Abstract:

The indexical properties of real photographs impart a compelling link with previous generations and past events in social and economic history. Holding, touching and looking at an old photograph can be a powerful emotional experience, partly because of the tangible link with the past, but also because of the physicality of holding something old and precious in our fingertips. However, the fragility of photographic material, means that rare photographs are consigned to the archive and although we can readily view the digital surrogate, any tactile sense is lost and the power of the experience downgraded. This means that in the context of heritage education for children, which relies heavily on photographic resources, this materiality of the photograph is inevitably transformed arguably reducing the quality of the learning experience.

Ongoing innovations in multi-touch small screen technology are opening up new opportunities in the context of heritage education which give users thin and lightweight mobile hand held devices which are fingertip driven. Interaction is achieved through a variety of digit manipulations providing a much more tactile user interaction which offers a totally different way of accessing, viewing and engaging with digital archive material. Further, devices like the iPad offer a much more versatile interaction platform which can be used in the field, opening up new opportunities for innovative learning experiences linking digital assets with actual heritage sites. In this study we set out to explore the impact of iPad technology on children’s emotional and cognitive responses to photographs in the context of a Victorian classroom experience for children aged 9 to 10 years. The study context, the Donnison School Museum is situated in the Sunderland Heritage Quarter, a regeneration project in the North East of England.

In this comparative study children took part in a ‘History Detective’ role play activity. Following a visualisation activity during which children were encouraged to imagine aspects of their own everyday lives, they took part in a technology workshop during which they were exposed to photographs in the following formats; (i) simulated archive photographs to hold and examine wearing white cotton gloves and using a magnifying glass, (ii) digital images to touch and manipulate on an iPad device and (iii) digital images to access and look at on a large screen iMac device with a normal mouse interaction. At key points in the workshop, children’s affective and cognitive responses to photographs were measured using an adapted self-assessment instrument and ‘ideas’ recording protocol and the classroom experience was captured on video to gauge children's broader engagement in the context of the Victorian classroom. This paper sets out to review the outcomes of this preliminary study into the use of the iPad in heritage education and to draw conclusions as to the use of this versatile technology for the effective deployment of the digital archive in history education for children.

Acknowledgement
This work is partly supported by the European Community (EC) and is currently funded by the eCUTE project [FP7-ICT-2009-5] with university partners Heriot-Watt, INESC-ID, Augsburg, Wageningen, Jacobs University Bremen, Sunderland, Seikei and Kyoto.

Keywords:

IPad, heritage education, role play, digital photograph.