Google’s Arts & Culture app contains artworks, artefacts and more from over 850 museums, archives, and organizations worldwide that have partnered with Google Cultural Institute to bring their collections online. Take 360 degree panoramic tours of hundreds of museums, heritage sites and landmarks, and zoom in to view artworks in extraordinary detail. You can learn about iconic artworks, and discover the stories behind them. Free for iOS and Android.
While on the surface, Google Arts and Culture seems to be a colorful, fun tool that can help teachers overcome common classroom challenges such as participation, motivation, and deeper learning connections, there are some serious problems to bear in mind when you’re deciding whether or not to use this tool. These problems include privacy, accessibility, equity, fair use, and questionable content. Because it’s a Google product, users will be giving up some privacy, especially to use some of the features, like fine art selfies. In order to use it with maximum privacy, you will have to give up both student autonomy and many of its features in favor of a curated experience on a shared account (that is, a common login from a browser in anonymous, private, or incognito mode). Also, the difference between copy-protected and copyright-free works is not always obvious, which complicates fair use. Finally, Google Arts and Culture is not always designed with an eye towards access; its visual nature means that students with visual disabilities (including colorblindness) will not get the full benefit.
Picture Credit : Google
