Russick, John. “Making History Interactive.” (2010)

It is important to understand how children think and learn in order to design and develop history exhibitions that embrace them. Engaging children in all types of history exhibitions, including those that are interactive, is the aim of Russick’s chapter. He seeks to understand whether history can be interactive and, if it can, how interactive history can engage children meaningfully. The chapter begins with definitions of kids, history, exhibitions and interactive. In the context of museum exhibitions, interactive exhibitions are designed with the goal of communicating through physical, cognitive and social means. Kiosks, for example, are elements in a traditional exhibition that are interactive. Unfortunately, exhibition interactives are usually an after thought and are pursued for the wrong reasons. Russick delineates, through museum examples, between interactive exhibitions and exhibition interactives. There has also been little research done on interactive history museum exhibitions, with the little work that has been done in the field being completed at science museums. Russick continues the chapter with the challenges of history museums being truly interactive and whether or not history can even be interactive for children. The chapter concludes with some tips on how to deal with the challenges of interactives in history museums.