Time travel for beginners … or How technology can be used for historical research

Using an educational historical research project about the life and work of Ada Byron, Countess of Lovelace (1815-1852) this paper explores the use of technology in educational historical research, and the tensions that arise when undertaking educational historical research. Although communications technology offers new ways of connecting researchers both to each other and, in this context, to their sources this can often be a double-edged sword. It can negate the need to actively locate and read primary sources in their physical form for this type of research, replacing this with digital views and digital images that can be cut and pasted. While this is convenient, it can remove some of the learning steps that come from physically engaging with primary sources, such as making notes and discussing them with the experienced librarians who curate them, as well more subtle issues such as the physical quality of the media in which the sources are contained. When we think about teaching and learning, the digital medium tends to be the one of choice for most of our students at some point in their learning career (S. Gorard & N., 1999). By examining both types of approach for educational historical research, it was possible to examine how technology can help or hinder this type of research.