The “LernApp” is a didactic app that I programmed for the “Point Alpha” memorial area. Built on the grounds of a Cold War observation post between West and East Germany, the Point Alpha memorial has indoor exhibitions (in one of which I was already involved) but also an outdoor area full of historical landmarks. Through the LernApp this area can be explored with the support of a GPS-aided map, a choice of historical materials (Documents, Photos, Videos) and a discovery game that asks to find hotspots in order to activate new contents on the way.
The App was conceived by beier-wellach for the Point Alpha Stiftung in the context of a broader didactic action, that includes guided workshops with students inside and outside the museum. Groups of students walk around the area using the app, learn about the poignant stories related to the surroundings, and then go back to the museum in order to produce own materials and presentations based on their experience. The app allows the students to check where they are with an interactive map and to take their own snapshots using the camera.
The app can be played following four different “learn routes”, which present a choice of historical documents, photos, archive films and video interviews, that accompany the discovery of the landmarks and give a proper context to them. That is true especially when the landmark is just a fragment of the old border barrier, which could look as unassuming now as it once was scary. In order to activate new content, the user should zoom in and look for important information and details in the documents, finding marked hotspots that need to be cleared.
I created the app as a hybrid application for Android, using Javascript and Cordova. Before this I honestly couldn’t see myself deploying a real app for the market, given all the compatibility issues with all the models, the different software versions (and the conflicts being brought by updates!). But this was a special context, the Tablets are owned by the museum and they’ll be an offline system that would not be changed or updated. This smoothed out the hurdle on the tricky parts (camera, file system access, GPS, offline maps…). All in all a very didactic experience also for me!
CREDITS
Point Alpha Stiftung: Research, Project Management
beier-wellach: Concept, Research, Redaction and Graphic Design
Michele Pedrazzi: Development and deployment