Canalway Learning Center

The Canalway Learning Center, a public facility within the Stark County Park System, provides visitors a wide variety of fun and informative educational experiences. Exhibits tell the story of the historic Ohio & Erie Canal era and educate visitors on important environmental issues relating to the area.

Operand joined the project team early in the design process, allowing our team to help set the strategic course for the overall organizing concept of the interactive experiences at the site. One of the client’s earliest and most important challenges was the development of a visitor experience that could promote stewardship of the local environment and also encourage ongoing participation within the park system by a wide range of visitors.

A key element of the visitor experience at the CLC is a visitor tracking system designed and developed by Operand to help the Center achieve their goals of frequent visitor participation within the venue and stimulation of visitor interest in other experiences throughout the area. The experience rewards visitors with points as they participate in hundreds of engaging Canalway related experiences, both at the Learning Center and throughout northeastern Ohio. This experience, called the Canalway Explorer Program, incorporates touch screen sign-up kiosks with fingerprint biometric devices and a simple visitor photo capture system for quick and easy digital tracking of visitor engagement with interactive experiences at the site.

The experience produces Passport cards, which are personalized plastic take-away “badges” that are obtained based upon successful collection of experience-related points. Visitors are encouraged to complete activities allowing them to earn all 10 cards. To collect points throughout the year, visitors can signup via the Center’s website to conduct a wide variety of canalway related activities, such as canoeing and nature hikes, available throughout Northeastern Ohio.