Technology in Tours and Learning

I don't think that it's any secret that I tend to shy away from new technologies until I see how they make current practices and procedures more efficient. Even looking at social network sites, it's clear that they're a double-edged sword. They allow people to maintain shallow relationships with people with whom they would traditionally have lost touch, but they don't encourage people to reach out with deeper empathy with the larger group. Breadth not depth. Or, as with my trip to Japan, this blog presents you with some of the material that I'm learning, but this occurs at the expense of sleep or time informally hanging out with other teachers. On the other hand, I generally have the best intentions in terms of revisiting my notes and compiling them later, and this actually forces me to complete the process.

So, I wanted to share three ways that technology has enhanced tours on this trip, with thoughts on why they worked well.

1. The first is the most basic (and the most common in the high school classroom.) When Gilly lectured about squids and their chromatophores, it was like he was speaking a foreign language. Because he livened his presentation with videos, we were able to accurately picture the squids' size, their color changes, how they catch their food, how humans catch them, how they swim, etc. The best scenario in this case may have been watching actual squid, but there's the general captivity issue as well as the issue that they probably wouldn't have been performing all of these activities on demand during an hour-long class.

2. The Monterey Aquarium is a renovated cannery, and the central atrium has displays about the building's canning history. We've visited the building on both our Cannery Row tour and on a behind-the-scenes aquarium tour. The aquarium is packed with visitors in the summer months, and the chamber echoes tremendously. Children's shrieks of joy mix with audio snippets that click on when you step close to exhibits, and we could barely hear the first speaker. On the latter tour, we were given headsets like you often see at art museums. However, unlike prerecorded tours, we still had a guide leading us though the space and answering our questions as we asked them.

3. At the Hotel del Monte, which has been converted into the Naval Postgraduate School, the archivist used an ipad to illustrate his tour of the current space with promotional videos of the historic hotel. This way, we were all able to compare the changes that the halls have undergone in the last hundred years while we were viewing them firsthand. It also had the advantage of introducing us to primary source material.

All three of these experiences were interactive and had a human element. It’s not enough to replace humans with technology. We’re wired to respond with all our senses, everything from eye contact to the physical response (be it attraction or repulsion) to others. This leads into what I’m calling the “guilt factor, responding to human interactions. I hate to say it, but it’s easy to stop paying attention when you don’t feel like you’re disappointing someone by doing so. People aren’t equally interested in everything that they’re expected to learn, and learning isn’t always exciting. (My anecdotal evidence from flights is that the majority of people have no qualms about reading magazines and listening to ipods during video safety presentations, but the number goes way down when a flight attendant is standing in the aisle holding a life jacket and looking at passengers.) I can’t deny that I’ve walked away from docents, but it takes more effort than not paying attention to audio that is pre-recorded. At the Disney Concert Hall in LA earlier this year, the only option was a pre-recorded system. I found myself seeking out information from the guards along the way because I like having those interactions with people. Plus, as Seth can tell you, people’s interactions with buildings aren’t universal. It’s more fun to hear from people who are knowledgeable and who are sharing their knowledge from their personal vantage points.

My three top pieces of advice for integrating technology into presentations. 1. Keep the lights on during multimedia unless you want to take the attention away from you and encourage people to fall asleep. 2. During tours with audio extension capabilities, set distance parameters ahead of time (For example, “We’ll all stay in this room now.) and move around so you’re standing closest to different members of the group at different times. 3. Check your materials ahead of time, and have a back-up plan.

Since my job is closely tied to current trends in technology, I’d love to hear what’s worked (or hasn’t) for other people. Thoughts on times where you’ve integrated technology or been the beneficiary of its use?