Clio Wired (History 696)

• Sources
The Internet has already allowed both teachers and students access to sources they would have been unable to peruse in the pre-digital age. I did not use the Internet until my freshman year in college, and I could not imagine doing research without it, as it would take hours, days, months, perhaps even years to find the resources I can find within a minutes with Google, Dogpile, or any number of avenues (I find what the Canadian government has done especially useful … check it out! http://collections.ic.gc.ca/E/view.html).

• Expand the classroom
On Monday, we looked at a site that allowed students to post critiques about books. This activity is an expansion of the classroom—much like our own blog. If students in a GW class—or even a class at a small school in Nebraska—were to join the conversation, the sharing of ideas would be expanded. Sure, we’re all vastly intelligent individuals, but living in the greater D.C. area undoubtedly affects how we think, irrespective of where we grew up. By having a more open classroom (i.e., not confined to a single teacher and 12 students) we are exposed to fresh ideas and perspectives (and vice versa).

• Teachers would be expected to do more
With current high school students growing up in this wired age, I think teachers will increasingly direct their students toward Internet assignments/research. The days in which somber lecturing about history sufficed are long over—it is time that history teachers catch up with the times.

• Syllabi
The syllabi finder at the Center for History and the New Media is an intriguing resource. It allows teachers/professors to view what their colleagues are doing and further develop their curriculum.

There’s much that’s been done; however, we still have a way to go…