WHAT’S INSIGHT
By Liz Crocker, Kim Gough, and Chris O’Connor Learning Program Developers
RE FOCUSING
Shifting to Online Learning and Engagement RBCM@Home Kids This weekly family program is activity oriented, and kids have done everything from drawing dinosaurs to designing dioramas. At the end of each session kids send in their artwork, and at the beginning of the next session, we share it with the participants, so everyone can see the incredible art being done by kids big and small. We look forward to continuing this program and launching our digital summer camps in August.
RBCM@Outside This program takes you along on a virtual field trip recorded live on a smartphone. Since the program launched in April, we’ve explored the museum’s cultural precinct, including examining the poles in Thunderbird Park and the Native Plant Garden; we’ve visited with all kinds of marine animals at Victoria beaches; and we’ve explored nature with children and ethnobotany with Dr. Nancy Turner. In August, we even journeyed along Saturna Island’s famous East Point with a Parks Canada interpreter to talk orcas!
When the museum closed on March 18, even though we were expecting it, it still felt sudden and shocking. How could we reach and connect with our visitors with the museum closed? Could we redirect energy from our onsite programs into our existing distance learning program? After all, we had been delivering digital field trips to schools, seniors and community groups for years. We had the videoconferencing technology and equipment. Could we rethink and adapt our programming to reach out online through the pandemic isolation period? The answer was yes. These are a few of the ways we did it. RBCM@Home RBCM@Home had a soft launch with volunteers on March 24, just one week after museum staff were asked to work remotely. On March 31, these 30-minute talks with curators, conservators, collections managers and other museum staff went live to the public on Zoom and Facebook Live. With the generous participation of our colleagues, we have talked about past work, chatted with experts around the country and seen research in progress—we even got to see how staff members’ work is reflected in their personal spaces.
Screenshot of Liz, Kim and Chris teaching an @Home program on Zoom.
When technology cooperates, RBCM@Home, @Kids and @Outside programs are recorded and posted to our YouTube playlist at rbcm.ca/athome. That way you can watch or re-watch them at your leisure. Check the museum website for updates on our fall online programming at rbcm.ca/calendar.
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