Learning Tool 4- Museum Box

Museum Box is an online tool that allows students to create an argument or description of an event or person, it provides a 'storage' graphic organiser that allows students to order their information and research coherently.
PMI Analysis of Museum Box

Plus	Minus	Implications
A creative and unique way for students to present information	Layering system may be difficult for students to understand	If not monitored correctly inappropriate material may be added to the box through, image, video function.
More engaging format for research essays	Linking and Video system may confuse some students, especially as links do not show up in preview mode	Students may be confused  as to what to include in their box, appropriate and explicit scaffolding must apply
Use a variety of content to both strengthen their work and engage readers, images etc.	Video cannot be uploaded directly they must first be saved to your computer	If students view others boxes their own work may become skewed with information from others
Allows students to comment on one another’s boxes, giving feedback	Have to wait up to 14 days for registration to be complete
Increases range of modalities available with ability to include images, videos, links and audio

When I tried to sign onto Museum Box I was denied as I do not have a education registration, so I embarked on a informational discovery tour as Museum Box intrigued me! I watched about 3 tutorials from different educational websites, I read wiki's where real teachers have had real experience and I also viewed  LOT of museum boxes! So although I did not experience it first hand I had a pretty good grasp on how to use museum box and what experience it could offer. In a classroom could be a tool to get students thinking about what life was like for a charcater out of a novel or a historical person, as just a simple engagement activity or alternatively it could be central to the unit where students use the museum box as their assessment! Other idea on how to use this tool in the classroom as a multi modal presenter are, to tell a story about a time in history, i.e. The Vietnam War- students could take the role of an Australian Soldier in Vietnam, gathering artifacts, information, video clips etc. They could use their museum box to document memories of characters out of a fictional book. The ways in which these boxes can be used are so versatile, students are able to upload their own images or choose from a large gallery that is supplied, students are able to record straight from their computer to their box and create links to other websites. Each box has six sides were students can place information, and in each layer their can be up to six boxes, and up 3 layers! This is a whole multitude of information, alternatively the teacher can use one of these bigger boxes to create portfolios for each of their students. When using this tool it promotes the higher order thinking skills necessary of 21st Century learners, it engages learners to explore and experiment. Bloom (1957) outlines his taxonomy of higher order thinking skills, as Application, Analysis, Synthesis and Evaluation. The way in which this task requires students to think flexibly and analyse the information they discover for later application complies to the higher order thinking skills. Scaffolding this task for students is a must, especially as the layering of the boxes has been found to be difficult. Through appropriate modelling of the tool and viewing of examples it allows students to be exposed to the standard of work and how to get there. It also needs to be taught, as with any tool that employs digital media, what copyright laws are and how not to infringe them. Museum Box is a versatile tool that I initially thought would be great for a History class but on further exploration has also proved its vice in many subjects. I look forward to the day I can be registered to use it!