Interactivity

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, I stayed with my sister and her family in Kanata. Given the proximity to Ottawa and Carp, my boyfriend Karl and I decided to take in a couple of tourist attractions while we were there.

On Saturday we visited in the War Museum. Wow. What a place! It's incredibly huge. We spent about 4.5 hours in there and still didn't see everything. I was impressed by the number of interactive activities available. Everything from being able to zoom in on models of First Nation's villages to understand the various roles of the members, to walking through a mock First World War trench and being able to see no man's land. Lots of computer activities and even some interaction with some artifacts, or at least reproduction artifacts.

My first encounter with the reproduced artifact was a man with a musket teaching mainly children about things like cleaning it and how to carry it. He did a really good job changing his message depending on his audience.
The 2nd encounter was a medical kit. This one made me a little nervous, as children were allowed to pick up items, including sharp, potentially poke-your-eye out type items. Despite that nervous factor (risk management anyone?) it again was pretty cool to have someone there to explain to patrons exactly what each item might be used for.

Along with all of these interactive displays, there were lots of static exhibits, but because of how much interaction was possible, I didn't see any kids running around or pounding on artifacts. The only area that didn’t have interactive exhibits was the room full of tanks, artillery pieces, and other vehicles. This room certainly lacked the child friendly atmosphere of the rest of the museum, but there still weren't any kids playing with the artifacts.

Sunday we decided to tackle the Diefenbunker. Again, I can say 'wow' but certainly not with the same connotations as before...

Our visit was basically a 90 minute guided tour. We were welcome to explore once the tour was over, but there was no map provided, nor were there any directional signs to help you find your way around. Plus, the air quality was TERRIBLE. I couldn't wait to get out.
Unlike the War Museum, there weren’t any exhibits with interaction. As a result, I saw children pound on artifacts to make their own fun. I certainly can't say I blame them, as there isn't much to see or do at the Diefenbunker. Trust me, the concept makes it sound really neat-o, but I was rather disappointed with what I saw and heard.

Our tour guide couldn't understand why the federal government wouldn't leave all of their materials behind when the bunker was decommissioned in the 1990s. She seemed absolutely surprised that they wouldn't consider leaving desks, beds, paperwork, etc. behind for the museum to use. Honestly, I think the Diefenbunker museum is lucky that the government didn't fill in the bunker with cement like they did with so many others. How can individuals honestly expect the government to leave all of their materials and equipment behind when they move? I can understand where my guide was coming from - certainly it would have been much easier to create a museum had all of the necessary artifacts been left behind. But at the same time, it doesn't make good sense for an operating government department to leave its equipment behind for the potential use in a museum. The public would certainly not have stood for this.

The key lesson learned from visiting these two very different museums was that the ability to interact with exhibits dramatically effects the behaviour of visitors. People instinctively want to touch and feel things, to be truly involved in the learning process - this is especially true with children. If a museum fails (like the Diefenbunker) to allow the opportunity for interaction, patrons will inevitably find a way to play with artifacts and potentially destroy physical history for all those who follow.