The concept of creating a museum box was taken from the anti-slavery campaigner, Thomas Clarkson, who collected artifacts in a box that illustrated his anti-slavery arguments. Such artifacts ranged from African crafts to transportation ship diagrams. Museum Box draws from this very concept: It is a free online application that allows for one to create an online display of “artifacts” collected in a virtual box in order to describe and/or craft an argument for a certain topic. Artifacts are a conglomerate of media files that include pictures, links, video, text, audio files, PowerPoint presentations, Word documents, PDF files, etc., which can be appended to the faces of virtual cubes organized within a box. Examination of media cubes within a box is made possible for anyone viewing a box and the number of cubes present within a box can be determined by the creator. One can also add multiple shelves or “layers” to a box to allow for organization of additional cubes.
Originally, creating a box on the site served as a means to visually showcase artifacts about historical figures or events; however, educators and students can now be found using Museum Box to showcase all sorts of academic subjects. Museum Box could be used to create effective presentations, or to organize their information, pictures and video. The site also contains a gallery of user submitted boxes from teachers and students, which site viewers can view and comment on. All of the above features can be made possible if an educator registers his/her school for a free account within the Museum Box website.
Strengths:
Unique method for students to create their projects
Incorporate video, audio, text, files, and hyperlinks
Can assist with persuasive writing projects and compare/contrast arguments
Can be used as collaborative assignment
Interesting and fun alternative to the usual written papers or other type of presentations
