Forced to Go Digital?

Abstract

With the global outbreak of COVID-19, not only were everyday museum practices affected like never before, but pre-existing problems in the education field were exacerbated. COVID-19 forced children’s museums in particular to take on even bigger educational responsibilities. Through examples from the United States, this paper analyzes how children’s museums came to fulfil their educational potential through their digital programming and related initiatives, thus also amplifying their civic engagement within their local communities. In addition to giving an overview of the available literature, the analysis found that during the pandemic children’s museums supported families of school-aged children and formal educational institutions, which were dealing with the effects of growing digital exclusion. This exclusion was alleviated througha range of digital and non-digital solutions, including virtual experiences and participatory family activities, delivering learning kits, and providing technical or physical infrastructure to school classes. By creating both digital and analogue surrogates for physical exhibitions and education, comparing initiatives and perceived purposes of these programs, the inherent cultural and human value of museums as essential human spaces—not just for objects, but for a high standard of education—can be seen.