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Create-a-Scape, Futurelab’s education-focused version of HP’s mediascape software, scooped a prestigious New Statesman New Media Award at last night’s ceremony.

Beating off competition from the Open University’s OpenLearn website and Elgg OS, the Create-a-Scape website and software were rated top in the Education category of the Awards.

Futurelab recently revamped its Create-a-Scape website to reflect the new version of HP’s mediascape[1] authoring software. The software is now even more easy to use and accessible, and supports flash, video and html.

The Create-a-Scape website (www.createascape.org.uk) offers the inspiration for teachers and pupils to start using mediascapes in education, and provides easy-to-use guides and free software to help make mediascape creation as simple and easy as possible.

Futurelab’s research in schools influenced the development of HP’s new version of the mediascaping software making it easier for children to use unaided. The design was based on research and user testing carried out by Futurelab with teachers and children, observing how people actually go about making mediascapes.

Mediascapes can be a powerful educational tool, enabling young people aged 10 and upwards to learn while exploring their surroundings, using PDA handheld computers. They can be used to provide an alternative guide to a chosen location, for example, or to transform an open space into a learning experience, overlaying a digital canvas onto the every day world. They can then be experienced in the outside world using mobile technology. Users can create a range of experiences from tours of discovery to art installations - the only constraint is imagination. Recent uses of mediascapes have included:

• a tour of King’s Cross using photos from Victorian times to explore how the area has changed and developed
• transforming an open field into the surface of the moon and setting pupils missions to complete on the moon[2]

Futurelab worked in collaboration with HP to develop the original Create-a-Scape website, which offers teachers a practical way of using mediascapes, based on HP’s Mediascape Authoring Toolkit.

“Many schools find it challenging to use PDAs effectively in education, and creating a mediascape can be a complex process,” comments Clara Lemon, R&D Project Manager at Futurelab. “The Create-a-Scape site makes this process simple and accessible for teachers and we’re thrilled to have been selected to receive this award.”

“We are delighted that the New Statesman has recognised Futurelab’s work in this way - Futurelab’s research and its Create-A-Scape site are a significant contribution to unlocking the potential of mediascapes for the education community,” adds Phil Stenton, Manager of Mediascapes Research at HP Laboratories in Bristol. “The recent launch of our www.mscapers.com website has been a great success, and we are delighted to acknowledge the part Futurelab has played.”

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