Mobile Digital Storytelling Impacts on Post-Industrial Landscape Perceptions

Sarah Fayen Scarlett, Michigan Technological University
James Juip, Michigan Tech University
Robert Cowling, Michigan Technological University
Don Lafreniere, Michigan Technological University

The Keweenaw Time Traveler (KeTT) mobile storytelling platform is part of a growing number of digital applications used to engage members of the public in the investigation of historic landscapes. This mobile web app, developed at Michigan Technological University as part of the community-engaged Keweenaw Time Traveler project, was designed to help a historic mining region in northern Michigan leverage the heritage of its post industrial landscape toward cultural sustainability. So far, community stakeholders have uploaded over 2,000 location-specific stories with text, video, and photos viewable on mobile devices linked to 70+ georeferenced historical maps. This mobile application and others like it, however, have yet to be evaluated for their efficacy in augmenting public understanding of post-industrial landscapes. This paper investigates the degree to which gaining comfort and proficiency with this mobile storytelling platform impacts perceived connections between changes over time in the built environment and the historically situated choices and experiences of residents past and present. To support this investigation, researchers worked with multiple constituent groups including local high school students, summer festival goers, and 35 deep mapping professionals visiting the region during summer 2025 as part of the NEH-funded Community Deep Mapping Institute being co-organized by the authors. Constituent groups utilized the KeTT mobile storytelling app in downtown Calumet with a place-based educational activity. Pre- and post-activity surveys assessed change in participants’ proficiency with the app and in their perceptions of human stories built into the downtown Calumet landscape. Evaluating the impacts of the KeTT mobile storytelling platform will provide much needed data to researchers and communities using HGIS and digital humanities methods for heritage applications in post-industrial landscapes.

No extended abstract or paper available

 Presented in Session 119. NEH Community Deep Mapping Institute 2