A presentation delivered 25 November 2008 to the Australasian Science and Technology Exhibitors Network.

1. New online possibilities:
opportunities and challenges
Geoff Crane, Ken Dickson
Questacon – The National Science and Technology Centre

2. Hello!
We’re Geoff and Ken, the Digital Media Manager
and Digital Media Producer here at Questacon.
Today, we want to talk about the Internet.

3. PART ONE: Our Approach

4. “It’s about engagement.
Here’s your audience.
Here is where they are.
Go meet them there.”
Adam Rozan, Oakland Museum of California
“Killer Statue – Psyched About the Site!”
The New York Times, 12 March, 2008

5. For the past dozen or so years now, museums,
science centres, and cultural institutions – along
with the rest of the world – have embraced the
Internet as a communication tool.
For places like Questacon, it’s meant developing
web sites that:
•advertise exhibits
•list opening times
•deliver online activities, games and puzzles

6. Number of Visitors
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200,000
250,000
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We’re pretty good at that.
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Oc
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2 059 321 visitors to our site last year!

7. However, as you’ve undoubtedly heard, there’s a buzz
around things “Web 2.0”.
Fortunately, our community has responded to that by
including new elements into our sites. Now, in addition to
the exhibit descriptions, the opening times, the online
activities, games and puzzles, we’ve been adding:
•discussion boards
•blogs
•podcasts
•wikis

8. We’ve got a web site, and we’re Web 2.0!
So what’s with a statement like this?
“It’s no longer enough
for a museum to put up a web site
and hope that people find it.”
“Killer Statue – Psyched About the Site!”
The New York Times, 12 March, 2008

9. PART TWO: The Audience

10. First, let’s see what % of kids are on the Internet:
65% of Australians 5-14 years old
“Children’s Participation in Cultural and Leisure Activities”
Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2006
92% of Australians 15-17 years old
“Household Use of Information Technology”
Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2006-2007

11. Wow. Okay, they’re online.
Are they into science?
“Science Competencies for Tomorrow’s World”
Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), 2006

12. 1% attend a science
club

13. 4% listen to radio
programmes about
advances in
science
1% attend a science
club

14. 5% borrow or buy
books on science
topics
4% listen to radio
programmes about
advances in
science
1% attend a science
club

15. 10% read science
magazines or
science articles in
newspapers
5% borrow or buy
books on science
topics
4% listen to radio
programmes about
advances in
science
1% attend a science
club

16. 11% visit web sites
about science
topics
10% read science
magazines or
science articles in
newspapers
5% borrow or buy
books on science
topics
4% listen to radio
programmes about
advances in
science
1% attend a science
club

17. 16% watch TV
programmes about
science
11% visit web sites
about science
topics
10% read science
magazines or
science articles in
newspapers
5% borrow or buy
books on science
topics
4% listen to radio
programmes about
advances in
science
1% attend a science
club

18. 11% visiting science web sites!
It isn’t a huge number, but it’s not entirely
unexpected. I wonder how much of that 11% was
at school?
So, what else is our audience into?

19. What do Australian kids 5-14 years old do outside of school hours?
97% watched television, videos or DVDs
83% had done homework or other study
75% had read for pleasure
68% had been bike riding
64% participated in organised sports
64% had played electronic or computer games
55% visited public library
49% had spent time on art and craft activities
37% visited museum or art gallery
30% attended performing arts event
24% had been skateboarding or rollerblading
“Children’s Participation in Cultural and Leisure Activities”
Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2006

20. Television… homework… bike riding… that’s pretty
much what I was like at that age too.
Back in the day, I used to keep in touch with friends
by either visiting them or calling them on the
phone.
Here’s where I think it gets interesting…

21. How today’s teen with access to the Internet and a mobile
keeps in touch with their friends every day:
70% talk on their mobile
60% send texts
54% instant message
47% send messages over social network sites
46% talk to friends on landline telephone
35% spend time with friends in person
22% send email
“Teens and Social Media”
Pew Internet, 2007

22. That’s new. Seven different methods of communication: two
mobile based, three Internet based.
“Young people inhabit a vastly different world
to that experienced by their parents
and the current crop of policymakers in their youth.”
“For young people,
the Internet and the opportunities it offers
are not novelties but are part of everyday life.”
“Behind the Screen: The Hidden Life of Youth Online”
Institute for Public Policy Research, 2008

23. PART THREE: Their Internet

24. We know they’re online, but
how does our audience use the Internet?
First, we know it’s seen as a research tool of sorts:
“The Internet as a Resource for News and Information about Science”
Pew Internet, 2006

25. If you wanted to learn more about a specific science
topic, where would you go first for more information?
library 14%
other 10%
bible / church 4%
television 4%
science magazines 3%
scientific journals 3%
the Internet 56%
newspapers 3%
books 2%
doctor 1%

26. However, learning about “a specific science topic” doesn’t really rate in a youth’s
time online. What they are doing is more like:
81% go to websites about movies, TV shows, music groups, or sports stars
77% get information about news and current events
68% send or receive instant messages IMs
57% watch video sharing site
55% use an online social networking site like MySpace or Facebook
55% get information about a college or university you are thinking of attending
49% play computer or console games online
38% buy things online, such as books, clothes, and music
28% look for health, dieting, or physical fitness information
19% download a podcast
18% visit chatrooms
“Teens and Social Media”
Pew Internet, 2007

27. In addition:
55% of teens 12-17 years have created a profile online
And of that group:
84% post messages to a friend’s page or wall
76% post comments to a friend’s blog
61% send a bulletin or group message to all of your friends
“Social Networking Websites and Teens”
Pew Internet, 2007

28. Instant messages… video sharing… social network
sites…
It’s all about the social.

29. PART FOUR: Is our approach
their Internet?

30. Just to recap, the title of this little presentation was:
New online possibilities:
opportunities and challenges
Remember…

31. “It’s about engagement.
Here’s your audience.
Here is where they are.
Go meet them there.”
Adam Rozan, Oakland Museum of California
“Killer Statue – Psyched About the Site!”
The New York Times, 12 March, 2008

32. The opportunity is clear.
We know:
65% of Australians 5-14 years old and
92% of Australians 15-17 years old using the Internet
68% send or receive instant messages IMs
55% of teens participating by creating online content
55% use an online social networking site like MySpace or Facebook
57% watch video sharing site
but that only…
11% visit web sites about science topics

33. Go where is the audience is.
(Hint: It’s not your web site.)

34. Last year, we built climateXchange.aspacnet.org,
a site containing videos, photos, and stories about
how climate change affects people around the
world.

35. We thought it’d be good to cross-post the same
videos that we receive at climateXchange to
YouTube.

36. And here’s what we saw:
Coral Bleaching
9895 views at YouTube
477 views at climateXchange
As at 20 November 2008

37. 20 times as many
visitors saw the video at YouTube
than did on our climateXchange site.
While we love climateXchange – it looks good, it’s
got a Google Maps mashup, it’s got all sorts of
background info on climate change – our role as
science communicators is to get the message in
front of an audience.
And as much as we’d like it to be, that audience
isn’t at climateXchange.

38. We’re not the only ones taking advantage of this space.
Check out what the Ontario Science Centre has
accomplished with their presence on YouTube. Millions of
visitors have watched their videos:

39. Of course, it’s not just YouTube.
On Flickr.com, the Australian National Archives has begun
posting photos from their collection.

40. Sydney’s Powerhouse has had such success with their
hundreds of photos on Flickr that new photos they add
there are not only attracting views, the audience has gone
social by taking the photos and
providing commentary, feedback, and discussion.

42. Now, not everything is a success. Going back to the
Ontario Science Centre, check out how many videos
they’ve got with only a few dozen views:

43. But the few that have “hit”, have hit big.

44. Now, it’s not all Flickr and YouTube…

51. The challenge in all this is…
1. Identifying the audience,
be that Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, or ...
2. Developing content that suits that audience.
3. Accepting that sometimes, your content will miss.
4. Accepting that sometimes, the audience will move on.
5. Trying again.
6. And again.
7. And again.

52. Remember: “It’s no longer enough for a museum to
put up a web site and hope that people find it.”
Take your content where the audience is.
Accept that a lot of what you will do will fail.
And when it does fail, don’t be afraid to
keep trying again and again
until you find something that works.

53. “Today’s learners live
in that online experimental environment.
Investments must be made now,
while a new generation of learners
can be reached where they are now …
before they diverge yet further
from today’s educational methods.”
“Fostering Learning in the Networked World:
The Cyberlearning Opportunity and Challenge”
Report of the National Science Foundation
Task Force on Cyberlearning, 2008

54. Geoff Crane
gcrane@questacon.edu.au
Ken Dickson
kdickson@questacon.edu.au
Bookmarks for web sites mentioned
in this presentation are online at:
http://delicious.com/asten2008