July
This past Sunday I had an amazing experience at the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles, CA. The Museum of Tolerance (MOT) is a human rights laboratory and educational center dedicated to challenging visitors to understand the Holocaust in both historic and contemporary contexts and confront all forms of prejudice and discrimination in our world today.
This museum was an Instructional Designers dream! It was the most experiential and learner-centered museum I have ever been in! One of my favorites exhibits was the Point Of View Diner. A recreation of a 1950’s diner, red booths and all, that “serves” a menu of controversial topics on video jukeboxes. It uses the latest cutting edge technology to relay the overall message of personal responsibility. Following scenarios focusing on drunk driving and hate speech, this interactive exhibit allows visitors to input their opinions on what they have seen and question relevant characters. The results are then instantly tabulated.
The MOT creates a safe environment for probing dialogue around difficult issues rarely discussed in the workplace and homes of participants. The Point of View Diner challenges participants to question their own assumptions, raise self-awareness, and present fresh perspectives to redefine personal responsibility and taking action.
It is important for an Instructional Designer to create a safe environment for the learners. This is so they can feel safe while sharing their views, expressing their opinions and ultimately not feel ashamed … after all this is a LEARNING environment. I am also a big fan of self discovery which this museum, and in particular this exhibit does.
I was SO INSPIRED by this visit that I am going to research how the ideas are generated for each of these exhibits. I am interested to know who puts it together, what sort of piloting they do and what they do with the data they collect from each visitor.
The MOT is a MUST SEE if you are in Southern California.
| Museum Hours |
| Monday-Friday | 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.* *(early close at 3:00 p.m. on Fridays November – March) |
| Saturday | CLOSED |
| Sunday | 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. |
When planning your visit, please note that each of the three main exhibits takes approximately 1½ hours. |
To schedule a visit, call, 310-553-8403
for group tours, 310-772-7639.
| Admission |
| Adults | $15.00 |
| Seniors (62+) | $12.00 |
| Students with ID & Youth 5-18 (under 5 no charge) |
$11.00 |
| Parking/Directions |
| Address | Museum of Tolerance Simon Wiesenthal Plaza 9786 West Pico Blvd (southeast corner of Pico Boulevard and Roxbury Drive) Los Angeles, CA 90035 |
| General Information | 310-553-8403 Map/Directions |
| Parking Cars | Free underground parking in Museum complex. The entrance is on Pico Blvd. Please do not park on residential side streets. You will be ticketed and/or towed. |
Tags: CA, Experiential, Instructional Design, Instructional Designer, Learner-Centered, Los Angeles, Museum, Museum of Tolerance, Simulation, social responsibility
8 Responses to “Experiential and learner-centered museums are the BEST!”
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I was there a few years back and had the same experience. Well worth the price of admission!
The serious games track of the SIEGE conference in Atlanta (October 2-4) is planning to host a discussion about the design of interactive installations at museum exhibits.
Wow – this sounds awesome! Don’t think I’ll be in SoCal anytime soon, though. I did visit their website http://www.museumoftolerance.com and notice they have a virtual museum coming soon for those of us who can’t see the real thing. I’ll be checking for that – one of the designers on our team used a virtual museum framework for an online orientation program she created for our company – completely self-guided. I can’t wait to see how they do it and what we might learn from that.
Thanks Samantha – would you post the information you find out about how the ideas are generated and piloted, too?
Thanks for the information. I am a strong believer in experiential learning. This sounds like an incredible program that needs to go nationwide.
There are many great museum experiences and there are many good on-line experiences as well. I think participating in these kinds of activities is really important to keep fresh and keep coming up with innovative ideas.
I also really like:
http://www.exploratorium.edu/
The Franklin Institute Museum in Philadelphia is another excellent place.
http://www2.fi.edu/
A lot of interesting ideas in the world of ID these days are coming from the museum world. They are experts at dealing with content. Check out the field of museum informatics. The Museum at Bethel Woods (the Woodstock festival site) is a great example of good design (and immersive experiences).
http://www.bethelwoodscenter.org/museum/about/exhibits.aspx
Check out this company for some really fascinating ideas – http://www.secondstory.com
Another great, inspiring museum is the Creation Museum in Cincinnati:
http://creationmuseum.org/