Preserving the memory of past events for new generations is essential, but there is also the question of how to do it. Traditional History classes might not be suit the children’s needs, as they are used to highly interactive spaces. A solution arrives in the form of websites that offer a virtual historical experience for a particular location. The paper will analyze a Boston-themed webpage and its instrumentality in teaching history.
As a part of my virtual experience, I visited the website titled “Virtual American Revolution, Boston” and learned some information about the city’s historical significance. It was a stage for the Boston Massacre, in which five people died, and later the Boston Tea Party, a famous display of America’s rebellious spirit. Overall, Boston had a prominent role in the American Revolution, with several important pre-revolutionary events and later battles occurring there.
Although the website summarizes and illustrates events with maps well, it is not compelling enough. There is an interactive 3D map of the sites mentioned on a particular page, but it mostly shows their current state. Perhaps, it would be more interesting for the users to see reconstructions of the buildings and events, similarly to the video on the front page. I cannot say the website gives me “a good feeling,” but it does lead to a better understanding of the historical topic. I would suggest making navigation more seamless and adding more buttons/banners. Perhaps, the maps could serve as the basis for organizing information. Altogether, I would consider the website useful, but it requires some work to make it more appealing and accessible.
In conclusion, my virtual historical experience was not perfect, but the field seems promising. The website does a good job of showing the current state of the sites, which I probably would not visit given their ordinary appearance of today, but the historical information is not very illustrative. Perhaps, real-life or virtual reconstructions of every event, along with visual enhancements, could enrich it and make more people interested in history.