Category Archives: Interpretation

Centres of learning: books, libraries, enhanced content and learning communities

Posted on May 7, 2013 by julianstodd

The new Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam is superb: ten years work to renovate, refresh and rehang the galleries, resulting in a beautiful setting and interpretation of some of the finest artworks in the world. And a great library. My highlight yesterday … Continue reading →

Posted in Authority, Book, Change, Community, Culture, Curation, e-Books, Engagement, Forum, Future, Information, Interpretation, Knowledge, Learning, Learning Technology, Meaning, Narrative, Publishing, Social Learning, Stories, Technology, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 18 Comments

Collaboration, community and curation

Posted on April 23, 2013 by julianstodd

I’m on the train to London for today’s workshop on ‘creating a mobile and social learning culture in your organisation’. It’s early. Earlier than i like, but on the plus side, beautiful views of the sunrise through the trees in … Continue reading →

Posted in Challenge, Collaboration, Communication, Community, Conversation, Culture, Curation, Engagement, Experience, Interpretation, Learning, Learning Journey, Narrative, Reflection, Social Learning, Stories, Storytelling | Tagged , , , , , | 21 Comments

Creating meaning in social learning: interpretation

Posted on April 15, 2013 by julianstodd

I spent yesterday afternoon in The Hermitage in Amsterdam, a great museum, currently housing an exhibition on Peter the Great, the modernising eighteenth century Russian Tsar. The gallery space is large, well laid out, containing a wide variety of artefacts … Continue reading →

Posted in Agile, Collaboration, Communication, Community of Practice, Curation, Information, Interpretation, Knowledge, Learning, Meaning, Museum Education, Narrative, Personal Learning Network, Reflection, Semantics, Social Learning, Standardisation, Stories, Worldview | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 26 Comments

Adaptation: a social learning skill

Posted on March 13, 2013 by julianstodd

I was at a gig last night at the Corn Exchange in Cambridge, a great venue, with it’s brick arches and high ceiling. As the name implies, whilst these days it plays host to assorted musicians, comedians and performers, it’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Adaptability, Agile, Change, Choices, Collaboration, Community, Curation, Information, Interpretation, Knowledge, Learning, Meaning, Museum Education, Permanence, Social Capital, Social Learning | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

Storytelling in learning: the power of narration

Posted on December 3, 2012 by julianstodd

I arrived at the hotel at five to nine, tired from a long drive. The welcoming lights loomed out of the darkness and i was more than ready for a hot meal and maybe a beer by the fire. England … Continue reading →

Posted in Communication, Community, Conversation, Culture, History, Interpretation, Learning, Memory, Museum Education, Narrative, Stories, Storytelling | Tagged , , , , , , | 22 Comments

Learning in museums: how collections ground us in our history.

Posted on April 17, 2012 by julianstodd

Museums are the collective memory of society: they are the dusty attic of a nation. They are places to visit with granny on a summer holiday, a place to carry out school projects, a place to understand how things were … Continue reading →

Posted in Coffee, Community, History, Interpretation, Learning, Museum Education | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Interpreting modern art: providing structured storytelling approaches for children (and an adult).

Posted on February 14, 2012 by julianstodd

I’m stood in a large room, surrounded by giant, towering model lighthouses, slightly phallic and painted in bright colours. Around the walls are half a dozen painting by Alfred Wallace, whose naive style is well known: childlike drawings of boats … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Interpretation, Narrative, Storytelling | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

9/11: How is history made and how is history told? Stories from Ground Zero.

Posted on November 10, 2011 by julianstodd

New York is making history. Not by something it’s doing today, but by how it’s dealing with something that happened a decade ago. Visiting Ground Zero last week was a strangely emotional and compelling experience, not so much from any … Continue reading →

Posted in Interpretation, Storytelling | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

How do we learn from art? Observations on interpretation at the Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Posted on November 8, 2011 by julianstodd

I know it’s art, because it’s in a gallery at one of the premiere cultural institutions in the world, but to me it just looks like a pile of bricks. Continuing the American theme as i work my way around … Continue reading →

Posted in Interpretation, Museum Education | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

The truth and the stories that surround it. Fact and fiction in interpretation.

Posted on October 25, 2011 by julianstodd

Interpretation is the task of taking physical evidence, documentary evidence and contextual knowledge and using it to tell a story. It’s the process by which we seek to give meaning to archaeological remains, the process by which we seek to … Continue reading →

Posted in Fact, Fiction, Interpretation, Museum Education | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments