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Education
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Museum expands educational programs with video upgrades
Mar 28, 2007
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by Nancy Caronia
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The North Carolina Museum of History has used distance learning since the mid-1990s, but in order to make its programs more accessible to the state's constituents the facility was in need of a technology upgrade.
Enter the Institute of Museum and Library Services, a federal organization that supports museums throughout the United States. In 2005, NCMH, in partnership with the North Carolina Museum of History Associates, was awarded an IMLS Museums for America grant for $126,750.
The federal grant helped with an upgrade and integration designed to advance access for underserved audiences such as school children in remote areas of the state and attract statewide and national, lifelong learners. In addition, the grant enabled NCMH to begin designing educational programs that focus on the museum's collection of more than 150,000 artifacts spanning six centuries.
NCMH launched its new system in January as part of "History Happens Here," a 2007 initiative designed to celebrate all that North Carolina has to offer, according to Governor Mike Easley. The technology upgrade means "the museum's vast educational offerings will be available to history teachers and students right in their classrooms," he noted. "Schools can save on transportation costs and make more effective use of classroom time by studying North Carolina's rich heritage on the information superhighway in addition to traveling down the interstate highway."
Improved Presentations
In addition to rewiring NCMH's auditorium and two classrooms (known as the Blue and Purple Rooms), a mobile cart was added to the videoconferencing mix. NCMH had an old system that was "on its last leg," said Jerry Taylor, multimedia producer, NCMH Outreach Programs. "We never turned it off because we were afraid it wouldn't start up again."
The museum replaced the system with a Polycom VSX 8000 and added a Polycom VSX 7000e for the mobile cart. The configuration allows the two classrooms and auditorium to work independently or together for a multi-point presentation.
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| Multimedia producer Jerry Taylor (standing) instructs Drew Grimes on the NewTek VT[4] during a multi-camera videoconference. Taylor uses the VT[4] as the workhorse for all the museum's productions. |
The Purple Room and the auditorium each have three Sony EVI-D70 PTZ cameras; previously, the auditorium had never had video cameras. The cameras in the auditorium feed into a Videotek Prodigy analog switcher and a Mackie mixer sets the audio stream. The audio and video streams can be sent into the Blue Room where the VSX8000 has been placed.
"This allows us to do a multiple camera setup for filming purposes, but it also allows for the auditorium to be used as a videoconferencing space. We are able to do videoconferencing from the auditorium, the Purple, or Blue Rooms or from all of them at the same time," said Taylor. "I wish we could upgrade to HD, but it's not that necessary since the schools are our primary audience and it's unlikely anyone has high definition."
The museum is currently changing its method of streaming and hopes to be using NewTek's VT[4] LIVE! integrated production suite for all its streaming in the near future. VT[4] offers live switching and Web streaming in addition to its editing, 2-D video painting, 3-D modeling, and animation capabilities.
"Every camera and audio signal goes through the VT[4] breakout box," said Taylor. "In addition to the live video and audio switching capability, we also use it in our post-production applications. I capture and edit on VT[4]."
Expedite Video Conferencing Services carried out the installation, but the NCMH's staff worked side-by-side during the entire process. "We wanted to see exactly where they were laying cable, and how they were doing everything so we could troubleshoot if needed," said Taylor.
Plenty Of Programs
Comprised of four full-timers and several part-timers, the Outreach Programs staff wears many hats, according to Charlotte Sullivan, curator. In addition to designing curriculum for several programs including the online professional development classes, staff members produce, maintain the museum's Web site, and teach.
"We have a lot of program ideas, but it's about finding the time because we present all the programs we design. We teach programs on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays -- and we're booking up fast for the spring. Before we had even launched our new system, we had already done 35 programs," said Sullivan.
The Outreach Programs distance learning programs include history lessons on North Carolina's transportation, Native Americans in the area, a WWII program for middle and high school students, and a "History Mystery," which uses and analyzes artifacts from the museum's extensive collection geared for elementary students. The staff is currently developing a program that will offer a behind-the-scenes look at how curators design and put together exhibits.
"We want to be the content provider and we're trying to get it to as many people as we can because many schools cannot afford to come here, although we do encourage the students to visit the museum with their families," said Sullivan. "We design our programs with the state standards in mind and we follow the standard course of studies guide that the teachers use in the classroom. When we're designing programs, we confer with teachers and gather evaluations for our currently running programs. It's a collaborative process, but the Outreach Programs staff does the program design and implementation."
"The NCMH programs are outstanding -- the History Mystery is always a favorite," said JoAnna Goss, manager of Cyber Campus, A.L. Brown High School in Kannapolis. "The museum instructor talks to the students and shows how she uses an object, talking about the physical characteristics of object. Each DL class is divided into groups, and the DL instructor talks to the students about the physical characteristics of the object and how to make hypotheses about the object. The program reinforces teamwork and enables them to learn about the terminology and history of the object as well as how historians date objects."
The Cyber Campus serves students from K-12 throughout the district in addition to community members. "The kids today have used technology so much they are not put off at all. They adapt readily," Goss added. "All of the programs they do are great because they put in so much time and effort in developing them. The personnel is great because they can adapt to any age and skill level."
MORE INFO
Expedite Video Conferencing Services expeditevcs.com
Institute of Museum and Library Services imls.gov
Mackie mackie.com
NewTek newtek.com
North Carolina Museum of History ncmuseumofhistory.org
Polycom polycom.com
Sony sony.com/government
Videotek broadcast.harris.com/videotek
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