Short Session at BACA

February 8th 2012 - Session 3 at BACA

Just a short session so no time to waste....

Today the students located their chosen photographs from WW2 on street view. Firstly they needed to find the exact location in Brighton that the photograph had been taken and then try to find the correct angle. This was quite a tricky business, but the students managed with ease.

If they could not find the exact location then they began to think creatively about where to locate the photograph and why the selected location was appropriate. This was apparent especially for images taken in air raid shelters and in the surrounding countryside.

Here are a few examples of the images chosen for the tour. I can only post a few at the moment as we are awaiting copyright permissions for the others. See if you can place where these photographs were taken in Brighton.

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Next week we are off to the Mass Observation Archive to research narratives, diaries, posters and propaganda produced during the war. We are also delighted to have a visit from Betty and Ivy, two lovely ladies who grew up during WW2.

 

 

Past Present continues

 

Last Wednesday I had the pleasure of meeting a group of students to begin work on the next strand of the Past Present project. Twelve year nine students from BACA, the colossal academy in Falmer, Brighton, warmly welcomed me into their brand new building.

This first session of six introduced the students to the project that aims to create a photographic tour for the phone app Historypin. (www.historypin.com) Exploring the nature of augmented reality the students will create a photographic tour that invites a user to experience the real world environment with overlaid images of World War 2 presented on a smart phone.

We will be concentrating upon the themes Life on the Home Front and Woman at War. The students will have the opportunity to research images and narratives of those who experienced World War 2 through the photographic records of Queenspark, the archives of diaries and day surveys of the Mass Observation Archive. They have also been given the rare opportunity to talk to those who lived during the war and get a real perspective on what life really was like, the hardships they endured and the fun times they remember.

To begin the students were asked to research the roles of those on the Home Front. Selecting a photograph from a series of roles listed below they worked in two's to produce a spider diagram that asked questions about their chosen character. 

• Women's Auxiliary Service (ATS)
• Land Army
• Women's Royal Naval Service (WRENS)
• Women's Auxiliary Service (WAAF)
• Air Raid Wardens
• Home Guards
• Fire Guards

Tomorrow I will be going back to BACA to continue our research into the roles of those on the Home Front. I look forward to see what information the students have gathered and what material they have selected to be presented to the rest of the group.

Thumbs up to those who are involved and a big thank you to BACA for helping to make the project happen.

 

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

 

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!

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