The Future of Museum Learning with Deborah Howes

Oct 14, 2025

Deborah Howes, President of Howes Studio and a digital museum education pioneer, shares her insights on revolutionizing museum learning. She discusses how AI is reshaping museum archives and accessibility, emphasizing the importance of authenticity in EdTech. Deborah advocates for open-access museum data to enhance global learning and urges collaboration between tech firms and museums. She also highlights how museums can inspire better AI tutoring methods, urging them to adapt to remain relevant in the digital age.

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ANECDOTE

Met's Early Global Timeline Success

At the Met, Deborah led creating an early global timeline of art that combined 5,000 years of images and curator commentary online.
The timeline launched in 2001, drew worldwide fan mail, and reduced textbook sales by offering a superior public resource.

ADVICE

Publish Open Access With APIs

Publish public-domain collection images and metadata under open licenses and provide an API for broad reuse.
Open access accelerates creative reuse and educational projects if paired with discoverability and distribution.

INSIGHT

Distribution, Not Just Open Data, Is Missing

The missing link isn't source materials but distribution channels that translate museum assets to classrooms and apps.
Howes says creative reuse stalls without an intermediary that adapts museum data for educators and developers.

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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:

How AI is transforming museum archives and accessibility.
Why authenticity and trust matter in EdTech collaborations.
The power of open-access museum data for global learning.
How museum teaching methods can inspire better AI tutors.
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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