Kalamata 1821: Roads of Freedom - Digital applications teach history (Greek title: Καλαμάτα 1821: Δρόμοι Ελευθερίας – Οι ψηφιακές εφαρμογές διδάσκουν ιστορία)

TitleKalamata 1821: Roads of Freedom - Digital applications teach history (Greek title: Καλαμάτα 1821: Δρόμοι Ελευθερίας – Οι ψηφιακές εφαρμογές διδάσκουν ιστορία)
Publication TypeConference Paper
Year of Publication2019
AuthorsWallace M., Poulopoulos V., Antoniou A., Vassilakis C., Lepouras G., Diakoumakos J., Panagiotidou V.
Conference Name2nd Panhellenic conference on Open Educational Resources and e-learning
KeywordsEducational applications, Interactive table, Mobile applications
AbstractThe “Kalamata 1821: Roads of Freedom” project is an effort for scientifically organizing the celebration of the 200-year anniversary from the liberation of Greece from the Turkish thrall, with a special focus on the city of Kalamata. The project, aiming to link historical memories to the modern era, includes a major section related to the development of digital applications. The project’s digital applications are developed by the Knowledge and Uncertainty lab of the Department of Informatics and Telecommunications of the University of the Peloponnese. The digital applications are based on the information provided by the historical scientific team of the project. Within the project, two distinct groups of applications are developed, in order to cover the diverse needs of the target population. The nature of the applications is clearly didactic, offering detailed information regarding historical facts, places and persons which relate to the Greek War of Independence, as well as on locations where important events took place. The Interactive Table applications are a group of applications which will be available to the public visiting the historic building of the old Town Hall of Kalamata, where the project exhibition center is located. These applications constitute a modern, interactive, digital encyclopedia of the relation between the city of Kalamata and the Greek War of Independence. For the Interactive Table, three original applications were developed. The first depicts histories and facts linked to some points on a map. The second presents a tree of histories, that is histories that are interrelated, and where each visitor may familiarize with facts and persons that are linked to each other. Finally, the third application focuses on images and multimedia, challenging the visitors to identify and elaborate on events and histories hiding behind pictures. The second group consists of a single application that targets on a wider public that prefers a different type on interaction. Effectively this application implements a scavenger hunt with historic content. The goal of this application is to motivate the visitor of the city of Kalamata to wander around the city, and also to link the project to the local market.