Curiosity Creation and Museum Experiences with Sitara Systems

Experience by Design

The field of education and learning is shifting in a lot of ways. Some of this is related to the new technologies, and the opportunities that are created through them. At the same time, we can see the duplication of traditional approaches through new technologies. Afterall, what does PowerPoint really accomplish if all we do is just put our lecture notes in it. It is still just a professor in front of the room delivering the content.

And that used to be enough. Professors weren’t entertainers, but gatekeepers. We could be in front of the room, expecting students to pay attention, engaging in the content under duress, and providing output that fit our requirements.

The game has changed in many ways. Now educators have to figure out ways of being engaging. We have to think not just in terms of class materials, but learning experiences. We can’t just think about course lectures, but content creation. We have to explore ways to get students curious, to bring material to them because we can’t just rely on them to come to the material.

Part of this is probably related to the a la carte culture that we currently have. ‘Kids today’ are socialized in an environment where they can pick and choose what they want when they want it. They can listen to whatever music they want any time they want to. They can pick a show or movie and see it at any time. Even Door Dash and Grub Hub can deliver food that they want.

To get students and learners engaged, we have to have them want to be engaged. Given that they have choice around so much of their lives, educators find themselves being in the situation of having to entertain students and learners.

Of course, education doesn’t just happen in the classroom. Museums are another environment in which learning can take place. And museums also are a place where learning and entertainment are coming into close contact.

On this episode of Experience by Design, we welcome Nathan Lachenmyer and Sadiya Akasha from Sitara Systems. Nathan and Sadiya think of themselves as ‘curiosity creators,’ creating museum experiences that draw people into exhibits so that they can become engaged in their content.

A major part of their goal is to achieve education through entertainment. Additionally, they seek to establish education as a pathway to action. Rather than preaching, we can think of their work as reaching. There is a difference between being lectured at versus talked to, and their edutainment approach helps to reach those who are indifferent to topics like climate change and get them engaged.

We had a lot of fun in this convo, especially considering they were talking on different lines but in the same room next to each other!