History/Future
‘Haere whakamua, titiro whakamuri’ – walk into the future, with our eyes open to the past
Not only are we doing having our eyes open to the past, but here in the History Department our eyes are firmly fixed in the future! We have recently taken possession of a Green Screen to enable our students to create engaging presentations. This enables students to film videos and then edit backgrounds, use accentuated text, manipulate surroundings and consider whole new ways of communicating.
We have also had great fun exploring the use of Virtual Reality as a way of immersing ourselves in past events and places. Year 12 students used VR to bring their recreated representations to life during the Wellington Historical Tour visit at Te Papa. Some of the virtual and augmented realities we can now do include:
- Walking through memorials in New York
- See what slaves on the transatlantic slave voyages may have seen
- Travel through India at the time of the British Raj
- See what the victors saw at the Palace of Versailles after World War One
- Explore the sites and wonders of Ancient Egypt
History teaches us about perspectives, and this technology is enabling us to redefine how we examine and present those perspectives. Gone are the dusty days of essay after essay – what’s your perspective?
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