Una digital map created with schools to bring them closer to museums and business culture in the Turin area. It's the project Class museums, promoted byTurin Industrial Union through its School and University Area. Nine entities have been involved so far in this start-up phase of the project: in the capital, the Tim Historical Archive, the Heritage Hub (Fiat, Lancia and Abarth), the Italgas Heritage Lab, the Lavazza Museum, the Rai Museum have joined of Radio and Television and the Royal Mutua Historical Museum, together with the Mechanics and Bearing Museum of Villar Perosa, the Leonardo Museum of Aeronautical Industry in Caselle and the Textile Museum of Chieri.
The creation of the catalog was possible thanks to the use of the First Life online platform of the Computer Science Department of the University of Turin. As Guido Boella, coordinator of the research group Digital Territories and Communities explained during the presentation of the initiative, the idea behind the platform is to create a civic social network. Starting from an interactive map, in which citizens can enter information to encourage social collaboration.
Class museums: how they work
The materials made available are the result of a coordinated approach: with theRegional School Office for Piedmont, a group of teachers and technical managers was set up who, after visiting the museums and archives involved, mapped their teaching and educational potential by identifying ideas for curricular links, potential laboratory activities, ideas for teaching civic education etc. The feedback collected was then forwarded to the Holden school, who applied his storytelling skills to the project, preparing the descriptive documentation based on the point of view of the students and their teachers.
In detail, teachers can search for the most suitable place for their needs. For example, they can filter content based on their high school address. On the map it is also possible to find suggestions according to the age of the students. Additionally, teachers and classes can create a profile and upload content and recommendations.
The importance of dialogue between school and business
How do you explain Stephen Molina, head of the School and University Area of the Turin Industrial Union, “the dialogue between school and business, and more generally between the education system and the world of work, is important for the growth of the young generations, but not always easy to achieve. The “Musei di Classe” initiative promotes this dialogue in an original way: by encouraging teachers and students to explore the places where some wonderful business stories are told, it brings out all their extraordinary educational potential”.
Outlining the fundamental participation of the Regional School Office for Piedmont in the project is the general manager Stefano Suraniti: "We immediately accepted the proposal of the Unione Industriali Torino to collaborate in the process of preparing a digital catalog which had the objective of making the various museum and archival heritages of corporate origin present in our area known to the world of schools".
"So we could not fail to support such a strategic project to promote collaboration between school and business in Turin", he added Marco Amato, director of the Lavazza Museum.
