Katie Worthen
Education & Programming
Museum programming should be fun, engaging and diverse. We should always be looking to what's new and update our programming accordingly to better serve the public. School-related programs should encompass educational curriculum while also creating a space that allows children to learn in ways that appeal to their indivudual learning styles. Regardless of whether it's curriculum based or for the general public, museums should strive to provide accessible programming to all communities, both online and in person.
We photographed 13 different artifacts. You can learn about all 13 of these artifacts in the escape room and 6 of them are clues to escape the room.
Virtual Education Program
Hutchison House, Peterborough
My education group and I teamed up with a local historic house to create a virtual escape room. After meeting with the museum, we all felt their current public programming did not address teens and young adults, so we decided this program would bridge that gap. Escape rooms are also an effective way of integrating learning and light competition.
This activity was unlike any of their other programming. It appeals to younger audiences, it's easy to make multiple versions with varying levels of difficulty to reach multiple demographics and it can be done alone or with friends and family. They're also free to make through Google Slides and Google Forms.
The hope of the escape room is that the public, particularly teens and young adults, not only learn something about Hutchison House, but want to visit it. Additionally, this could be made into a live program that has the potential to become profitable for the institution in the future.
Check out the virtual escape room for yourself!
It was important to create a narrative to make the virtual escape room as immersive as possible.