Crawfordjohn Storypods

Pupil recording audio material for podcast

Why is this case study relevant?

Crawfordjohn is a small independent museum run entirely by volunteers. The Storypods project is an innovative collaboration between the museum, the local primary school, the local authority cultural coordinators and new media company Inner Ear, to deliver a series of podcasts created by the students in response to the museum collection.

What were the aims of the project?

• To increase involvement and access to heritage through new technology

• To develop partnerships between museums and schools, thereby extending the ways in which schools use museums as a learning resource

• To improve interpretation and accessibility

• To increase school visitor numbers to local collections

• To enable pupils to engage with collections, displays and museum professionals

• To create a lasting resource for the museum

What happened?

Crawfordjohn storypods is an innovative oral history project involving Crawfordjohn Heritage Venture and Crawfordjohn Primary School in South Lanarkshire. New media company Inner Ear Ltd delivered the project on behalf of South Lanarkshire Council’s Cultural Co-ordinators. Through a two month educational initiative, the project aimed to create podcasts for Crawfordjohn Heritage Venture’s website.

With increased demand for, and with the use of new media, the creation of podcasts seemed like an appropriate format for this project. The use of software such as iTunes demonstrated this type of project would support the way visitors wanted to learn. It is also a format which is being increasingly used by young people.

The project involved the pupils visiting the museum to see objects and develop stories which they told and recorded. Extra material was also collected by holding an open day and utilising local knowledge of the museum’s collection. Throughout this process, the pupils undertook much of the technical work and had control of the stories. There was a storytelling advisor from Inner Ear who acted in a journalistic/editorial role, supporting the pupils in interview techniques and how to collect and record stories.

There was consultation with a range of partners at the planning stages to assess what skills and resources were already available through the school and museum. The museum is run by volunteers who all dedicated time and effort to the project for free. Particular time was given by the museum’s volunteer website designer who worked with Inner Ear to publish the podcasts.

An end of project celebration was held, where pupils showcased the work they had produced. A range of guests were invited including pupils’ friends and family, local Councillors and Education staff.

The end product produced is a series of podcasts. To see these, please visit: http://www.crawfordjohn.org/audio.htm

What was learned?

All those involved reported that they found the project highly beneficial. Through a joined up approach, the school was provided with a high quality experience that was enjoyed by all. The young people gained increased knowledge of the museums resources and the local history while benefitting from a high quality arts experience. “We enjoyed everything, especially working with Inner Ear and all the people at the museum. All the activities were brilliant! I learned a lot” (Quote from Pupil, Crawfordjohn Primary).

The young people involved benefitted from exposure to new technology, awareness of the community and developed their language and communication skills. The museum and local community have benefitted from the documentation of a local heritage archive. Young people have also gained an extended understanding of heritage and an awareness of both local and national museums collections through the museum.

Looking back on reflection of the project, and if a similar project of this nature was to be repeated, as there were so many people involved there would be value in holding additional meetings with partners. Also, in order for the children to continue using the skills they gained, it would be beneficial to apply for additional funding to buy equipment.

What is the wider relevance?

The project demonstrates how effective collaboration is one way to enable museums to engage new audiences and access skills not held in-house. New technology can offer a new route into museums for visitors both on and offline and is particularly appealing to young people. The project demonstrates that this is an achievable aim for all organisations regardless of scale.

Podcasts are an effective way to publish interpretation around collections and this is a particularly good use of them in bringing together the voice of the local community within the context of the visitor experience of the museum.

The museum’s innovative use of new technology has engaged new audiences through alternative learning methods alongside the school curriculum, to deliver an exciting resource which is accessible to all online.

How was this project promoted?

The downloadable material is available from the museum’s website. This has increased accessibility and promoted the museum on a national and international level.

The school promoted and encouraged the local community to come along to the launch event and there was also an article published in the local newspaper.

What type of evaluation was done?

Participants were asked to feed back both formally and informally on their experience with the project which was collated into a report. The report sets out the aims of the project, what it involved and what the outcomes were. Feedback resulting from this was overall very positive. There is also continuing evaluation of the website statistics to monitor use of the podcasts.