JISC

Summary

Mapping the Blitz Bomb Census: stepping into time brings WW2 bomb damage maps into the real world by using web and mobile mapping technology. It brings to life the maps that demarcate the location of falling bombs during the London Blitz. This project addresses the divide between the passive learning experience, where learners consume educational material in traditional lectures, and an active learning experience where users interact with a learning resource in a fun and engaging manner.

‘Megan’ a student of history, ‘Mark,'  a cultural geography undergraduate, or ‘Matthew,' an urban design post-graduate, are all interested in  investigating how streets have changed through time. Whilst all  are  proficient in common desktop or discipline specific packages, such as ATLAS.ti  for qualitative research or CAD for drawing, they are not  proficient with digital mapping software. They are, however, familiar with Google / Bing Maps, have accounts with popular social networking websites and all use mobile apps. They learn best when they have practical problems to solve and visual material to support lecture context. They find traditional lectures a little boring. To start their investigations, the learners face challenges:  (1) determining available data (2) understanding the technology, concepts and methods required to process and integrate data (3) implementing the technical solutions.

Mapping the Blitz Bomb Census explores these issues by answering the question ‘what can be done to develop a resource they can use in an active learning process? ‘ It will be achieved through the development of an interactive web mapping application that will enable the students to visualise and explore the locations of bomb damage. Also to bring information into the local neighbourhood, a mobile mapping application which overlays the view of the real world with historical map views will be developed.

Objectives

This project will:

• illustrate how geography can be a useful method for linking diverse (historic) datasets through space and time
• open up archive data and existing geographical map data for potential new research projects 
• help learners interact with archive data within a situational context.