Technology in Museums

The military museum at the US Military Academy at West Point is a stark contrast with the Sony Wonder Technology Lab. Just a visit to each's website gives the casual observer an indication of how each approaches the use of technology.

The West Point museum's web site has two pages with a brief description of their major exhibits. The photos are in black and white. The Sony site is much more colorful, includes a flash generated tour and has activities and downloads. It is appropriate that something labelled a 'Technology Wonder Lab' have a compelling web-site, but in truth the functionality is a bit limited.

The greater differences become apparent when you visit each museum in person. The Sony Lab has interactive technology kiosks typically driven by a touch-screen user interface. Each station has a representation of some form of technology as varied as the telephone and magnetic resonance imaging. The object of each station in the parade of technology is to have the student learn how something works through 'hands on' experiences.

The military museum at West Point could benefit tremendously by integrating technology. The current exhibit layout is compelling only to military history buffs. Warfare artifacts are interesting, but the advancement of strategic military advantage through innovation is unstated. Instead, an interactive kiosk linking certain weapons with key battles won in history could compel the viewer to draw cause & effect relationships.

Another simple kiosk could be maps changing with a time line. An example could be the land gains of the Axis powers in WWII and the subsequent retreat after D-Day and the Battle of Stalingrad. One needs to use technology to make history come alive.

I was also surprised at the total absence of any audio files of speeches by great generals, commentary about battles or even letters home from troops. These primary documents can be compelling to the casual observer if presented properly.

Podcasts

I visited the site and found the interface to be uninspiring. While seemingly dedicated to and created for educators in the Social Studies area, there was a lack of categorization that would make this site easy to use if it actually produces a large inventory of useful material.

I listened to two podcasts from the Colonial Williamsburg site and two from an amatuer Podcaster from Beijing. It reminded me of my youth, creating a crystal radio to pick up Ham traffic: the reward fell far short of the effort. While I may be generally dismayed by conventional media broadcasts these days, I am astounded by the 'vacation slideshow' nature of the podcast community.

I did learn from a former New Yorker in Beijing that he had a Bar-B-Q on Easter that involved live music and invited guests representing over a dozen foreign languages I couldn't understand. Passing an MP3 recorder around at a party constitutes something worthy of sharing on this site according to the author who billed it as his 'best podcast ever'.

The Williamsburg casts were much more intersting, but perhaps only because I visited the place. In reality, one would only really listen to this stuff if it were broadcast on the only radio station available while driving overnight. The risk of falling asleep at the wheel may actually be increased by exposure to this content. Nonetheless I did learn more about Pocahantus and the jealosy of the loyalists to the Jamestown settlement over the Plymouth Rock afficianados.

In truth, this technology could be used to stimulate student learning if properly channeled. I could see student assignments being submitted, lectures disseminated and student debates recorded for posterity. The Internet is a big place and I'm sure there are better places than this to look for useful content for my students.

Google rules the internet

x

Tapped in

Darfur is Dying

Using a game to spread the word about the genocide in the western Sudan is an effective way to reach an audience one might not normally reach. The digital natives I teach all felt compelled about the plight of the villagers who must forage for water and hide from the Janjaweed. We played the game in my class, taking turns at the keyboard as a projector displayed the action on a screen.

The students were engaged and were often shouting out warnings of when and where to hide while foraging for water. They lamented every capture and encouraged mouse overs in the village to discover what each graphic represented. We went through three students and one game re-start before we were able to successfully forage water.

We spent our second period discussing the game and doing further online research. We visited Darfur via Google Earth and I was surprised how much the more the site has since I used it just two months ago. The partnership with the US Holocaust Memorial Museum is outstanding. The students were even more engaged with the icons than the village. As each description or slideshow came up the students were driven more than ever to understand why this was taking place.

The game was a perfect launch point for the lesson & the Google Earth and USMM alliance made for a very compelling lesson.

Website or Software review

Historyteacher.net is a site created by a Social Studies Teacher right here in Westchester County. It was created by Ms. Pojer at Horace Greeley High School. It must have been a labor of love and taken quite some time to develop. It was recognized by History Magazine as the site of the week in September 2002. I'm sorry I didn't find it sooner than last year. I've used it as a source of lesson ideas and plans in addition to having my students use it for lessons and review.

I guess I'm not the only one: the site counter shows over 4,000,000 hits. The breadth and scope of this site is indicated by her caveat on the homepage: "I am not responsible within this site of over 2000 individual pages for the content found on links whose web addresses might frequently change ownership and intent, nor for pop-up windows appearing on those sites with objectionable subject matter."

I must admit, I haven't explored her claim of links to over 2000 individual pages, but the links she has placed on the home page are relevant and useful to me. The layout of the site is well organized by history subject area and she thoughtful to have MS Frontpage 6.0 create a site map during development. Site maps often make it easier to navigate large sites like this.

I couldn't find many missing items from the Global History syllabus. Each unit link page starts with a map of the subject area surrounded by key topics such as Geography, Ealy History, Modern History, Culture, Nations, Colonialism & Current Issues. Each topic links to a comprehensive set of links for that sub-set of information.

In addition, numerous on-line quizzes, sample Regents questions and activities abound. This is a terrific site I hope to use in the years to come. My main concern would be trying to maintain the site without FrontPage support...that would be a nightmare.

The Missles of October

It is frightening to me to realize that my students were either not born or still suckling when the Berlin wall fell. They never crawled under their desks during a civil defense drill. I'm challenged as a teacher to pull relevance into their lives to the threat of thermo-nuclear destruction.

I chose a lesson plan about the Cuban Missile Crisis and was immediately impressed with the wealth of information and student activities embedded within the website. What I learned in the process of delivering this lesson is that well-conceived, overly ambitious plans can easily fail if not adapted properly to fit the audience.

The critical issue to be delivered within this lesson is the Cold War had boiled to the point that two competing nations began to understand that the fear of Nuclear War was sufficient grounds to use diplomacy to solve a crisis. The bold stand taken by the Kennedy administration ultimately lead to detente, glasnost and perestroika.

I welcomed the overly rich listing of resources available within the plan provided. I found the student exercises to be lacking because they failed to properly place the source documents into the context of the assignment. For example Activity #1 placed the student in the role of a CIA analyst creating a brief for the President. The spy-plane photos were appropriate fodder, but two of the three text documents were ex-post facto analysis that only added confusion to the task.

I modified this lesson with my 5th & 8th period classes to make the main deliverable be the definition of the threat & delineating the five options available to JFK. In my 8th period class a compelling argument proceeded among the students regarding the risks associated with each of the options.

While we all wish we can find 'canned' lesson plans to suit our needs and fill our students', it becomes increasingly apparent to me that absorption, experimentation & modification is the only way to effectively reach all of your students

LESSON PLAN:
The World at the Brink: The Cuban Missile Crisis

by Tom Josephson
Enduring Understandings:

1. The conflict between Communism vs. Capitalism almost ended the world
2. Diplomacy can help resolve conflicts
3. The Superpowers came close enough to annihilation to begin to disarm

Essential Questions:

1. What led to the Soviets building Nuclear silos in Cuba?
2. Why was the USA so upset at the prospect of nuclear missiles in Cuba?
3. How was JFK's reaction to the missiles tempered by the embarrassment of the Bay of Pigs?
4. How did the Cuban Missile Crisis lead to detente, glasnost & perestroika?

NYS Standards:
SOCIAL STUDIES STANDARD 2: World History use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of major ideas, eras, themes, developments, and turning points in world history and examine the broad sweep of history from a variety of perspectives.
Economics

SOCIAL STUDIES STANDARD 4: Economics use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of how the United States and other societies develop economic systems and associated institutions to allocate scarce resources, how major decision-making units function in the U.S. and other national economies, and how an economy solves the scarcity problem through market and non-market mechanisms.

ELA STANDARD 3: Students will read, write, listen, and speak for critical analysis and evaluation.

Resources:
Content:

1. Selected readings from RFK's "Thirteen Days"
2. Source documents from EDSITEMENT LESSON
3. Background Cold War info from EASE HISTORY: 'Cold War All' clip

Technology:

Computer lab time to digest source materials and create responses to essential questions and activities. If time allows conduct a debate and record for class notes podcast: Resolved: JFK's decision to blockade saved Capitalism. and/or Resolved: Khruschev's primary goal was to eliminate the USA's nuclear missiles in Turkey.

Activities:

1. Problem discovered: CIA Analyst briefing
2. Brother to Brother: What would you tell JFK to do if you were RFK?
3. Who blinks first? Describe how the crisis was resolved
4. Make a prediction: Does this crisis make the world safer?

This lesson plan was adapted from "The Missiles of October" from EDSITEMENT

WNET Wide Angle workshop at Channel 13 Studios

BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND - JUST IN TIME FOR REGENTS PREP!Thirteen/WNET New York invites New York State educators to a FREETEACHER WORKSHOPintroducing an innovative new resource for middle and high school SocialStudies teachers: WIDE ANGLE: WINDOW INTO GLOBAL HISTORY. The workshop will be held: Tuesday, May 22, 2007 4:30pm - 8:00pm Thirteen/WNET Studios 450 West 33rd Street, New York, NY 10001.

If you are a Middle or High School Social Studies teacher or other educator interested in new multimedia resources for the Social Studies classroom, then join us to:
* View video clips from the WIDE ANGLE broadcast series;
* Get a guided tour of the WIDE ANGLE: Window into GlobalHistory Web site;
* Engage in a multime ion usingthe new resource;
* Receive free WIDE ANGLE print and DVD resources for usein the classroom;
* Enjoy refreshments and dinner, win door prizes, and more!

About the resource:WIDE ANGLE: Window into Global History, at www.thirteen.org/edonline/wideangle, is an outreach initiative produced by New York City PBS StationThirteen/WNET to support the teaching and learning of Regents Global History and Geography in high school classrooms across New York State. The project Web site ties video material from the award-winning WIDEANGLE documentary series to the Regents and Advanced Placement curriculums in Global and World History. The site comprises tenmedia-rich lesson plans, developed by New York State Global and AP History teachers, with embedded video; and a Video Bank of over 40 downloadable video clips, organized by teaching theme and associatedwith guiding questions for students.

About the series:WIDE ANGLE was created in response to the lack of in-depth international news coverage in the United States. Five years later, WIDEANGLE is the only program exclusively dedicated to international current affairs documentaries.

"WIDE ANGLE is just good television. The seriestells stories, portrays people, and reveals places that are too oftenoverlooked or neglected." - Walter Cronkite

There is no charge for this workshop, but space is limited.
REGISTERNOW! Send an email to: May22workshop@thirteen.org. Include your Name, School Name, District, and Position. Funding for WIDE ANGLE: WINDOW INTO GLOBAL HISTORY is provided by theCorporation for Public Broadcasting and the J.P. Morgan ChaseFoundation

To Subscribe or Unsubscribe to Thirteen-ITV-VOD http://webmail.thirteen.org/mailman/listinfo/thirteen-itv-vod

Sony Wonder Technology Lab

I regret not bringing my 13 year old son on this trip. It reminded me of going to the World's Fair when I was a kid or bringing my kids to Epcot. The multi-floor exhibit has enough education kiosks and activities to stimulate everyone's interest.

The efficient one-way layout was efficient. You could traverse the exhibit at your own pace, staying as long as you wanted at any of the six major stations. Predictably, crowds gathered at the more compelling the station stops, leading to a mild level of frustration when you weren't 'at the controls'.

The initial log-in station that created your photo ID kept track of all the stations you visited and provided you with a certificate as you exited, listing all stations where you logged in. This is a very effective way to reinforce what you'd experienced and could also be a great way for a teacher to track students' activities on a field trip.

The stations were well conceived and typically had multimedia content driven by a touchscreen interface. Other museums could benefit from an increased use of this type of interactive learning. See my comparison with a trip to the museum at West Point.

Political Campaigns (week 4)

Campaign ads have multiple goals:
I find EASE History to be a very compelling site for student education. It's use of short clips encourages students to draw conclusions based on easily digestable bites. Too often students are exposed to large amounts of content with which they feel overwhelmed and quickly lose interest.
In following the C7 assignment I found the instructions unclear and was unable to locate the artifacts icon to access the candidate profiles which apparently revealed their weaknesses and strengths. It therefore made it impossible to complete the assignment.

One case I found compelling from the 2004 campaign was "Rassman". It was a Kerry-funded reaction piece to the 'swiftboat' campaign. The accusation put forth in the 'swiftboat' campaign was Kerrey had misrepresented his Vietnam record. A first-person endorsement of Carey about his heroism in combat by Rassman was created to counter the conservative campaign that represented Carey as weak in both honesty and war.

Barry Goldwater's Castro campaign ad is a direct attack on LBJ. Mocking LBJ, Goldwater reminds Americans that the 'bearded dictator 90 miles off our coast' continues to thumb his nose at our great democracy. It associates LBJ with the Bay of Pigs fiasco to paint him in a negative light during the height of the Cold War.

While searching for the profiles I stumbled stumble across the Cold War segment which I found to be an excellent summary of events. I have postponed the 'Cold War' exam for my students, pending exposure to this content. I will shedule them for the computer lab and allow each to experience the content and react to it on their blogs with some guided questions (e.g. What was different about the Yalta and Potsdam conferences? How did the Cuban Missile Crisis change relations between the superpowers? Why was there a 'space race'?)



Presidential candidate's e-presence:



Router restrictions make using some technology difficult
I've been able to use blogging extensively with my students of both Global History and Economics. 'Chalk & talk' classroom instruction has gone the way of the dinosaur, so educators must find compelling ways to engage students with the content they must master. Lecture notes are non-existent so students don't value or keep notebooks. Worksheets are often not retained by either. The challenge at year-end assessment time is easy retrival of learned, but forgotten, content with which to review. The answer is an on-line notebook.

I've experimented with multiple ways for students to electronically submit work this year and found personal blogs to be the most effective. E-mail submission creates a logjam in my in-box and becomes a one-way depository requiring the students to maintain their own filing system for future retrieval. The district uses e-chalk and I've used it for numerous assignments and postings, but found it lacking as well. It offers the advantage of a summary sheet listing submission status by student, but the cumbersome file attachment function requires download of the file and firing up the local application prior to evaluating the student's work.

I've had my students create their own blogs to submit assignments. This creates an easily accessible archive to key assignments over the course of the year. It is easier for me to review their work through a single browser interface. It also makes their retrival process easier. They would be more likely to visit their blog and review multiple entries than open the same number of files in their native applications. They can also visit other student's blogs and participate in discussions.

The use of other sites with which they are already familiar (e.g. Facebook or MySpace) is impractable due to restrictions programmed into the school router.

Historical Thinking and Other Unnatural Acts

Sam Wineburg's compelling article attempts to answer the question: Why study History at all? The topic is introduced amid the backdrop of the national debate over which history is taught in American Schools. Ultimatley Wineburg warns of "..the seduction of coming to know people in the past by relying on the dimensions of our "lived experience".

I teach Global History II without issuing a textbook, not even a class set. Wineburg's emphasis on using source documents as the focal point of historical inquiry resonated with me. I try to use them frequently in my lessons. The NYS Regents Examination has an essay assignment based on interpreting source documents, so it is a skill my students need to master.

The initial discussion of which history is taught reminds me that history is written by the victorious not the victims. I remember how annoyed I was when reading parts of William J. Bennett's America: the Last Best Hope. The former Secretary of Education pardoned the anti-Native American policies of our country's past as allowable in the context of the times. This sweeping pardon so early in the book made me skepical for the rest of the book. While throwing barbs at the debate over emerging national standards Wineburg's article is not an indictment of the 'history curriculum by committee' trend, but rather a thought-provoking summary of the results of some history workshops he has conducted.

Wineburg summarizes some of the interpretation struggles and errors of three different subject groups dealing with three different sets of historical documents. He posits that the study of history can be more valuable when it challenges us to gain new understanding by not projecting ourselves into the lives of the people of the past, but rather questioning our own perceptions of this reality and imagining the past.

Cognitive Flexibility Theory

"If it was fun, it wouldn't be called work."
This common aphorism has been around for at least two generations. I've used it half in jest on occasion, particularly when faced with a distasteful or difficult task. I thought of the tendency of our society in general and education in particular to be accommodating as I read this article. I witness the results of this accommodation in my classroom every day and quite frequently while taking graduate level courses in education.

I've recently come to the conclusion that educators are the biggest tinkerers in the world. This is a healthy thing for all teachers to do: reflect and revise lesson plans, projects and units to achieve higher levels of understanding for all students. It is imperitive to experiment and analyze so one may draw on previous experiences to improve teaching strategies.

Education theorists pursue a new paradigm for instruction with the fervor of a Crusader seeking the Holy Grail. There must be a better way to make them learn, they posit. Analogous to Einstein's elusive single unified theory, CFT was developed to be a meta-theory for the learning process with four main goals:

1. Help people learn important but difficult material.
2. Teach learners to adapt and flexibly apply knowledge in real-world settings.
3. Change the underlying way people think
4. Create new hypermedia environments to promote items 1-3

Many progressive corporations use teamwork and employee empowerment to allow decisions to rise up from those who work closest to the business challenges. This is in stark contrast to the old manager-employee structure. This 'inverted pyramid' approach will end up rewarding those who can think critically and solve problems.

CFT creates a learning environment where subsets of content may be randomly sampled to allow the student to appreciate the superset through inference and extrapolation. It is suggested that using technology to create hypermedia learning environments will help the digital natives learn better. Experiential learning encourages higher order thinking skills and leads to the ability to transfer knowledge and problem solving strategies. Technology can certainly add to learning experience.

What concerns me as a social studies teacher is one must be careful in the selection of content to be applied when using this construct. Rote memorization of a timeline has no intrinsic educational value, but understanding cause and effect does. Making analogies and drawing parallels is an important life skill that can be practiced with Social Studies content.

Project

I'm struggling between two project choices. One that will benefit the entire faculty and the other with a narrower focus of helping fellow Global History II teachers. Each project will easily exceed the five hour minimum and involves a software development effort.

In either case I'll follow standard software development methodology:

1. Needs analysis
2. Requirements definition
3. System design
4. System development
5. Beta evaluation
6. Cycle steps 3 and 4 until done
7. Production release

The two projects under consideration are:

1. Global History II curriculum database with shared resources from fellow teachers (lesson plans, useful links, curriculam map, etc...)
2. A reservation system for our two computer labs. Teachers will be able to reserve specialty rooms on-line. This would replace the current process of emailing a request to the computer coordinator who edits a password-protected calendar file (MS Word).

EaseHistory

This hypermedia website of 20th century US history makes me wish I was teaching US History this year. Based on CFT Theory the site allows the user to experience video snippets of historical footage and political campaign commercials.

The layout allows the user to set up images or videos side by side in a 2-up or 4-up layout. This becomes very useful for viewing Presdential ad campaigns in one viewer with the electoral college map in the other.

What strikes the first time user is the short duration of the clips. I think this helps the site's value as an education tool. Attention spans of learners have gradually shortened since Sesame Street hit the airwaves in 1969. A short clip can be very accessible and unintimidating to a student. Sampling several different short clips from a given era or theme can help the student build a contextual understanding of the subject. A search engine allows the user to easily sift through the clip collection to locate items that draw their interest.

I've shown it to two collegues of mine. Each was drawn to investigate the familiar first. Both were mezmerized. One suggestion I would make would be a 'counter of combinations' that generates a list of the most commonly paired items. Another option could be a discussion thread for the users to share their interpretations of the clips.