Cheryl Bancroft - Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Facilitator

Bonnie Castellani - Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, CT

Mary Clary - Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

Bonnie Hay - Toledo Museum, Ohio

Carolyn Horter - Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art, Gainesville, FL,

Danielle Kaiser - Museum London, London, Ontario, Canada

Marilyn Langer - Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

Barbara Liddell - Asian Art Museum, San Francisco

Alfredette MacDonald - Van Dusen Botanical Garden, Vancouver, B.C.

Lisa Newcomb - Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Alabama

Sue Hubbaw Ryan - Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA

 

Introduction: We brainstormed on the various ways that using technology could improve docent tours and be considered a teaching "tool."

I. Using an I-Pad:

• On botanical tours-use I-Pad to show flowers in a different season.
• Show other works by an artist whose painting is in a gallery.
• Can show where an object came from-in situ.
• Can show video of artist talking and working (SFMOMA does this)
• Can compare and contrast objects (paintings) readily.
• Can enlarge the image to see brush strokes and details.

 

II. Using Smart Boards-to make experiences with art more interactive before actually going into a gallery:

• Interactive one hour tour-10 to 15 minutes using Smart board, then enter gallery.
• I-Phone:
  
  
  • Using I-Phone to activate a Treasure Hunt for objects in the galleries.
  • Downloading an App for a particular museum tour on one's I-phone.

 

III. Headsets and microphone:

• Useful for giving tours in crowded galleries.

 

Conclusion:

Technology should not take the place of needing to see the "real" thing. Technology not a substitute for seeing the real thing but just another "tool" and should be used sparingly.

The image on the I-pad or I-Phone is not the real thing. Cannot know the scale or size of an object. Cannot see the brushstrokes or application of paint.