There is a lot of information about Holocaust memorial sites in Poland on many different web pages, but there is no platform where you can find cohesive information for teaching and learning about Holocaust-related historical sites in the way that this project idea is created (se the attached appendix; needs analysis). The idea is to achieve creating a web app the partners in this project will produce that will be a unique information base, fact-checked by historians, in an easily accessible tool focusing on the five most visited areas – Gdansk, Krakow, Lodz, Lublin and Warsaw. This web app will contribute to quality assurance for teachers who want to plan, prepare and carry out study trips to Holocaust memorial sites in Poland. The web app will be a so-called web app that is accessible through a computer on a web site, downloadable on a phone or a tablet. This creates a flexibility for the teachers working with the pupils in different stages when they are planning an excursion trip. One important thing is the possibility of having the information base accessible wherever you are, on the device that is the most user friendly at a specific time and place. A computer might be the most useful device when teachers are planning the excursion trip or preparing lessons before the study tour, but also for planning workshops during the study trips and for the work afterwards. When you are well on your way to the Holocaust memorial site, or when you arrive at the site and start to move out in the field, the best device might be a phone. There you might need to remind yourself of certain aspects and have access to the pedagogical work at this specific site. You might also need a testimony or a document for the students to work with. The technical ability to provide this information through various units gives the teacher the opportunity to work without any restrictions on accessibility.The content and usability of the web app will be a result of the combined experience of the partners in the consortium and the unique combined perspectives and needs that teachers in the evaluation groups from the different partner countries will formulate during the project process and the evaluations of the web app during the project. Since pupils are also the target group for the web app, it is the same feedback that they will be able to do from their personal experience and perspective at the evaluations.The idea is to catch the different needs and approaches that Spanish, Dutch, Swedish and Polish teachers have and can formulate for the creation of the web app.
Antisemitism and racism are growing in several European countries and there is an acute need to find methods and strategies to counteract anti-democratic ideas, Xenophobia and prejudices. By learning about European history and the effects of World War II in our age, young people can become more vigilant on contemporary trends in our society that can overturn democratic societies. By participating in well-prepared educational programs that include training and study trips to Holocaust memorial sites pupils can understand what lead to the murder of six million Jews, hundreds of thousands of Roma and the persecution of thousands of others. We, the partners in the project, have through our vast experience within this field both as educators and researchers, seen the tremendous impact well organised educational visits to Holocaust memorial sites have on pupils. However, we have also established that there is big lack of cohesive easily accessible pedagogical information in digital form for European teachers that want to organise study trips to Holocaust memorial sites for their pupils for this very purpose because of the extensive needs analysis we have done. Therefore, to meet these needs the partners in this project want to create a web app that facilitates how study trips to Holocaust memorial sites in Poland can be organised. The aim is to ensure that study trips will be carried out in the best possible pedagogical way and to create optimal conditions for teachers’ work with their pupils.