RFID in action. Source: MOAD

Museum of Australian Democracy wins Silver MUSE Award, Media Release, 27 April 2015

Yesterday, the Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House received a Silver 2015 MUSE Award for Education and Outreach.

Now in its 26th year, the international MUSE Awards competition recognises outstanding innovation and achievement in museum media and technology.

“We are very excited to accept this award. We pride ourselves on creating interactive and meaningful learning experiences for our students, encouraging engagement with our content in a way that resonates with them,” said Daryl Karp, Director of the Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House.

The museum received the award for its Learning TRAIL which incorporates Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, developed in collaboration with EDM Studios.

The TRAIL is a digital resource specifically designed to engage students with the museum’s material culture.

“For the students, TRAIL is intuitive, allowing greater time for student-led discussion and reflection at the end of the program. The interactive aspect of this program facilitates social learning, allowing students to discuss, vote and record their opinions in an accessible and enjoyable way,” said Ms Glenda Smith, Head of Lifelong Learning.

Each year, the museum’s Learning team delivers successful and engaging civics-based programs to thousands of school students, young adults and families from all around Australia. Programs are designed to encourage participation rather than observation; discussion rather than instruction; and to work in collaboration rather than in isolation.

The other award recipients in the Education and Outreach category included the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art (Gold), Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (Bronze) and Metropolitan Museum of Art (honourable mention).

The MUSE Awards competition is an activity of the Media & Technology Professional Network of the American Alliance of Museums (AAM).

In 2015, over 200 applications were received from a wide variety of museums in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. This year’s entries included videos, interactive handheld tours, applications, podcasts, blogs, online communities, websites, audio tours, and gallery installations.

Over 100 judges — museum and media professionals from across the world — were involved in the process of selecting the winners.