Journal #2- Museums in the Classroom

Reissman, R.. (2009). Museums in the Classroom. Learning and Leading with Technology, 38. Retrieved April 22, 2009 from: http:www.learning and leading-digital.com/learning-leading/200902

As school districts are tightening their belts and slashing all but the bare necessities, field trips and other learning tools are going by the wayside. Fortunately, students can now visit museums virtually without having to even leave their computers. http://www.resourcehelp.com/qsermuseum.htm is a search engine that offers links to hundreds of museums. Want to visit the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum in Washington DC, or the Henry Ford Museum in Michigan? No problem! Although virtual visits don't compare to viewing the attractions in person, virtual museums are a great way for students to visit some of the great museums of the world that students would probably otherwise not get to see.

Question #1 How can virtual museums be used to supplement teaching?
There are museums on virtually any topic imaginable? Studying the Holocaust? Visit the Florida Holocaust Museum http://www.flhm2.org/ Reading John Steinbeck's "Grapes of Wrath" or "The Red Pony"? Visit the National Steinbeck Center http://www.steinbeck.org/MainFrame.html. One neat idea presented in the article was to have students investigate different museums and create displays and reports about each of their respective museums and have a "Museum Night" where parents come and tour each of the "virtual museum" student projects.

Question #2 What are the advantages and disadvantages to visiting museums online?

The advantages of visiting online museums is that there's no admission fees and you can visit the museums at any time of day or night. You can easily visit museums in different states or countries that most students would probably never get to visit otherwise. However, there really is no substitution to visiting a museum live, as online museums often don't have all the exhibits, and you don't have to opportunity to interact with the exhibits in the same way.