Interview with Adrianna Paradowska, Deputy Director of the New Technology Division on the MamStartup portal

In a conversation with Przemysław Zieliński, editor of the MamStartup portal, Adrianna Paradowska, Deputy Director of the New Technology Division, talks, among other things, about how to reach the “nanosecond generation,” how to combine historical education with modern technologies, and how to recognize the risks associated with the digitalization of education.

A new line of communication with young people

At the beginning of the interview, the topic of dialogue with young people is raised. Director Paradowska outlines that when designing games and applications for learning history, the Office of New Technologies seeks solutions that respond to the needs of young audiences. Alongside exhibitions, publications, and academic conferences, there is a need to provide young people with reliable sources of knowledge that they will be eager to use.

Paradowska also mentions the need to access knowledge here and now – it is important to prepare content in such a way that it is available at one’s fingertips.

Between technological attractiveness and substance

Director Paradowska emphasizes that it is crucial “not to throw the baby out with the bathwater” – technology should be merely a tool used for learning history, not a goal in itself. Finding a balance between technological appeal and substantive content is not easy.

One of the greatest challenges for the New Technology Division was bringing together two distant worlds: historians and game developers. As Paradowska says:
“Reconciling these two sets of expectations – the game developers and graphic designers (…) with the world of historians, who at that time did not view computer games as an educational tool (…) was, I think, our biggest challenge.”

Later in the conversation, the issue of conveying not only knowledge but also emotions through technology is discussed. In literature and films, storytelling is based primarily on observing the fate of characters, rather than directly embodying them, as is the case in video games. This difference means that books and films focus more on telling and interpreting a story, while games emphasize experiencing and participating in it.

Video games and virtual reality alongside traditional forms of education

Director Paradowska, although she helps teachers and educators implement modern technologies on a daily basis, strongly recommends reading The Doll (Lalka) by Bolesław Prus. As she says:
“It is a novel I fell in love with in high school, and after reading The Doll, a walk along Krakowskie Przedmieście takes on a completely different dimension.”

This illustrates the belief that educational games and applications are not meant to replace traditional learning, but to complement it and to spark interest – among young audiences raised online – in discovering traces of the past.

Watch the conversation with Director Paradowska and learn more about immersive historical education