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 The
theme of the conference was 'cultural heritage and ICT' and it involved
people from a wide variety of areas including the Neothemi network
itself and many Comenius projects.
The conference began with a paper dealing with the role of history
in the modern context of a world of new technology and globalisation.
History and cultural heritage in general can be seen to serve two
purposes. One is to make possible and understanding between different
cultures and histories of the richness and variety of these aspects.
The other is to give a sense of identity and 'place' in a world
in which these important psychological and social aspects are under
threat. This session was important in understanding what it is that
people who work in the historical field should be doing in today's
rapidly changing world.
There was a session on the Neothemi project itself which involves
ten EU countries. It is one of the projects which are to form permanent
networks. The contents of the project and its aims were discussed
and presented.
 The
conference then moved on to consider ways in which ICT can be used
to make history and cultural heritage more accessible and comprehensible
to young people. An example was given from the curator of an art
museum, the Atheneum. The use of interactive technology and ICT
representation of objects was discussed. An important point that
was made was that the balance between technology and the object
had to be carefully regulated. A virtual representation cannot replace
the real thing.
The second day dealt with projected changes to ICT some of which
were perhaps too fanciful or complex to be of much relevance to
teaching and learning of history. However, what did also emerge
was that the increasing connectivity of different aspects of ICT
could be important. An example was the use of mobile phones with
the ability to send photographs as a means of collecting data on
field trips and sending them back to base for analysis and discussion
later. In a sense we have been doing this using a digital camera
to record project meetings and visits and posting them in the Comenius
website.
Another session on the second day dealt with the practicalities
of on-line learning and the strengths and the weaknesses that it
could have. Strengths mentioned were flexibility and the potential
to interact with material on an individual basis and at an individual's
pace. The weaknesses include a sense of isolation, and difficulties
of getting interactive feedback.
One of the most useful, but informal aspects of the conference
was the chance to meet other people involved in projects similar
to our own. In particular, the fact that the Neothemi network and
associated website which has an indefinite existence and is related
to the themes and objectives of our own Comenius project may provide
us with a valuable opportunity of maintaining and disseminating
the work which we will achieve in the three years. We spoke to the
person in charge of the overall website and discussed means of creating
links between our project and itself. This might be useful developed
further.
To find out more about Neothemi go to http://www.neothemi.net/
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