Featured Grant Story: TTU Lubbock Lake Landmark

The Lubbock Lake Landmark State Historical Park is a Department of Texas Parks and Wildlife property operated in partnership with Texas Tech University. The Museum of Texas Tech University is responsible for archaeology-related and educational activities and is the official repository for curatorial care of Landmark artifacts. This 336-acre park, a mecca for history and nature lovers, is a unique archaeological and nature preserve which holds most of the 300 acres of the area known as “The Lubbock Lake Site,” a National Historic and State Archeological Landmark which has yielded evidence of ancient peoples and extinct animals. It is the only known site in North America that contains deposits related to cultures known to have existed on the South Plains over the last 12,000 years.

The Lubbock Lake Landmark is introducing a mobile application to enhance exhibit and educational experiences. The app provides a platform to expand accessibility. Grant request will address access to smart devices to engage with Landmark content and the required digital literacy for Region 17 seniors to benefit from supplementary digital experiences at the Landmark.

The first action to address the issue of access is to establish a free iPad check out program at the front desk of the Landmark. Implementing this program for the public involves developing check out procedures, training staff to assist visitors with the devices, and identifying useful assistive devices for visitors. Necessary accommodations visitors need include headphones and carrying cases to use technology more comfortably.

A concurrent action is to host a series of digital literacy courses for Region 17 senior citizens to coincide with the opening of the Landmark’s Pleistocene exhibit and release of the mobile app. This series of courses will build gradually the participant’s skills, culminating in engagement with the newly released exhibit content. Simultaneously, the course provides continuing education and opportunity to interact with other seniors that addresses an identified problem of chronic loneliness within the senior community. By the end of the course, seniors will be able to view AR additional content, as well as take selfies with exhibit material and post to social media if they desire to engage with their families and friends.

To learn more about the TTU Lubbock Lake Landmark, please visit them at www.depts.ttu.edu/museumttu/lll or on Facebook.