MOSI Live Chat Expereince

     The live video chat with Jamie was very cool. Especially because it was all the way over from Britain. Also, because we were getting information straight from the source rather than online. But we did have to do a lot of work to prepare for the chat. One thing we did to prepare was to read, observe, and investigate the MOSI website and write down three things that we learned. Another way we prepared for the chat was by watching a video of Jamie giving a tour of the museum and keeping a running list of terminology. We also had to draft two questions about industrialization with our group that we would like to ask Jamie during the chat. Lastly, we used our google keyword search skills to find the definitions of the MOSI machines video vocab.
     During the chat we learned many things about the machines, how they work, and the whole process of producing fabric. Before the production of factories and steam powered machines, the whole process to produce cloth took weeks. Also, the spinning wheel, which was usually manned by children, was slow and hand powered. The spinning wheel has been around since the 11th century and was generally simple. Later, Richard Arkwright invented the water frame, which was patented in 1769. The water frame was a faster alternative to the spinning wheel and was originally powered by water wheel. Another thing we learned during the chat was the positive and negative impacts of the industrialization of textile production on families. Some of the positive impacts were that families no longer had to spend weeks producing cloth. They now had cloth readily available to them. Also,  more jobs were created due to the factories. A negative impact was that many of the people who went to work in the factories eventually lost limbs, died by being sucked up into a machine, or had a terrible factory accident. All the knowledge that Jamie had of everything in the museum, made me realize that being a museum curator is not easy. Curators are basically a teacher. Teaching the public about our history.
     Overall, I liked the MOSI Video chat. It is fun to hear information directly from the source than looking it up on the internet. I think that I learned a lot more from discussing the topic with an outside expert. I would definitely like to do this again in the future and I believe that I will benefit from it.