Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

JULY 1, 2009

When I talk about designing participatory experiences, I often show the above graphic from Forrester Research. Museums see open-ended self-expression as the be-all of participatory experiences. Why aren’t more museums designing highly constrained participatory platforms in which visitors contribute to collaborative projects?

Participatory 50

Participatory Experiment Museum Teen 50

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

OCTOBER 26, 2006

Another point of intersection here for me is Henry Jenkins recently published 72-page white paper " Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century." He also identifies the new literacies and skills -- and while he is talking about this in the context of children and education.

Participatory 50

Participatory Teen Vlog Mashup 50

Museum 2.0

MARCH 16, 2009

When I talk about designing participatory experiences, I often show the above graphic from Forrester Research. Museums see open-ended self-expression as the be-all of participatory experiences. Why aren’t more museums designing highly constrained participatory platforms in which visitors contribute to collaborative projects?

Participatory 44

Participatory Experiment Museum Teen 44

Museum 2.0

FEBRUARY 9, 2010

Recently, I was giving a presentation about participatory techniques at an art museum, when a staff member raised her hand and asked, "Did you have to look really hard to find examples from art museums? For this reason, I see history museums as best-suited for participatory projects that involve story-sharing and crowdsourced collecting (e.g.

Museum 29

Museum Difference Participatory History 29

Museum 2.0

MAY 5, 2009

Visitor Co-Created Museum Experiences This session was a dream for me, one that brought together instigators of three participatory exhibit projects: MN150 (Kate Roberts), Click! which followed a very strict formula that frustrated some participants who wanted to be treated like artists, not contributors to a data experiment.

Slides 20

Slides Participatory Museum Children 20

Museum 2.0

JUNE 12, 2012

It was exhilarating to see them inspired to create their own meanings in response: lovers whispering together in alcoves, people of all ages writing and drawing on walls and post-its, children painting, everyone sitting rapt before screens. This post focuses on one aspect of the exhibition: its participatory and interactive elements.

Participatory 51

Participatory Museum Blackboard Game 51

Museum 2.0

APRIL 6, 2011

Let's say you spend a year working with a group of teens to co-create an exhibition, or you invite members and local artists to help redesign the lobby. In many cases, once the final project is launched, it's hard to detect the participatory touch. Not every participatory process has to scream "look at me!"

Participatory 48

Participatory Process Museum Children 48