Patrimonializarte is an educational program teaching local heritage with new technologies, that run in the past years in Spain. The program included tools for infants, primary and secondary school children from two districts. The activities themselves are appealing to teachers and students alike the emphasis of the project lies within its methodology and evaluation.
©La Voz de Galicia
New technologies in heritage education are ever-present, especially in the museum environment. However, heritage education tools in their vast majority lack proper evaluation tools. Besides, teachers in schools highlight that their knowledge surrounding local heritage was limited. The study for Patrimonializarte brought a change in both these aspects.
The activities
The overall activity theme was to impart heritage values and concepts while teaching new skills from other disciplines in two phases:
Phase 1: create activities that raise awareness of heritage and its value.
Phase 2: allow students to have an active role in its enrichment and promotion.
All age groups started by understanding the passage of time with work on old photographs of the local area and enriched with exercises honing their technological skills. Primary school children visited and captured “forgotten” heritage, learning rudimentary photography and editing their work with CyberLink and PowerDirector.
Building on the primary school activity, secondary students created a documentary video mapping the changes in the area presented to the school. Afterwards, the students mapped the points of interest of all groups with Geoaumentaty (geolocation augmented reality software), essentially creating a virtual map, accessible by mobile devices, and editing the content (images, videos, descriptions). Moreover, the students designed a 3D dolmen model from scale plans on BlocksCAD program and 3D-printed it with Ultimaker Cura software. The activities taught children heritage values, community participation, and practical technological skills.
Your learning outcomes
How great was that? (SIC) Where would you be now if your classes were like that?
As mentioned above the key innovation of this educational tool resides in the methodology, planning and evaluation. Community heritage projects, with or without ICT, rely strongly on educational outreach. Patrimonializarte can serve as your benchmark in designing and evaluating programs.
Here is a brief breakdown of their practice as your step by step guide. (You can read the full Patrimonializarte study from the link below)
Plan-> Evaluate->Implement-> Evaluate participants-> Evaluate the program.
- Start by assessing the needs your program will cover, prioritise and select the primary.
- Contact the schools and meet with the teachers involved.
- Conceptualise the program based on the needs of students and teachers.
- Assign roles and responsibilities for teachers, the school/coordinator and an external evaluator.
- Evaluate and ensure cohesion and relevance of the program and tools.
- Set a timeline and implement activities.
- Evaluate learning outcomes by assessing students and reception by teachers and families.
- Modify the program according to feedback.
- Evaluate the program’s overall achievement and in the broader context, including the local community.
The program was designed following Pérez Juste’s model of integral, integrated and integrating evaluation. In other words, conceptual objectives in an educational activity that involve students and teachers in the context of evaluation.
Our take
Patrimonializarte prooved that students are positively inclined to learn new skills when working with a subject relevant to their environment. Furthermore, students feel more involved with the community, heritage and archaeology. Conclusively, the value of multiple evaluations throughout the planning and implementation processes for educators is decisive in the success of educational programs.
I want to learn more:
Patrimonializarte: A Heritage Education Program Based on New Technologies and Local Heritage by Leticia Castro-Calviño, Jairo Rodríguez-Medina, Cosme J. Gómez-Carrasco and Ramón López-Facal.
or
Heritage education under evaluation: the usefulness, efficiency and effectiveness of heritage education programmes by Leticia Castro-Calviño, Jairo Rodríguez-Medina and Ramón López-Facal.
Image: Patrimonio y memoria en el colegio Bergantiños carballés
