EMM Living Lab

The purpose of this workshop is to collaboratively come up with digital education solutions to be used both in museum and classroom settings. The co-creation process ideally results in a pilot project that is put to practice using the Reality Maker AR platform.

EMM’s third Living Lab workshop took place in Laulasmaa, a peaceful seaside resort near Tallinn.

The workshop was called “Empowering Learning with AR”, and it focussed on hearing from and involving teachers. EMM set out to chart the needs of teachers and collectively generate ideas for an AR (augmented reality) solution that could bring museum content into the classroom in captivating and educationally effective ways. The goal of the EMM Living Lab pilot is for museums and tech companies to co-create educational digital content that would enhance museum education and that teachers could use in class.

The main idea developed in the workshop was using an AR solution to add virtual layers of visual information into any physical space (e.g. classroom). Available on most devices, the solution constitutes a highly usable and practical path to transmitting educational content, and makes for an exciting user experience, where pupils can actively create and contribute, as opposed to passively receiving content.

Group sessions saw teachers brainstorm around which content could best match teaching programs, museum offerings, and a participatory AR presentation, rendering historical information more “alive”, relevant and emotion-inducing to pupils. The participants discussed and sought for the best “overlap” – in theme and form – between museums, school curricula and pupils’ interests.

The thematic content available at the Maritime Museum provides for ample opportunity to engage in playful learning, e.g. via role play or reenactments of historical events.

Teachers made for enthusiastic participants and generated a wealth of ideas. The group included: teachers of history, social studies, natural sciences, plus education and communication specialists from other GLAM institutions, representatives of the Reality Maker AR platform and Creativity Lab, and, of course, the Maritime Museum’s RECHARGE team as well as the curator of the museum’s education programs, two visitor experience specialists and guides.