Learning Programs in Full Swing Despite Non-contact Times

ISSUE

By the Editorial Team / With Park Yunhee and Woo Souyeon, Museum Educators, National Museum of Korea

The COVID-19 pandemic has continued for ten months now. In a mood where everyone is trying to minimize contact, many aspects of everyday life have turned digital as we make an increasing use of e-commerce, online streaming, and video conferencing. We are rapidly entering the age of the new normal. The future that was envisioned to be ten years ahead may arrive earlier than expected. The National Museum of Korea is responding quickly to these changes in society, evolving into a smart museum while diversifying ways to enjoy history, culture, and art in the age of the new normal. The Education Division, which is in charge of the museum’s education programs, is also preparing for changes in the times by pursuing new and interesting programs to suit the new noncontact environment.

Increased Distance Learning

Job experience program for students

As face-to-face education is becoming difficult to carry out across the country, a new form of education that can be accessed by anyone regardless of time and place is thriving. As it evolves with a clear emphasis on individualized participation, more users are choosing the contents they want and using the information they need in their own ways.

In 2018, the NMK had already put into trial service real-time distance learning for people far away from the museum in body or mind. Thereafter, the museum continued video communication with schools located hundreds of kilometers away. Based on these experiences, in the first half of this year when children went back to school online for the first time in Korea’s history, the NMK launched real-time online classes for students across the country and the general public. Programs for primary and secondary school students dealt with varied themes such as cultural heritage and job experience while incorporating physical activities, exploration of replicas, and other activities. They gave students the chance to make new discoveries and expand their scope of learning. For adults, humanities lectures and even yoga classes were offered online.

Studio “M:On” produced real-time online learning programs

Positive Signs for the Shift to the Digital

Having operated real-time online classes after receiving applications from schools across the country, the NMK found that in the online environment students responded more independently and actively. And as everyone had equal opportunity to speak, they offered their opinions more freely. This was rather different from the face-to-face classes where one or two students tended to dominate. Most of the students participated in the online classes by writing comments in real-time and giving their opinions without hesitation or fear.

As learning programs shifted to the digital form they did not simply replace or supplement actual visit to the museum but encouraged students to freely exercise their imagination and express themselves. Students came to identify better with our cultural heritage and learned new ways to approach cultural artifacts. In effect the foundation has been laid for a new way of appreciating museum objects by learning about them first online and later seeing them first-hand.

Programs for the International Community

The Education Division has also put together online learning programs for international visitors and residents of Korea, who are experiencing different sorts of problems in the current pandemic. “Culture Academy for Homeschoolers” is offered online for foreign children and teenagers who do not attend international schools and their families. Run in English, the program provides indirect experience of various cultures through artifacts in the World Art Gallery and introduces ways to enjoy the museum’s permanent exhibitions and special exhibitions. Participants actively take part online through the chatting and real-time audio, video, and screen sharing functions so that they feel connected to the museum. Anyone from a homeschooling family can take part in the program from anywhere in the world. The more informations are available on the NMK website. Various other programs are run on a reservation basis, including “Online Teacher Workshop for International School Teachers” and “Online International School Program.”

When the pandemic eases and the museum reopens, these online classes will make the viewing experience even greater. One of them is “Museum Wonder Cart,” a cart with big wheels roams the first to third floors carrying activity sheets. Museum teachers suggest ways to make the exhibition more interesting using activity sheets and puzzles for international visitors. International visitors wander through the galleries as if on a treasure hunt, getting the chance to closely inspect various items on display and learn how to enjoy Korean culture in a new and interesting way. The program is held at the museum every Tuesday through Friday, from 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm. In an effort to reach out to more people, “Virtual Museum Wonder Cart” is held online once a month under a different theme each time. It is a program that is open to everyone who understands English.

Going Live Online

As the NMK’s online programs are becoming well established, more facilities for live broadcasting are being placed around the museum. In September 21 the studio “M:On” began its operation to provide online programs in a more stable and professional environment. The studio produces real-time and recorded learning programs tailored to diverse audiences, including children, teenagers, adults, families, and foreigners and organized training courses for teachers and other professional groups. In addition, programs for Koreans overseas and foreign residents learning Korean are also being prepared. The Education Division of the NMK is thus striving to produce tailored programs in various forms to close the physical gap with visitors and bring the museum into their daily lives.

Program in English for homeschooling people

Treasure Hunt program focusing on major collections of the museum

Museum Wonder Cart provided work sheets for international visitors