Civilisations is an amazing new BBC Two series that looks at the influence of art throughout the course of human history. The nine part show,presented by Simon Schama, Mary Beard and David Olusoga, is a fascinating programme and as a history buff (with a degree in Anthropology, because why not?) really appeals to me.
What really has me excited is that alongside the show there is a free to download app which allows users to explore and examine 37 artifacts from a digital download device, such as mobiles, tablets etc. The artifacts include the Rosetta Stone, the Reliquary Casket of St Thomas Beckett and a mummy in an Egyptian coffin among many others.
As a teacher the potential for exciting children about various eras of History is huge. To enable pupils to examine the artifacts by zooming in, x-raying and checking out the provenance is a wonderful opportunity for learning an more immersive than just books and . I hope to use the app in my class over the next couple of days and will relay my findings here but why not try it out yourself in the meantime?
The app is available free to Apple users via the App store and Android users through the Play Store.