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Karen Player

School Connections - Video Conferencing with the Australian Museum

The Australian Museum is using Video Conferencing to connect with schools across NSW. Video Conferencing has increasingly become an important tool to engage students and teachers that can’t visit the Museum site.

The aim of this presentation is to look at how physical objects and web resources can link with video conference to create a rich learning experience.

Description: The Australian Museum in known for creating unique learning experiences, including Museum in a Box.  However rapidly changing technology forces us to continually think outside the Box and we are always grappling with the issues of:

  • How to integrate real specimens and objects with changing technology?
  • How to create remote interactive experiences?
  • How successfully are we engaging offsite learners?

The use of video conferencing and the Australian Museum website has enabled us to rethink how we use technology especially for schools that can’t visit the physical Museum.  Video conferencing events combine investigations, information and questions. The Museums new website enables related items to be created on each page that links information across the website.

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Karen Player's Biography
Karen Player has been the coordinator of Museum in a Box at the Australian Museum since January 2008. Karen has a background in environmental science and education and is committed to outreach programs throughout New South Wales.

Karen has worked at the Australian Museum for the last 12 years in education and interpretive roles.  She became involved in the Australian Museum's outreach programs as coordinator of Science communication and then moved across into Museum in a Box.  Last year Museum in a Box delivered 520 boxes of Museum specimens and educational resources to over 250 schools across NSW reaching over 60000 students.   For the last 18 month Karen has also coordinated the Video Conferencing programs they deliver.  This has provided a great opportunity to have school with the physical object in class link up with a Museum educator.  Last year they presented video conferencing events to 6500 students from 200 schools across the state.