Technology Tools For Historians

Ready or not the 21st century has arrived! It is definitely true that using technology can add immeasurably to the richness and depth of the study of history and other curricular subjects. It is also true that a large majority of educators are “pre-Mac or pre-PC models” who are not “schooled” in the wily ways of computers or the computer-age. Students, parents, and business folk are all extremely anxious to venture onto the superhighway and beyond. Teachers, on the other hand, are nervous. Most feel more qualified to “wade” than to “surf” the net. So... what’s a high school teacher to do? As the Chinese proverb says, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with just one step.”

In order to use technology in the classroom, it is not necessary to be a “techie” or an expert. Basic skills are all that are necessary.

Tips for Teachers:

Before you begin using technology in class it is advisable to assemble a Tech Team. The Tech Team are students from the class who do not necessarily have advanced computer skills but are hungry to learn. These students can be trained on the basics and, given time and access to a computer, will quickly know far more than the teacher. In several years of using technology, it never fails to amaze me how quickly these students learn and how little they need beyond a manual and permission to experiment. These students will become the ones to teach their peers. This is much more efficient and effective. A whole class introduction to various computer functions can be done, but in most cases by the time the student is ready to apply that knowledge in the construction of a project, he has forgotten and needs to be retaught. The Tech Team can give one-on-one help when the student is ready. It’s also a great self-esteem builder for Tech Team members.

So to begin our journey....

The First Step - The Internet

The Internet is often hyped as the Information Superhighway. While it is true that there is an incredible amount of information available on the Internet, finding and utilizing valid, grade-appropriate information is another matter. Students need to begin to use the Internet for research but it is important to keep the task in perspective. It is quite easy when confronted with all the wonders of computers for both students and teachers to lose track of their educational goal - in this case, the study of history. See Lesson Three of the Research unit for a discussion of what is reasonable as a first step as we begin to try to incorporate computer technology and its requisite skills into the curriculum. What follows is a list of web sites that the history teacher may find useful either as sites to “whack” with the WebWhacker program and bring to classroom computers that are not online or, if online labs are available, sites to recommend to students as they begin their research.

Tips for Teachers:

If you are going to use the WebWhacker program to bring materials to your students, be sure that you set the number of levels that you want to “whack”. Some of these sites have hundreds of levels! A few links are all that is necessary to allow students to simulate being online.

General Sites:

1. The History Net. Great search engine to search historical sites. Good place to begin any investigation.
   URL: http://www.thehistorynet.com

2. Great Site for Primary Source Documents from the Declaration of Independence to Vietnam.
   URL: gopher://wiretap.spies.com/11/GOV/US-History

3. US History Project: Presidents to Timelines.
   URL: http://solar.rtd.utk.edu/~winslow/

4. Bland County Archives. A great student constructed oral history site.
   URL: http://www.teci.net/bland/rocky/gap.html

Sites about World War II:

1. Loose Lips: Links to Propaganda.
   URL: http://www.sandiego.sisna.com/csimm95/

2. How the war altered America.
   URL: http://www1.chron.com/content/interactive/special/rj/rjmain.html

Sites about the Civil Rights Movement

1. Dr. Martin Luther King Site. Timeline of Dr. King’s life, documents, speeches, and other links.
   URL: http://www-leland.stanford.edu:80/group/King/

2. Links for PBS special Chicano!
   URL: http://www.pbs.org/chicano/timeline.html

3. El Centro de la Raza: Civil Rights Organization.
   URL: http://cyberspace.com/~elcentro/

4. Mexican American history.
   URL: http://www.worldmedia.com/RCTA/PERIOD/LARR/LARR0203.HTM

The Next Step - Digital Cameras and/or Scanners

Using digital cameras is really quite easy and has a big pay-off in student interest. Digital cameras can be used to take pictures of interesting places in the community, community members who will be interviewed by the students, and pictures of the students themselves. Asking students to be detectives and to find the places, activities, and people who make our community a very unique place was quite a successful enterprise. The students commented more than once that they had never really “looked” at the community and found many things they did not even know existed. Using the camera is easy and as the software comes with the cameras it is not difficult to get started. With image manipulation programs like Adobe Photoshop or Photo Deluxe students can add flourishes, designs, etc. However, since I am not that familiar with those programs, the basics were enough for a successful assignment.

Scanners can be used to scan regular photographs if digital cameras are not available. They can also be used to scan documents, maps, letters, etc. Again, basic scanning can be learned in a few minutes with a manual. More complex manipulations take longer, of course. Students seem to learn to use the scanner quite quickly and can always do things I cannot in a few weeks time.

Tips for Teachers:

1. Do not assume that students know the basics of taking photographs. Many of our pictures had to be retaken as students made very fundamental mistakes like not centering, not getting the whole site in the picture, etc.
2. If at all possible the teacher should have a zip drive. Archiving digital pictures, maps, letters, articles, etc. on a zip disk keeps everything in one place for the teacher and acts as a backup for students in case some catastrophe happens as it usually does.
3. Make sure you make copies of everything and do not store student work solely on the hard drive. Our hard drive crashed once during this project!

The Last Step- Building A Project

The last step in this process is to build a project. What software you will use will depend upon what you are going to do with it. Our project was constructed using web authoring software, specifically Claris Works Homepage. There are many other programs out there, each with its strengths and weaknesses. We had very little trouble with Claris Homepage. Learning to run the program will take less than an hour with the manual. Having students use the web page authoring software had an unanticipated bonus. Students began to have a visual understanding of the concepts of main points and supporting detail. We used the web authoring because we have support in getting our site on the web. If you do not or just want the projects you are working on to be classroom bound, Hyperstudio is a great, fairly simple program. If your students are using a lot of photographs or other memory-eating images, it will be necessary to have zip drive capabilities.