Insta.ed: Learning from Instagram

Insta.ed Learning From Instagram Gwen Fernandez
Education Innovator
Fall 2011 In September 2011, the Smithsonian Institute's EdLab challenged twelve musuem studies grad students to “Think Different” and re-imagine learning in a 21st century world. The Tools The David Wax Museum These are some people that inspired me . . . The Approach The Practice Some Conclusions This purpose of this project was to recast museums as participatory learning environments How can museums use new media to support visitor engagement and personal meaning making? Ken Robinson George Hein Halsey
Burgund Jerome Bruner Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi ArtLab+ Nina
Simon just to name a few . . . This is my vision . . . I asked myself . . . What is Instagram? "It's like Twitter but for photos" Who's on Instagram? THE MEDIA CELEBRITIES & BANDS A FEW MUSEUMS AND LOTS OF REGULAR FOLKS . . . Many of the usual suspects . . . 14 million of them my strategy . . . photo-sharing the idea . . . design a practice that encourages image making and facilitates collaboration I spent a lot of time looking at tools and how museums were using them . . . Why do people use Instagram? Developing the practice was an iterative process PHASE 1: Create IG Account Start following people Choose handle Add photos Get followers "Still Life"
My inaugural IG photo PHASE 2: Attend Meetup PHASE 3: Plan Meetup Offers
Immediate Feedback Content Focused participatory learning environments learners are creators of meaning learners collaborate and share meaning is socially constructed institution is facilitator of learning I wanted something simple, quick to implement, and FREE! The app has been growing exponentially in popularity since its launch in October 2010 Why use THIS tool? It's fast & easy to use (plus, it's free!)
"like" and "comment" features emphasize collaboration
Enables communication across physical boundaries
Built-in feedback networks
Ability to share content across social media platforms
Community of motivated content creators Instagrammers are breaking down digital walls through face-to-face interactions using meetup.com Meetup is a web-based community organizing tool Core Concept:
Participants will produce images related to a museum exhibit and share them through Instagram Structured but customizable User Driven Encourages active learning and creative thinking Audience was asked to participate in defined experience Tweegram is a free app for making sharable 140 character messages on Instagram But the experience was designed to maximize individual preferences and learning styles Toured exhibit at own pace
Used personal camera
Created unique portraits Experience was designed around current exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery Activity was tied to themes and content of exhibit Portrait making
Repilcate concept of circle of artists
Expore idea of image making Participation was by choice
Thus users were intrinsically motivated hands-on, minds-on activity
engaged in collaborative process
produced tangible result Promotes
Collaboration Participants work together to produce images during activity Then share on Instagram Instagram users can comment and like photos Result: Gained skills and understanding of tool Result: Learned more about the community and user motivations Result: Developed practice Instagram is a quick, easy way to generate creative content and share it with others Its built-in community offers interesting opportunities for multiple modes of engagement The large and growing community features individuals with strong intrinsic motivations for creative thought Share them with me! Find me on instagram or twitter @gwenlfern some potential uses marketing integrate IG into your social media strategy extend museum experience beyond institutional walls cultivate new audiences photos by @mrdarling beyond participatory learning . . . What is a particpatory learning environment? Why does this practice work? Although this practice was tested in an art museum, photo-sharing is popular across disciplines. Try it! Extend your brand
Promote Events
Connect with audience in fun and quirky ways Make exhibits viral Enlist users to create content I'm sure you can think of some creative ideas, too