Phygital Augmentations for Enhancing History Teaching and Learning at School SusanSchreibmansusan.schreibman@gmail.comMaynoothUniversity,IrelandConstantinosPapadopouloscpapadopoulos84@gmail.comMaynoothUniversity,IrelandBrianHughesbrian.hughes@nuim.ieMaynoothUniversity,IrelandNealeRooneyneale.rooney@gmail.comMaynoothUniversity,IrelandColinBrennancolin.mark.brennan@gmail.comMaynoothUniversity,IrelandFionntanMacCabafionntanmaccaba@gmail.comMaynoothUniversity,IrelandHannahHealyhealyha@tcd.ieMaynoothUniversity,Ireland

Contested Memories: The Battle of Mount Street

Bridge (BMSB), funded by the Andrew W. MellonFoundation as part of theHumanities VirtualWorldConsortium,isanonlineandannotateddigitalrecon-struction inUnity3Dof a seminalbattleof the IrishEasterRisingof1916.Agoaloftheprojectwastolev-eragephenomenologiesoftimeandspaceasaffordedbyvirtualworldtechnologiestoprovidenewinsightsandhelptoanswerwhathadheretoforebeenintrac-table questions about how the battle unfolded. Thebattle, as well as the 3D reconstruction, received agreat deal of attention during the Centenary of theEaster Rising, including the specially commissionedradiodocumentary(DocumentaryonOne,RTERadio1)BattleattheBridge.

Buildingontheinterestinandsuccessofthispro-ject, theproject teamwasencouraged to furtherde-veloptheprojectsothatitcouldbeusedinsecondaryschools. Due to the exigencies of technology in Irishclassrooms,includinglimitationsonbookinglabtimewithmanycomputerstoooldtoruntheVRsoftware,it was decided that a different approach would betaken.HencetheBMSBAugmentedRealitymobileappwasdeveloped (figure 1), to educate students aboutthe facts of thebattle,while providing a deeper andmoreholisticunderstandingofwaranditseffects.Atthesametime, itprovidedtheproject teamwith theopportunity to leverage digital humanities researchwithinaparticipatoryengagementsettingtoreachouttosecondlevelstudentsandteacherstoprovidethemwithopportunitiesofengagingwithcuttingedgetech-nologies integrated into a student-led learning envi-ronment.

This project shares a philosophic approach withothermakerprojectsintheDigitalHumanities,asSay-ersetal.(2016),quotingNeilGershenfield,describeinANewCompanion toDigitalHumanities as “the pro-grammabilityofthedigitalworldswe’veinvented”ap-plied“tothephysicalworldweinhabit”inwhichob-jects “move easily, back and forth, in the space be-tweenbitsandatoms.’’ThusAugmentedReality(AR),a technology that superimposes digital content, in-cludingimages,animations,andannotations,overtherealworld,wasdecidedonas thekey technology totranslateourresearchintoaclassroomsetting.Previ-ousresearchontheaffordancesofARforteachingandlearninghavehighlightedthatinteractivity,collabora-tion, problem-solving, and narratives mediatedthroughtechnologycanaidbothengagementandun-derstanding(Dunleavyetal.,2009).SeveralARappli-cationshavebeendevelopedforprimaryandsecond-aryeducationforfact-basedtopics,suchasgeometry,astronomy, chemistry, and the human body (see forexample Chromville Science; Anatomy 4D; Elements4D.However,ARapplicationsforhumanitiessubjectsarelimited.Totheauthors’knowledgethereisnohis-tory-basedARapplicationthat isdesignedforuse inthe classroom, although there are several mobile-based student-centred AR for outdoor historic sites(seeforexample:Schrier,2005fortheBattleofLex-ingtonandSinghetal.,2014fortheChristiansburgIn-stitute).

Figure 1. Early prototype of the BMSB Augmented Reality

app

These kinds of technologically-driven blended-learning applications which improve digital literacyareseenasthekeytothefutureofeducation,notonlyinIreland,butabroad(seetheDigitalStrategyforIrishSchools,2015-2020).Theiremploymentmighthelptosolvechallengessuchaspersonalisedlearning,keep-ingeducationrelevant,andblendingformalandinfor-malprocesses(Johnsonetal.,2016).Thisprojectalsoresonateswiththecallforachangeinhistoryinstruc-tion;fromonethatpromotespassiveconsumptionoffacts to thatwhichmakesmoreuseof analogueanddigital primary sources to foster historical thinking(TallyandGoldenberg,2005;Leeetal.,2006;Stripling,2011),teacheshistoricalreasoning(vanDrieandvanBoxtel,2007),andprovidestheopportunitytoprob-lematise different sources, evaluate arguments, andformnewinterpretations(BortonandLevstik,2004).

In terms of app design, the project team wereaware of the challenge of how technologies haveshiftedour attention from thephysical to thedigitalspace:interactionswithdevicesabsorbattention,dis-tractingfromphysicalexperiencesandsocialinterac-tion(Chrysanthietal.,2012).Therefore,apremiseoftheprojectisthat,ifdigitaltechnologiesaretoassumeanactiveroleinhistoryteachingandlearning,waystoactively engage students by creating conditions thatblend thephysical and thedigital throughparticipa-toryandhands-onengagementsneedtobeemployed(figure2).

Figure 2. Physical Materials used in ‘Lesson 1 - Group 1:

The Buildings

TheBMSBARapp(developedforAndroidtabletsus-ing theWikitude Software Development Kit for An-droidStudio)employsaphygitalapproachbyenablinga task-baseddigital andARexploration triggeredbyphysicalobjectsandprimarysources, includingpho-tographs, witness statements, 3D printed buildings,andstaterecords(figures2,3).Sincethesehaveacen-tralroleinthelessons,studentshavetoevaluatetheircontent, origins, authority, and reliability and finallythroughgroupworktoformtheirowninterpretations.

Figure 3. AR element of the app showing over the physical

map the lines of fire from the four buildings that were occupied by the Irish volunteers

Thisprojectfollowedaniterativedesignmethodol-ogy.Thefirsttwofocusgroupswerecarriedoutwithsecondlevelhistoryteachers(figure4)toascertaina)logistical information about schools (e.g. wireless,class size, classroom arrangement, labs etc.), and b)

howtodevelopcontentanddesigninteractionsinor-derstudentstogetthemostoutofthisexperience.TheresultsofthefocusgroupmadeitclearthatduetothewidevarianceintechnologyinschoolsacrossIreland,theprojecthadtofollowtheparadigmofhandling/ac-tivityboxesinmuseums(Comer,2014)inwhicheve-rythingtheteacherneedswouldbeposted,includingthetablets,physicalmaterials,andlessonplansforaperiodoftwoweeks.

Figure 4 Second Level history teachers testing the AR

app during a focus group in August 2016

Thispaperwillreportonthedifferentstagesofde-velopmentoftheARapp,thedifficultiesencounteredaswell as strengths of the approach. Itwill also de-scribetheresultsofthetestingandformalevaluationscarried out with secondary school students and thenextstagesforthereleaseoftheprototypeacrossIre-land.

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