Back in February, an advisory group of 5th graders from Queens proposed several ideas for museum trips of the future at the National Art Education Association Museum Education Division Preconference. As expected, some of their ideas were wonky, not quite possible or necessary for broader student audiences (You can read about their presentation on the Queens Muse).

The students mostly critiqued the restrictiveness of museum field trips. Most students had been to museums with their families and preferred the freedom to wander and explore. However, students were sensitive to safety issues and  believed they should be restricted to certain areas in the museum. Their proposal combined a few ideas – using GPS to find objects, being tracked by teachers, being restricted to certain areas, signaling alarms when help is needed and playing scavenger hunts electronically.

Can we combine object tagging, student tracking, and gaming possibilities on devices for use by school-age children in museums?