Tuesday 5 July 2011

Feedback from students at Longhill High School - Has taking part in this project changed your opinion of history?

Yes, what's been important for me is the discovery between the lives of the young and old.

Ben 

 

The game will give a fun and interactive spin to a history lesson and supplies kids with plenty of information via a unique experience.

Jess

Feedback from students at Longhill High School - What is special about learning along side the older people?

What is special about learning along side the older people?

 

I really enjoyed talking to the older people as I think it is really important to hear an oral history from them because they are the best last generation who will be able to tell the stories. I feel I really benefit from hearing their stories.

Student

 

It was great talking to the older people about their experiences in the war because they all have first hand knowledge. Learning about how people lived during the war from people who were actually there, really brings the war to life.

Emma

 

Hearing their personal experiences and stories. It is really interesting to hear about what it was really like living during the war. It has given a new insight into the lives of older people who experienced the war.

Emily

 

It's really great as they are really nice, interesting people. They help us understand history upon a deeper level but make is more interesting. I don't think my understanding on our topic would be so good if they weren't there.

Rowanna

 

I enjoy learning from the older people because I like hearing about their real stories and how they lived during the war. It is so interesting because we are hearing the stories from a primary source and it seems much more believable than reading things from a book or on the internet.

Ellie

 

Working alongside the older people gives a personal insight into the war and helps give our ideas and the game a personal spin which enables a more realistic experience.

Jess

 

Learning about a major historical event such as WW2 is brought to life by learning bout it first had from people  who were really there.

George

 

Yes in a positive way. Working with the elderly people has demonstrated to me how we are all connected in a continuous line of history. How the lives and experience of older people have shaped and informed our world.

I also believe history is about the collective memory of all humanity. This project has offered me a valid and important insight into the world of others who have participated in an important period of history - an invaluable insight to a world that seems so long ago.

Student

Feedback from students at Longhill High School - What difference will the game make to a history lesson?

What difference will the game make to a history lesson?

 

I think that it will make a positive impact to history lessons as it will be much more interesting and interactive making it seem more real.

Student

 

This game provides a fun and interactive way to learn about World War 2. It is a different way of learning rather than just book work all the time so hopefully it will be a really good experience for anyone using it.

Emma

 

It will be a new experience for young people who will understand the lives of people during the war. It will make lessons more interesting.

Emily

 

I thinking it would be good as it is a rare interactive and interesting way of learning, therefore making learning more fun.

Rowanna

 

The game will be very beneficial to students learning about different aspects of World War 2. It is a different way of learning and there are lots of different sections that have been very well thought out and they are all really informative. Students will be learning loads about the subject in an interesting way and in some way's without even realising.

Ellie

Feedback from students at Longhill High School - What has been the best session and why?

Students who have been involved with the development of the game Lives At War provide feedback on the process so far.

 

What has been the best session and why?



I really enjoyed the session where we did video editing. It was a really good experience to learn how to cut and put together the videos.

Emma

 

Lighthouse sessions - they are fun as we can edit footage and add the audio which we recorded with the older people.

Emily

 

I enjoyed the session of testing the game and video editing. Although I'm rubbish at video editing it was interesting and fun and I enjoyed testing the game and giving it constructive criticism.

Rowanna 

 

I think that the session where we looked around the air raid shelter in Whitehawk was the most fun. It was the most informative and it contained lots of interesting items from that time.

Elie

 

I think the creative writing session was the best.

Lucy 

 

The best session was at Lighthouse where we got to experience the game so far. This was brilliant as we got to know what we were working towards. We then did some video editing which was fun as we know that we were directly contributing to the game.

Jess


I most enjoyed the first time we went to the mass observation archive as I thought it was exciting to look through the diaries of people who were alive in the war.

Student



 

Friday 10 June 2011

DAY 10 - LETTERS AND WINSTON CHURCHILL

Today the pupils and older people got together at Longhill school. The young people and older people worked together in small groups to write a letter from different points of view - as an evacuee, from a sister to her brother who's been called up and to a loved one who's away serving in the forces. All the letters were based on the characters in the game and/or the older people's personal experiences. It was a really focussed and sometimes moving exercise. The letters will be used in the game. We discussed the kind of censorship that may have taken place with some of the letter sent to men serving in the war. We recorded the older people reading the letters out and decided that we will censor some of the letters but use a voice over that reads the whole letter to show what kind of material may have been censored. One of the young people and one of the older people worked together to create a radio broadcast based on Churchill famous "we will fight them on the beaches speech. Through the process of working on these tasks many interesting conversations occurred around a variety of subjects to do with language, relationships, class/social differences etc. As well as many new interesting anecdotes - in particular Rod's story about his friend spilling gravy down the back of Churchill's neck!

Saturday 28 May 2011

DAy 9: MASS OBSERVATION ARCHIVE

Today (Friday 27th) the students from Longhill visited the Mass Observation Archive to further research material and gather/scan images that will be used within the game.

An intense and hight productive day - the pupils found and scanned about 180 images for us to make use of!

Friday 20 May 2011

DAY 8: BRIGHTON MUSEUM AND BRIGHTON HISTORY CENTRE

Today the older people and pupils from Longhill met at Brighton Museum. We went to the Brighton History centre in the museum first and following an introduction by Paul Jordan the group had the opportunity to explore materials related to WW2 local history. This led to further conversations between the pupils and older people - many new fascinating anecdotes and memories stirred up through looking at local papers, cinema pamphlets, diaries etc. This was followed by a great session in the education room with Karen Antoni who dressed up as a land girl, played the air raid siren sound as we entered the room and 1940's music as we worked through the activites she had prepared. The had group the opportunity to handle original objects (gas mask, warden helmets, ration books etc). Four tables had a collection of objects on them and the group had to look at the object and guess the identity of the person that the objects related to. The experience at the Museum combined with the real memories and reflections of the older people really brought the history of WW2 alive. Check out the slide show as a record of the day!