Promoting Historical Thinking in Schools through Low Fidelity, Low-Cost, Easily Reproduceable, Tangible and Embodied Interactions

Authors

  • Stergios Kalpakis
  • George Palaigeorgiou Lecturer, Department of Primary Education, University of Western Macedonia
  • Kostas Kasvikis

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3991/ijet.v13i12.8728

Keywords:

historical thinking, learning about history, mixed reality environments, embodied interactions, whole-body interactions

Abstract


Many ubiquitous technologies, such as augmented and virtual reality, virtual field trips, tangible environments and interactive installations are continuously being examined for learning about history. All these approaches strive to offer an inter-active, explorative, authentic, and exact regeneration of the past and, they are demanding both in regards to their cost and to their development requirements; hence, they are far from accessible in school contexts. In this study, we will ex-amine, whether interactive low-fidelity low-cost approximations of the real objects, and conditions of the past, together with whole-body interactions may enable historical understanding in a playful manner. To evaluate this claim, sixty-six (66) students of 6th grade played with an interactive environment with the characteristics mentioned, in twenty (20) groups. Afterwards, students were asked to complete a questionnaire assessing their historical understanding and their experience. Additionally, all groups participated in brief group interviews. Students were very positive towards the environment and considered it as enjoyable, intriguing and effective. They claimed that it is preferable to both traditional ways of classroom learning and learning devices like tablets and mobiles. According to our results, the requirements for seamless authenticity may not apply for primary school students and this conclusion opens up a lot of opportunities for moving away from traditional means of learning about history.

Author Biography

George Palaigeorgiou, Lecturer, Department of Primary Education, University of Western Macedonia

George E. Palaigeorgiou is a researcher in the fields of Educational Technology and Human Computer Interaction and he is lecturer in the Department of Primary Education (University of Western Macedonia) in the field of "ICT in education". He holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science in “Students-Computer Interactions” from the Informatics Department of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, a Master in Business Administration (MBA) and a BS in Computer Science from the Informatics Department, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He is a reviewer to most well-known educational technology journals and conferences. He has extensive teaching experience in 7 academic departments in the fields of HCI in education, Educational Technology, Computer Science Education, Computer Ethics. He has several awards both for his scientific contribution in conferences as well for his teaching practices. His interests include student-computer interactions, web 2.0, participatory design, ubiquitous computing, hci, computer ethics, drones in education.

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Published

2018-12-20

How to Cite

Kalpakis, S., Palaigeorgiou, G., & Kasvikis, K. (2018). Promoting Historical Thinking in Schools through Low Fidelity, Low-Cost, Easily Reproduceable, Tangible and Embodied Interactions. International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning (iJET), 13(12), pp. 67–82. https://doi.org/10.3991/ijet.v13i12.8728

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Papers