and administration and take into account student interest and curiosity.”

“Education both in and out of schools is changing and adapting to meet new standards, challenges and technologies. Museums can help foster this change and create new educational spaces and opportunities.”

“Art museums are perfect places for democracy and civilized discourse to thrive. How can we cultivate curious, informed citizens through looking and learning about art?”

I was also happy to be supported by members of our team during a session I presented with Queens College Professor, Rikki Asher, on Mindfulness in Museum Education. It’s always great to have a friend in the audience to snap a picture.

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I literally bolted out of the Convention on Friday to run and teach a class at Eugene Lang College with Laura, and then got on a plane to go to Exhibitor 2012. I love trade show exhibitions, and this is a trade show for exhibition and media companies who service trade shows. Why trade shows? Well these folks are really looking at how to utilize emerging technologies to educate trade show visitors about products. It’s a great opportunity to see what’s new in technology and display, plus see how designers integrate this technology thematically. I was actually impressed with the elegance of this years exhibitions. Technology was incredibly streamlined, and more emphasis was placed on user generated media with attendees’ personal devices. I wasn’t that impressed with the new Microsoft Surface Table which has moved from a projection application to a multitouch display (think giant IPad, but with clunky functionality and smudgy glass). I was impressed with motion capture technology being used for custom in-booth experiences (Kinect meets education. I give it a year to make it into museums).

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I was also happy to meet up with the entire crew from FIT’s Graduate Exhibition Design Program. We worked with them on a special project last semester involving the museum. They were presenting their portfolios (many of which included Rubin Museum related conceptual projects) in the Exhibition Hall. Here was one of the students, Will, really getting into some interactive motion capture technology.

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