Abstract

Digital technologies are used mostly for artifact preservation, but they can also be used for educating people about those artifacts in a museum context. This paper investigates the way various age groups react differently to distinct kinds of digitization technology. By using different technologies with certain age groups, adolescents can learn more from the artifacts or objects they are interacting with. This project aims to explore which technologies work with what age group in order to optimize adolescent education and artifact accessibility in museums. Accessibility for this study is defined as a museum making their collections available to a variety of people through digitization, whether online or in an exhibit. To explore the notion that separate age groups react differently to various digital technologies, I considered adolescents as three distinct age groups: six- to eight-years-old, nine- to eleven-years-old, and twelve- to fourteen-years-old. I then created a digital exhibit comprised of digital scans of four artifacts from the Ancient Mediterranean Cultures and Archaeology (AMCA) Lab of Butler University. This digital exhibit can be used with the three groups in future outreach programming. The primary technology being tested is photogrammetry. A review of 3D printing and virtual reality are also included. The results indicate that all groups can benefit from the use of these technologies, but that certain technologies would have a greater impact on specific age groups over others with varying levels of flexibility. For instance, the oldest age group, 12-14, could learn from looking at a 3D printed scan, but they might engage with a virtual environment better. However, the youngest age group, 6-8, would learn well from a 3D-printed model, but they might struggle in a virtual environment. It is also important to note that these technologies would allow for greater learning among other groups besides adolescents and could help increase any visitor’s experience in a museum.