Since we're blogging about blogs right now... I know I mentioned this to some of you a while ago, but it's worth repeating myself, I think.  The American Alliance of Museum has their Center for the Future of Museums and they in turn have their blog:  http://futureofmuseums.blogspot.com

Recent posts are all about wearable technology ahead of the annual Museum Expo wherein vendors exhibit and hawk their goods to museum professionals, but I thought it spoke to some of your own recent blog posts.

Ellen

Who are the best Arts Ed Bloggers?

Well, someone else wondered the same thing and so the site, "The Art of Education" held a contest. This was the fourth year they've done so and the results are on their website. What do you think of their selections?

Do as I say. Not as I do. Or maybe I should just be doing better.

Apologies to all for neglecting our blog space these last few weeks. We'll try to do some extra posting to catch everyone up to speed.

In the meantime, I'll drop a quick link here for resources from the NAEA Convention which just took place in New Orleans! You never know when you might see a session that happens to line up with an interest or....gasp...thesis work? Check out this page for links to resources and this page for videos from some of the sessions (which aren't up yet, but supposedly coming soon!)

Museums....Unplugged?

Anyone else remember MTV Unplugged? Just the idea of an artist sitting down with a guitar in a studio and playing without any real amplification? That's where my brain went first, but maybe I'm showing my age.

This article posts an interesting question on if we're becoming too reliant on technology in museums. What do y'all think?

http://artmuseumteaching.com/2013/07/06/museums-unplugged-are-we-becoming-too-reliant-on-technology/

The Election is in the bag...or is it?

Looks like we get to endure another 6 weeks of election campaigning and political analysis with the news that Mayor Emmanuel will go into a run-off with candidate Jesus 'Chuy' Garcia. Not a total shock, but pleasantly surprising. So how did the incumbent Mayor with the 10-1 fundraising edge and a presidential endorsement not crush his opponents. Grassroots marketing by challengers probably played a part, but as you can see from this info graphic and analysis, big social media numbers don't guarantee wins:

http://thesixthirty.com/lifestyle/infographic-rahm-emanuel-crushes-other-mayor-candidates-on-social-media/

Moving forward though, social media and getting the word out to vote will likely be significant factors in determining our next mayor. What do you think?

Smithsonian Digitization Project

Here's an interesting article about the Smithsonian's current strategy for digitizing their collection.  It's easy enough to think about museums' digital presences and the potential the internet and other digital technologies hold for these, but it's important to consider the work that goes into making any of it possible.  The Smithsonian's use of a conveyor belt to blast through the process of photographing their objects is their response to other projects, like Freer-Sackler's, where it took 15 years to digitize 40,000 objects...

Wii Hacks

This one is a bit of an oldie now, but still one of my favorites. (And a TED talk just for you, Justin!) It demonstrates how we can repurpose tools and technology to provide low-cost alternatives to the big budget tech that is so popular in classrooms. Any other examples you all have come across?