Interactive conservation : its role in safeguarding our cultural heritage

Abstract

Introducing Conservation to the masses must begin somewhere and since there is so much potential yet to be developed in our younger generations, an attempt has been made to take Conservation into our classrooms - for perhaps the very first time. The study carried out with Year 6 Primary School pupils from various parts of the Maltese islands has served to elucidate both what our students, and their respective teachers, are not yet aware of with regards to Conservation - and its subsequent role in safeguarding our Cultural Heritage - and what sort of a learning experience these same students most appreciate. Building upon this study, the author has proposed the creation of a multimedia package to introduce Conservation, not as a token subject or extracurricular activity, but within the working-syllabus of students in their final year of Primary School. In an age of ever-increasing computer literacy and computing technology with endless possibilities Interactive Leaming, and so, not simply Conservation, but Interactive Conservation is seen as the way forward. The proposed Computer-Aided Leaming package gives the student and teacher alike active parts to play in the virtual reality presented by the package. In so doing, it is hoped, that what is virtual in the Conservation and Cultural Heritage presented to the student is made actual by this same student.