Mudlarking in Deptford - Futurelab

OverviewThere’s the standard school trip – and thenthere’s Mudlarking…The school tour has been a part of theeducation process for decades, but the fullpotential of this activity is not realised since itis often a static, one-way experience.The results illustrate that it is possible toextend the experience of education outside theconventional classroom environment, usingaffordable and accessible mobile technologies.The Mudlarking in Deptford project wasdesigned to enable young people aged 11-14 toactively engage with an area of historic andeducational interest, Deptford Creek, by usingstate-of-the-art mobile technology to designand produce their own guided tour.Students helped to create multimedia‘enhanced landscapes’ which were combinedto create a wider historical tour that combinestext, drawings, images (still and video) andaudio – and which future visitors to the Creekcan access and perhaps add their ownreflections. The outcome is a rich and fluidjourney companion for all visitors to the Creek.“I think Mudlarking is really good‘cos you get to do things and forme it is a different experiencebecause I haven’t done this sortof thing before”1