HME PLC November 18, 2013

Hamilton Area Museum Educators
invites you to our November 2013 Peer Learning Circle

Adult Education and Museums’/Galleries’ role in inquiry-based learning and the “New” Curriculum
Monday, November 18, 2013, 10:00am-3:00pm

 Royal Botanical Gardens, 680 Plains Road West, Burlington, ON
This session is FREE!

Presenters and topics include:

Dr. Joyce Zazulak, Associate professor, McMaster University Department of Family Medicine
The Importance of Curiosity in Adult Learning
As a medical professional and medical school instructor, it is important to foster curiosity in my students, who as family medicine practitioners are embarking on a lifetime of learning.  Curiosity is a valuable skill not often fostered in the medical school culture that values perfectionism in its students.  Curiosity and a willingness to maintain an open minded approach to problem solving and tolerating ambiguous subject matter do in fact make physicians better diagnosticians.  Arts-based learning opportunities for medical students and increasing medical humanities programs in Canada’s medical schools aim to further develop curiosity and tolerance to ambiguity in adult learners.

Joyce Zazulak, MSc, MD, CCFP, FCFP is an Associate Professor, Department of Family Medicine, McMaster University. Dr. Zazulak is the Coordinator, Behavioural Science Program in the Family Medicine Residency Program and the Associate Director, Standardized Patient Program, Centre for Simulation Based Learning in the Faculty of Health Science. Dr. Zazulak's academic area of interest includes teaching about the communication skills and patient centered care. She also has a particular interest in Narrative Medicine and Healthcare Humanities and an interest in developing visual literacy in the training of health professionals. Dr. Zazulak has recently developed an "Art of Seeing" curriculum for Family Medicine residents in collaboration with the McMaster Museum of Art.

Dr. Gregory Davies
Student Collaboration, Curatorship and Educational Outreach: ‘Worldly Possessions’ at the McMaster Museum of Art
This talk will outline the design of the current ‘Worldly Possessions’ exhibition at the McMaster Museum of Art and focus on student involvement in curatorship and educational outreach through research, tours, activities and electronic media.

Assistant Professor, History of Art, School of the Arts, McMaster University (BA., York University, MA., University of Toronto). I have been teaching Art History courses at the School of the Arts, McMaster University since 2002. I have also taught courses in Art History at the University of Toronto and Guelph University. My areas of specialized interest are Italian Baroque and Renaissance art and my dissertation (in progress) focuses upon caricature and its invention in 17th-century Italy. During my time at McMaster I have developed and implemented two Art History travel courses in Italy, taught each spring through the School of the Arts. In addition to curating the current exhibition at the McMaster Museum of Art (Worldly Possessions: Visualizing Ownership in the Age of the Baroque) I am also currently involved in the design of a teaching module to be offered through the proposed Centre for Arts and Social Engagement (CASE) initiative.

Nicole Neufeld
Seniors in the Studio: Education Programs for an Aging Population
Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery
For over two years, KW|AG has partnered with the Alzheimer Society Kitchener-Waterloo to jointly deliver gallery programs for individuals living with early onset Alzheimer’s and their caregivers.  This talk will run through program delivery, reveal some of the findings and benefits of delivering programs to seniors, and offer insights into future opportunities and challenges facing this kind of initiative.

Nicole Neufeld is the Director of Public Programs at the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery and received a Master of Arts in Art History from Carleton University and a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from the University of Guelph.  Previously, she was Head of Membership & Development at the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art (Toronto), and held positions at the National Gallery of Canada, Library and Archives Canada, and Carleton University. She currently sits on the Board of Directors of the Guelph Arts Council, the Steering Committee for the Family Centre (Kitchener), and the Let’s Read! Waterloo Region Family Literacy Initiative committee.  Neufeld was co-curator of ImagiNation: New Cultural Topographies and co-organizer of a conference at Carleton University, Complicated Entanglements: Rethinking Pluralism in the 21st Century.

Dr. Debra Antoncic, PhD
Associate Curator at RiverBrink
Debra Antoncic will be speaking on RiverBrink Art Museum’s series of LearnMore Adult Education Courses. You can read more about the most recent course here. 

Debra Antoncic is a curator and art historian with a specialty in post-war Canadian art and visual culture.  She holds a PhD in art history from Queen’s University and a combined Master of Arts and Curatorial Diploma from York University. She is currently the Associate Curator at RiverBrink Art Museum and part-time instructor in the Department of Visual Arts at Brock University.  Dr. Antoncic has curated exhibitions at the Agnes Etherington Art Centre, the Art Gallery of Hamilton and the McMaster Museum of Art. She has published critical essays in Fuse Magazine and Revue d’art Canadien/Canadian Art Review and exhibition reviews in Canadian Art and other publications. 


Leslie Furness
Hamilton Artist and Teacher's College Graduate 2013
Leslie Furness will be doing an interactive presentation about the New Ontario Curriculum for grades 7 to 12 and how museums and galleries can apply this curriculum to learning that happens outside of the classroom setting. In particular, Leslie will speak about her experience leading grade 12s through the McMaster University School of the Arts graduating class exhibition at the McMaster Museum of Art in order for the students to look ahead to opportunities and expectations at
the university level.

Registration is limited! Contact one of the HME coordinators to register BEFORE NOVEMBER 13.


Further Details:
Room Location at the RBG: Room 1/2 (upstairs on Mezzanine level) with elevator access. Walk past the gift shop and turn left and go up the stairs.

Lunch:
Bring a lunch, but can't guarantee space in fridge.
Eat at the Garden Café on site.
You can visit Easterbrooks across the road for one of their 15 - 20 varieties of hotdogs (may have vegetarian option).

Restaurants:
Rose Garden Restaurant (1124 Plains Road) just steps away from RBG to the west - walking distance.
Nonna's Cucina Ristorante or Tim Hortons are driving distance to the east as well as other fast food places even further.

After lunch - go for a stroll in the Mediterranean Garden or take a quick brisk walk outside or visit the Gift Shop.

Interested in more? See the visitors guide here.

The Great Recession and “where, for the best price, can I get…”: creating and running education programs on a budget: HME Meeting Monday October 21, 2013

Leader: Merri Fergusson

The food was great, and discussion lively last night at the Argyll Street Grill; we happily welcomed a few new faces to the group with our first bring-an-intern meeting.
Here are some notes from the evening.

Free stuff

• Kijiji and Craigslist but spend time going through it
• church and estate sales
• Scrapbooking supplies and old art and craft supplies
• Wallpaper stores will give away free samples or discontinued ends, as will paint stores. Just leave your name with them and when season changes, they discard old samples.
• In Mississauga: The Creative Zone joint effort between Catholic and Public Peel Region and everything is free but need to be from the area or school board. They get things donated in bulk
• Quilling a paper shredder will cut paper finely enough for this craft
• Senioropolis are professional downsizers will give to charitable or non-profit. Companies who relocate seniors from homes to apartments will give away stuff.

Low Cost Stuff

• Liaise with these companies to get stuff
• Habitat for Humanity Restore for paint
• Recycle Stores
• Burlington Reuse Centre 
• Thrift stores
• For City employees, there’s internal sell/trade pages
• Lyrical / Staples but for 40 percent less
• Popourri site to sell or give away (Mississauga City Employee pages)
• Baldwin craft supplies in Burlington Appleby Line
• Michaels 40 percent off coupons online
• purchase following seasons when everything is on sale
• Dollar stores
• Lens Mill Store in Stoney Creek
• Liquidation Centres
  Steel City Surplus @ 182 Dundurn St S, Hamilton, ON L8P 4K3 905-526-8551

Running Programs

Issues: Budget and staff cuts

Sometimes supplies are old and tired and too well used

Reflects badly; what's the pull to get schools to our sites?  Especially if your supplies are tired-looking, broken, missing

people with fresh ideas don't get the time

introducing technology into education programs and how to get funding

theatre companies have storage and may be willing to partner

eg: Players Guild on Queen Street in Hamilton

Mississauga Museum

intern from OISE project with two camps

partner with drama, dance and history Bradley Mashup

concept, introduction, and curriculum; had 70 hours to work

reworked old camp idea and refreshed it

critique and feedback from staff the intern put all of the evaluations together

Outreach vs at institution

Outreach can be a cheaper way to teach about our collection while using school resources (rather than museum resources) and link to curriculum.

History Matters Association WWI Benares Historic House in Mississauga

schools resist due to hiring cost of supply teachers

free vs paid tours: free might mean no commitment

Computers for Schools Program St Catharines

Tech Soup: good place for inexpensive software

webinar by historical society for new Ontario curriculum

Building Stories heritage assets in your community from Waterloo and mobile App

Changes between old and new curriculum

HME PLC November 2013

Hamilton Area Museum Educators

invites you to our November 2013 Peer Learning Circle

Adult Education and Museums’/Galleries’ role in inquiry-based learning and the “New” Curriculum

Monday, November 18, 2013, 10:00am-3:00pm

Royal Botanical Gardens, 680 Plains Rd West, Burlington, ON

This session is FREE!

Presenters and topics include:

Dr. Gregory Davies

Student Collaboration, Curatorship and Educational Outreach: ‘Worldly Possessions’ at the McMaster Museum of Art

This talk will outline the design of the current ‘Worldly Possessions’ exhibition at the McMaster Museum of Art and focus on student involvement in curatorship and educational outreach through research, tours, activities and electronic media.

Assistant Professor, History of Art, School of the Arts, McMaster University (BA., York University, MA., University of Toronto). I have been teaching Art History courses at the School of the Arts, McMaster University since 2002. I have also taught courses in Art History at the University of Toronto and Guelph University. My areas of specialized interest are Italian Baroque and Renaissance art and my dissertation (in progress) focuses upon caricature and its invention in 17^th-century Italy. During my time at McMaster I have developed and implemented two Art History travel courses in Italy, taught each spring through the School of the Arts. In addition to curating the current exhibition at the McMaster Museum of Art (Worldly Possessions: Visualizing Ownership in the Age of the Baroque) I am also currently involved in the design of a teaching module to be offered through the proposed Centre for Arts and Social Engagement (CASE) initiative.

Nicole Neufeld

Seniors in the Studio: Education Programs for an Aging Population

Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery

For over two years, KW|AG has partnered with the Alzheimer Society Kitchener-Waterloo to jointly deliver gallery programs for individuals living with early onset Alzheimer’s and their caregivers.  This talk will run through program delivery, reveal some of the findings and benefits of delivering programs to seniors, and offer insights into future opportunities and challenges facing this kind of initiative.

Nicole Neufeld is the Director of Public Programs at the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery and received a Master of Arts in Art History from Carleton University and a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from the University of Guelph.  Previously, she was Head of Membership & Development at the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art (Toronto), and held positions at the National Gallery of Canada, Library and Archives Canada, and Carleton University. She currently sits on the Board of Directors of the Guelph Arts Council, the Steering Committee for the Family Centre (Kitchener), and the Let’s Read! Waterloo Region Family Literacy Initiative committee.  Neufeld was co-curator of ImagiNation: New Cultural Topographies and co-organizer of a conference at Carleton University, Complicated Entanglements: Rethinking Pluralism in the 21st Century.

Dr. Joyce Zazulak
Speaking on the importance of curiosity to adult learning.

Leslie Furness
Speaking on the New Curriculum.

Registration is limited! Contact one of the HME coordinators to register BEFORE NOVEMBER 13.

Call for Presentations: November PLC

The Hamilton Area Museum Educators (HME) invite you to present at our upcoming Peer Learning Circle (PLC)!

Topic: Adult Education and Museums’/Galleries’ role in inquiry-based learning and the “New” Curriculum
Date:  Monday, November 18, 2013, 10:00am-3:00pm
Location:  Royal Botanical Gardens, 680 Plains Rd W  Burlington, ON

WE WANT TO KNOW what exciting and innovative ways your museum/gallery is involved in adult education, inquiry-based learning, and the new Ontario curriculum.

Do you:
-run an adult education program?
-participate in an interesting partnership?
-utilize inquiry-based learning in your museum/gallery?

We invite you to share your approaches and ideas in a presentation that will engage others in conversation and offer learning in this peer learning environment.
We ask that presentations be a maximum of 15-20 minutes in length, followed by 10-15 minutes discussion period.  However, new approaches are welcome and creative presentations may be longer or shorter depending on what you want to share or get out of them.  All ideas related to the topic are welcome. Step up and share!

For more information about the HME PLC, please contact one of HME’s coordinators or visit our blog.
We look forward to hearing from you!

HME Coordinators

____________
h-m-e.blogspot.ca/
twitter.com/_HME_
facebook.com/hamiltonmuseumeducators

Monday Meeting Cancelled

Hi everyone,

Unfortunately, we've had to cancel our scheduled meeting for Monday September 16.

BUT, we would like to remind you IC conference registration is up and the early bird rate is only available until the 20th. It should be a fun conference, with field trips to locations such as Ruthven Park.
The conference takes place this year at the RBG - right in our own backyard!

Starting a New Year!; And, New Curriculum

Hello everyone! I hope the summer's been great for you.

The new HME 2013-2014 schedule has been set, and you can see it here. Details will be sent out for our first evening meeting shortly.

In the meantime, there's some information regarding the new Social Sciences curriculum that one of our members kindly forwarded:

1. New Curriculum
This has even slightly modified so make sure to look that up but this will help with reference to what the next point speaks on.

2. The following points were made to us by the Halton Region Board Liaison Karen Wolridge about our programs and the important features to focus on.

Points
1. The teachers will be new to this SS curriculum - so any visual cues/charts/graphics or word/phrase hooks that are lifted from the Curriculum itself will be useful - sort of like a shortcut for teachers.
2. Within any SS field trip the teacher now more than ever must consider prefacing the trip as well as following it up within the classroom. She suggested an e-activity sent to the teacher before hand (pre-activity questions) to prep their visit and a possible take home activity after visiting.
3. The mandate of all subject areas within all Units of Study is integration with other curriculum subjects.
4. Identifying the curriculum strand that our programs relate to is good - but where possible we should choose an element(s) in our programs which relate to these two: OVERALL EXPECTATIONS, RELATED CONCEPTS.
5. The INQUIRY PROCESS within OVERALL EXPECTATIONS is an important facet to connect our stream's to.
6. The Citizen Education Framework graphic on page 10 is an essential template for them.
7. Consult page 192 for anything to do with Maps & Globes....As well look at page 147 B1.2 under Skills/Activities...keep these in mind.
8. What is really essential for every program stream is to identify or highlight a BIG IDEA. Teachers will be looking for this as a validation/reason for taking a trip. It may be this simple (internally) for them...they have to have a BIG IDEA to justify the BIG BUCKS (bussing).
9. She made sure that we note that Native connections, studies where applicable to Grade 5 which was always covered in Grade 6 but has shifted to Grade 5... so there will be a slew of Grade 5 teachers that will be looking for assistance with their class - potentially a field trip.

Hi-Fi to Wi-Fi: applying technology to the museum: HME Meeting Monday May 13, 2013

Guess where this QR code leads?

Using technology to meet accessibility needs for visitors to museums and galleries in historic homes/buildings
•    if there is no elevator or access for people with physical disabilities how do they see your site?
•    using screens and videography to explore the site.
•    screens would be set up in the lobby.
•    how to make these videos interactive and exploratory?
•    Museum and Technology Grant

•    Hamilton Factory Media has equipment rentals
•    use PowerPoint or Keynote to create visual program for display.
•    these video terminals/screens can also be used to showcase your site for prospective visitors who are concerned with what they’re going to see for the admission paid.

Ways to use technology to enhance your exhibitions and programs
•    Historical context: Ruthven played television commercials from the 1960s in their 1960s era kitchen during the Christmas season.
•    iPads can be borrowed for enhanced visitor experience and information.
o    issue with visitors signing release forms to ensure iPads be returned was problematic and caused visitor mistrust.
o    mounting iPads in kiosks might be a better option.
•    QR codes to be used with smartphones to give information.
o    RBG uses QR codes along their trail system.
o    iPods and iPads can also read these.
o    QR code app available for iPhone called Scan


•    Digital images of archival material make it easily accessible when it otherwise can’t be accessed.

Do we need a mixed-device environment in our museums and galleries?

Is technology a more inexpensive option than print materials?

Content generation for QR codes, social media, iPads is too time consuming?

The importance of tracking usage is important and can give information as to the demographic most using technology at your site or your social media.
•    Always question who your demographic is and if they are even users of technology (is offering technology a waste of your resources and time if your visitors don’t use it).
•    what technology is best suited for your demographic?
•    non-users might find touch screens simple and easier to use, certainly less intimidating.

Changing technology is a concern.

Social Media: Good or Bad?
•    can be a great introduction to your site.
•    can be easy “informal and friendly” access for research questions and collections concerns.
•    can break down institutional hierarchies as an entrance into your institution.
•    Facebook as a search tool for tourists.
•    can use Foursquare for Facebook feed data.
•    social media allows for other institutions to link to your site to create communities.
•    allows for a conversational tone for information about your site (less formal).
•    suggested that the ideal time to post is after 1pm.
•    always post information with pictures/images to catch attention.
•    Facebook and Twitter allows preloading content to post at certain times.
•    social media builds relationships between museum/gallery staff and the community.

Databases
•    meet the requirements of useful/practical and cool.
•    a useful and easy to use database is an excellent resource for international audiences.
•    issue of data entry and ensuring the data loaded into the database is correct.

Online Classes/Courses and Content
•    programming can be made available on your website.
•    great for adult classes to offer online content to go with in-gallery content.
•    Google Hangouts allow for recordable conversations/ lectures.
•    Khan Academy’s.
•    conversational short videos with art historians, historians and staff are great learning tools.
•    Ask a Curator.