Resources like stories, podcasts, photographs, art, film and other taonga of our cultural heritage are used to teach students about the history of Aotearoa New Zealand. But virtual and augmented reality resources bring past events to life by immersing students in interactive learning.
Discover the stories of the ANZACs with the interactive and immersive AR app.
Technology teacher Pamela Morrow (Ngāti Pū) says through her own research, she knows there is a significant gap in using and understanding the tools that are out there.
“I think there is some urgency to make sure students are up to date with present technologies to prepare them for the future.”
A free interactive augmented reality app telling the story of Gallipoli is currently being tested. The app is called Anzacs at Gallipoli and a final version of the app will be released later this year. It will include both te reo Māori and English language options and it will be available for free download from both Google play and the Apple app store.
One of the app’s development partners, Patrick Brontë, says the app is suitable for Years 7 to 11. He has been collaborating with Waxeye, a creative technology studio, to create the experience.
Patrick initiated the Anzacs at Gallipoli project by raising money through the Ngā Toa Charitable Trust and contributing his own money.
“I was determined the app would be free for schools,” he says.
With the ability to follow ships, uncover hidden tunnels and watch battling soldiers from up close, students can truly transport themselves to a different time and place.
“Enormous effort has gone into the content of Anzacs at Gallipoli to ensure every element is accurate,” says Patrick.
The narrative was written by military historian and Gallipoli expert Christopher Pugsley, while 3D artists from Waxeye crafted each element with authenticity, including battlefields, warcraft, soldiers, and weapons.
Patrick is no slouch when it comes to military history either. He has created 570 filmed interviews of returned New Zealand servicemen from World War II through to Afghanistan.
A tetraplegic after an accident at 16, Patrick’s support person films the interviews while Patrick conducts and directs them.
His university training in media and his subject expertise has also led to other opportunities like co-producing TVNZ’s War Cry, a documentary dealing with the mental health of ex-servicemen. War Cry is a compilation of Patrick’s interviews.
Interactive hotspots allow students to access more detailed information in their own time, uncovering 360-degree models of weapons, audio tracks and historic photos for a more enriching learning experience.
Pamela says she was in the classroom last year when Waxeye brought the Anzacs at Gallipoli app to Hobsonville School to get feedback from teachers and students.
“Students enjoyed using the app and one student wanted to create something similar. Augmented reality certainly brings a new dimension to learning. Having a story unfold in the same space occupied by the student is a powerful way to learn. It does bring the subject to life,” she says.
Pamela says she could see the tremendous potential of the app for learners.
“We also had an opportunity that day to look at a virtual reality experience created by Waxeye: Karanga a Tāne Mahuta.”
Delivered in te reo Māori with English options, it connects taitamariki with their environment through a reconstruction of unique taonga species, flora, and fauna.
The aim is to help young people better understand the impact of environmental changes.
“There was a lot of excitement. The principal and the deputy principal popped in to have a look at both resources. Afterwards, word got around and students who weren’t in my class were approaching me in the playground excited about the possibility of a virtual reality experience.
“I think there is a great need for these sorts of projects to tell our own historical stories. Schools can prepare our taitamariki for the future by supporting educators to teach the wider implications of technology use. Teaching critical tools and applying them to technology developments is very important.”
Interactive maps are structured in chapter and timeline formats incorporating animation and voiceover to bring the story to life.
AR and VR, in this context, enables students to explore aspects of the Aotearoa New Zealand’s histories (ANZH) curriculum. ANZH is now embedded within te ao tangata | social sciences.
Exploring Aotearoa New Zealand’s participation in international conflict as a meaningful topic connects learning with many aspects of the ANZH curriculum. Specifically, it connects to the Understand statement People’s lived experiences have been shaped by the use and misuse of power which is across all phases of learning. This statement captures the idea that individuals, groups, and organisations exert and contest power in ways that improve the lives of people and communities, and in ways that lead to exclusion, injustice, and conflict. The course of Aotearoa New Zealand’s history has been shaped by the exercise and effects of power.
Additionally, this topic unpacks the Know statement Culture and collective identity, particularly in the progress outcome 4 (learning by the end of Year 10), where Aotearoa New Zealand’s participation in international conflicts over time reflects our changing view of our country’s place in the world and our identity. Our remembrance of these conflicts and our honouring of those involved has evolved over time.
Augmented Reality (AR) is a technology that overlays computer-generated content, such as images, videos, or 3D models, onto the real-world environment, like a student’s desk or a table. It enhances and augments the user’s perception and interaction with the surroundings produced by the app. These apps can be used without prior knowledge of the medium.
Virtual Reality (VR) is a technology that creates a computer-generated, immersive, and interactive three-dimensional (3D) environment, allowing users to experience and interact with simulated worlds or scenarios. Wearing specialised goggles enables you to access the 3D environment.
The Anzacs in Gallipoli app is currently available as a beta release and only works on iPad. The project team is working with a range of schools for user testing before a wider production version is released later in the year.
The skilled team of 3D artists from creative technology studio Waxeye wrecked closely with historians to craft authentic 3D models.
BY Education Gazette editors
Education Gazette | Tukutuku Kōrero, reporter@edgazette.govt.nz
Posted: 1:10 pm, 3 August 2023
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