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World War One - film technologies capturing the history of tank warfare

GRAHAM, Fiona and OTTEY, Paul (2017) World War One - film technologies capturing the history of tank warfare. In: Deborah the First World War Tank, 2018, Kings School, Congleton.

[img] Image (Workshop and lecture at King's School, Congleton)
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Abstract or description

The aim of the event was to bring the French battlefields visually into the classroom to enhance learning and understanding of tank warfare in World War One. The new knowledge created from non fiction film research was brought directly into the classroom and supported the children's World War One curriculum studies.
It showed the historical research and documentary methods used to create new knowledge about the Battle of Cambrai and the tank battle in 1917.
The narrative was built around the central figure of Deborah a Mark IV tank which was destroyed on the day of the battle and the crew from the authored perspectives of relatives, Army and British and French communities today.

The school lecture to over 100 schoolchildren was held at The King's School in Congleton, Cheshire. The interactive workshop that followed the talk discussed tank warfare, engineering and the technologies used from the World War One research by Associate Professor Fiona Graham and Senior Lecturer Paul Ottey working with the community in France. Actual tank parts from the battlefield were brought into the classroom to help explain size and scale and explaining their importance in World War One.

The workshop allowed the children hands on experience with film technology understanding various methods include 4K, HD and drone technologies alongside production and directing methods to create new content to understand through seeing the battlefields and the people affected.

Item Type: Conference or Workshop Item (Other)
Additional Information: The feedback showed the event supported the students in their learning in History. "We had the exciting opportunity to welcome into The Kings, Fiona Graham and her team, to share with our students the work they had completed with tank Deborah. The students had been studying WW1, but due to time constraints on the curriculum, we had not had the opportunity to learn and discover about tank warfare. On meeting, we soon discovered that Fiona and her team could help fill this void, as well as opening the students’ eyes to the way modern technology can be used to help us better understand the past. Students thoroughly enjoyed the session and learning about the life, and journey, of tank Deborah. Following the session, students talked about how they had not realised how useful modern day technology, like drones, could be in the discovery of new elements of history or in deepening our understanding of the past. The session also left students with a clear understanding of how tanks were used during WW1 and the impact that they had on the war as a whole. We look forward to working with Fiona and her team again on other future history and technology projects. Yours sincerely Jessica Bailey (BA(Hons) – History and Criminology, PGCE – Secondary History)
Faculty: School of Computing and Digital Technologies > Film, Media and Journalism
Event Title: Deborah the First World War Tank
Event Location: Kings School, Congleton
Event Dates: 2018
Depositing User: Fiona GRAHAM
Date Deposited: 19 Aug 2020 14:28
Last Modified: 24 Feb 2023 13:59
URI: https://eprints.staffs.ac.uk/id/eprint/6476

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