Milligan, Darren
Acting Director, Smithsonian Office of Educational Technology
0000-0002-6756-6039
Milligan, Darren
Acting Director, Smithsonian Office of Educational Technology
Specializes in strategy for educational impact through user-centered research and the development of tools and services for making online cultural and scientific heritage resources accessible and useful to educators and learners. Oversees internal staff, fellows, interns, and an extensive team of external specialists to produce educational publications and interactive experiences, such as online games, alternate reality games, and simulations; manages communication, marketing, and social media engagement to teachers across the Smithsonian’s museums and research centers; develops methodologies for the creation and dissemination of educationally-relevant metadata; and directs the Smithsonian Learning Lab, an online software platform that encourages the creative and educational reuse of more than five million digitized Smithsonian objects.
Positions
- Adjunct Lecturer, Department of Art and Art History, Georgetown University 2019 -
- Acting Director, Smithsonian Office of Educational Technology 2020 -
- Senior Digital Strategist, Smithsonian Center for Learning and Digital Access 2013 - 2020
- Webmaster, Office of the Consortia 2011 - 2015
- Webmaster / Senior Media Designer, Smithsonian Center for Education and Museum Studies 2005 - 2013
Background And Education
Education And Training
- M.A. in Digital Heritage, University of Leicester , Museum Studies 2013 - 2015
- B.S. in Ethology, Allegheny College , Biology 1995 - 1999
Research And Grants
Investigator On
Publications
Selected Publications
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Article
- Talbert, Christina, Monaco, Giuseppe, Milligan, Darren, Naranjo, Ashley, Rappoport, Philippa, and Porter, Tess. 2022. "Lessons Learned: A Reflection of Five Years of Engaging Educators with Digital Museum Resources." Digital Studies / Le champ numérique, https://doi.org/10.16995/dscn.8074. 2022
- Akerlof, Karen L., Bromser-Kloeden, Taryn, Timm, Kristin, Rowan, Katherine E., Olds, James L., Clarke, Chris, Rohring, Elizabeth Ban, Cloyd, Emily Therese, Curran, K., Duesterhoeft, Elizabeth C., Farooque, Mahmud, Goldman, Erica, Gring-Pemble, Lisa, Hampton, Stephanie E., Kim, Sojung Claire, Kotcher, John, Milligan, Darren, Muñoz Brenes, Carlos L., Sandoval, Cynthia, Sklarew, Dann, Smith, Cynthia, Suhay, Elizabeth, Tomblin, David, Upperman, Crystal, Wingfield, Andrew et al. 2021. "Categorizing Professionals' Perspectives on Environmental Communication with Implications for Graduate Education." Environmental Communication, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/17524032.2020.1862890. 2021
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Chapter
- Milligan, Darren. 2019. "Teachers Gonna Teach Teach Teach Teach Teach: Capturing the Now-Visible Meaning Making of Users of Digital Museum Collections." In Humanizing the Museum: Unproceedings from the MCN 2018 Conference. Anderson, Suse, Bruno, Isabella, Hethmon, Hannah, Rao, Seema, Rodley, Ed, and Ropeik, Rachel, editors. Ad Hoc Museum Collective. 2019
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Conference Paper
- Milligan, Darren, Wadman, Melissa, and Ausland, Brian. 2017. "Discovering, creating, and sharing digital museum resources: a methodology for understanding the needs and behaviors of student users." from Museums and the Web 17: MW 2017. (Cleveland, Ohio) 2017-04-19. 2017
- Milligan, Darren. 2016. "Moving from downloads to uploads: Toward an understanding of the curricular implications of access to large scale digitized museum collections on the professional practice of K–12 classroom educators." from Museums and the Web 16: MW 2016. (Los Angeles, California) 2016-04-06. 2016
- Milligan, Darren and Wadman, Melissa. 2015. "From physical to digital: Recent research into the discovery, analysis, and use of museums resources by classroom educators and students." from Museums and the Web 15: MW 2015. (Chicago, Illinois) 2015-04-08. 2015
- Milligan, Darren, Wadman, Melissa, and Collins, James P. 2014. "Connecting Learners and Museums through Educational Metadata Initiatives." from Museums and the Web 14: MW 2014. (Baltimore, Maryland) 2014-04-02. 2014
