The Urgency: Museums Must Adapt or Risk Irrelevance

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Deborah Howes is the President of Howes Studio and a pioneer in digital museum education. With over three decades leading EdTech programs at top cultural institutions including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, MoMA, the Art Institute of Chicago, and MOCA Los Angeles. She now helps museums and nonprofits transform analog learning into dynamic digital experiences.

💡 5 Things You’ll Learn:

1. How AI is transforming museum archives and accessibility.
2. Why authenticity and trust matter in EdTech collaborations.
3. The power of open-access museum data for global learning.
4. How museum teaching methods can inspire better AI tutors.
5. What museums must do now to remain relevant in a digital world.

✨ Episode Highlights:
[00:01:00] The hidden power of museum and EdTech collaborations
[00:05:10] AI in museums: from ancient scrolls to image tagging
[00:11:40] Why AI isn’t learning from museum data, yet
[00:22:40] “Throw open the gates”: the case for open access
[00:31:50] How a MoMA partnership brought art into classrooms
[00:38:40] Howes’ advice for EdTech founders partnering with museums
[00:47:00] “Start with the experience, not the tech”
[00:57:30] The urgency: keeping museums relevant in the AI era

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🎉 Presenting Sponsor/s:

This season of Edtech Insiders is once again brought to you by Tuck Advisors, the M&A firm for EdTech companies. Run by serial entrepreneurs with over 30 years of experience founding, investing in, and selling companies, Tuck believes you deserve M&A advisors who work as hard as you do.

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