Virtual Visits as a Learning Tool for Historical Heritage in Two Specific Examples: Évora and Mérida

Abstract

This paper presents an educational experience in the area of learning about Art History, in particular, about the Greco-Roman period, using an innovative resource that is available due to current technology: the virtual visit. This resource allows students to experience immersion in the reconstruction of classic monuments that have deteriorated with time. The combination of current images with this type of virtual visit provides greater ease for understanding the monuments and their function in antiquity, and it is converted into an important motivating factor in the study of this artistic period. The experience has been carried out with 1st year ESO (compulsory secondary education) and 2nd year A-level students, focusing on close context heritage elements, such as the monuments of Mérida or Évora. The results obtained show an increase in the students’ interest in this artistic period due to their greater ability to understand the monuments they are studying.