Gary Priestnall's presentation (May 2010)

 Gary Priestnall 

Gary discussed a number of projects, the first of which was SPLINT (Spatial Literacy in Teaching). This involved the development of exercises for school groups within geography and ICT. Gary discussed the relevance of the “blue dot” again, as the exercises aimed to engage students with functional activities of a past urban environment. The use of maps was important in mapping the historical onto the modern.

He discussed his work with students in the Lake District, using mobile and field GIS and exploring the relationship between technology and geography (see December notes).

This year’s fieldtrip was focusing on the exploration of two technologies; Mediascape and Layar.

Mediascape : works using trigger zones – media is delivered at certain points, students evaluated these in the field, carrying out video analysis outlining any issues and complications they encountered. They could also build their own audio into Mediascape before setting off.

Layar: Layar is an augmented reality browser which works with phones that have a digital compass as well as GPS. The view is seen through the camera’s video stream, layering relevant points over the top of this. The “points of interest” change with movement, whilst a “bird’s eye view” is also possible.

Digital Community History Pilot: Gary also discussed a summer pilot for an iPhone application, for a project entitled, “Mapping Performance Culture” led by Joanne. A starting point for this was historical maps and census date, aiming at exploring where/when do people find different maps useful and possible potential for user-generated information.

Gary advised that his next steps would include revisiting his “Viewing Stations of Thames West (1821)” with Keswick Museum and taking landscape paintings into the field.