Using Mobile Phone Technology

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• Using Mobile Phone Technology
• to engage Young People
• with Museum Collections
• Lee Hutchinson, Collections Access Officer
  Northampton Museums lhutchinson_at_northampton.gov.u
  k
• Tel. [phone]
• Andrew Wilson, Director, Blink
• andrew_at_blinkmedia.org Tel. [phone]

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• Research Project

• 13 young people
• Aged 14-20
• From all areas of Northampton
• Tour of stores and galleries
• Selected favourite objects from handling
  collection
• Crash course in film making, editing and
  distribution
• Given free reign to make video clips relating
  to objects
• Shared via Bluetooth
• Uploaded onto YouTube
• (see links on handout)

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Research Aims

• 1. Discover what functionality of mobile phones
  young people are using, how they are using them
  and how willing they would be to use their own
  mobile phones as part of a creative project

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• All have own mobile phones
  (often their first phone little or no
  inclination to upgrade)
• All but one happy to use own phone
• All but one use camera function
• Majority use camera function a lot
• All regular users of Bluetooth
• All familiar with social networking sites
  as means of distribution

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• 2. Trial models and techniques to engage young
  people with museum collections through using
  mobile technologies that they already have, along
  with the resources of the collections and
  tutoring in film making and new media

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• 3. Try to uncover whether participants will
  share their films with family and friends, using
  their mobile phones via Bluetooth and analogue
  sharing

• All very enthusiastic
• sharing clips before, during, and after project
• no problem transferring clips to laptop for
  editing

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• 4. Discover how the participants feel about
  having their films made public using platforms
  like YouTube and Bluetooth distribution in museum

• Mixed response wary of haters
• Overall enthusiastic
• Wanted control over online presence

People may want to get involved next time by
looking at our videos.
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• 5. Consider what implications research findings
  might have for the use of mobile technology in
  museums

Mobile X Budget 500 Advantages re cost and
enthusiastic participation are clear Encourage
visitors to use own phones
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• 6. Try to disseminate the conclusions of the
  trial and evaluation as an article or
  presentation to a museum sector audience

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• 7. Evaluate the models, techniques and outputs,
  including
• What are the obstacles and advantages of using
  DIY technology?
• Are the resulting films any good, as explanation,
  entertainment or other criteria?
• Decide for yourself, see Mobile X films on
  YouTube http//tinyurl.com/cyqtsk

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Future goals

• Refine model
• Develop toolkit for museum sector
• Larger scale project, incl. Bluevend box on-site
  (Bluetooth console)

For a copy of the full report or for
further information, contact
Lee Hutchinson, Collections Access Officer
Northampton Museums lhutchinson_at_northampton.gov.uk
Tel. [phone] Andrew Wilson, Director,
Blink andrew_at_blinkmedia.org Tel. [phone]