Virtual Bits and Bytes:
Teaching World History Online
World History Association Conference
Salem State University
June 25, 2009
Sherri West
Brookdale Community College
swest@brookdalecc.edu
Prof. Jane Scimeca:
http://ux.brookdalecc.edu/fac/history/Teaching World History Online.ppt
Washington Taps Into a Potent New
Force in Diplomacy
By MARK LANDLER and BRIAN STELTER
Published: June 16, 2009
“This was just a call to say: ‘It appears Twitter is
playing an important role at a crucial time in Iran.
Could you keep it going?’ ” said P.J. Crowley, the
assistant secretary of state for public affairs.
Tyranny's new nightmare: Twitter
Op-Ed Columnist
The Virtual Mosque
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
Published: June 16, 2009
Watching events unfolding in Tehran raises three
intriguing questions for me: Is Facebook to Iran’s
Moderate Revolution what the mosque was to
Iran’s Islamic Revolution? Is Twitter to Iranian
moderates what muezzins were to Iranian
mullahs? And, finally, is any of this good for the
Jews — particularly Israel’s prime minister, Bibi
Netanyahu?
“Those who forget history are doomed to retweet it”
Are you a Digital Dinosaur, Digital Immigrant, or Digital Native?
“I don't know how staged this was, but for decision makers who are not from the net
generation (That's still almost all of us, right?) it definitely is worth thinking about.”
Jon Dillow Doctoral Student University of Minnesota (International Listserv, 6/16/08)
http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm173/temporary1_bucket/big-mac-class.jpg
Randy Pausch’s Goal:
“The Head Fake”
“Educators best serve students by helping them to
become more self-reflective.”
“Instructors are like professional trainers. . .it’s our job to
be demanding.”
“Our job is to teach students how to see how their minds
are growing.”
Opening Videos
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Is Online Learning for You?
Online Student Testimonial from Mars
A Vision of Students Today
Shift Happens: Bringing Education into the
21st Century
• Have You Been Paying Attention?
• Why I Teach Online
• Twitter in the Classroom
Who Learns Online?
• older, transfer, first-generation students
• participate in course activities that
challenge them intellectually
• participate in discussions that enhance
their understanding of different cultures
• spend at least 10 hours per week in class
preparation
• believe the campus environment is
supportive of their academic success
National Survey of Student Engagement, 2008 Results:
http://nsse.iub.edu/NSSE_2008Results/
http://www.allmyfaves.com/main.php
Multitasking Myths
“You say multitasking like it’s a good thing”
-Multitasking saves time.
-Multitasking is as good as single-task learning.
-Multitasking is the forte of the young.
Why in academia?
-“Getting something for nothing?
-It’s cultural—too many electronic devices, too
much information, too little time.
Abate, Charles J., “You Say Multitasking Like It’s a Good Thing,”
Thought and Action, Vol. 24, Fall 2008.
Teaching Tolerance, Fall 2008:
http://www.tolerance.org/teach/magazine/features.jsp?p=0&is=4
3&ar=944
What Can World Civilizations
Do For You?
• “Survival Skill” for the 21st century
• Help you become a “global citizen”
• Give you perspective on current events
• Help you get the skills you need to
succeed in any career or academic path
What can history courses do for
you?
Young Workers: U Nd 2 Improve Ur Writing Skills
New York Times, Aug. 27, 2007
“some young employees are now guilty of the
technological equivalent of wearing flip-flops:
they are writing company e-mail as if they
were texting cellphone messages with their
thumbs.”
Mind Your Blackberry or Mind Your Manners
New York Times, June 22, 2009
• Core subjects include English,
reading or language arts, world
languages, arts, mathematics,
economics, science, geography,
history, government and civics.
• Interdisciplinary themes must be
woven into the core subjects:
• Global Awareness
• Financial, Economic, Business
and Entrepreneurial Literacy
• Civic Literacy
• Health Literacy
21st Century Skills
Future Trends in Online Learning
http://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUS
E+Quarterly/EDUCAUSEQuarterlyMa
gazineVolum/TheFutureofOnlineTeac
hingandLe/157426
Ways to “Cheatproof” your course:
1. “Virtue” – create a climate to deter
cheating.
2. “Prevention” – reduce opportunities
for cheating.
3. “Police” – develop ways to catch and
punish those that cheat.
How?
1. Secure Log-ins
2. Use several kinds of assessment
3. Use multiple, individualized
assignments
4. Use lots of student-teacher interaction
5. Take a proactive approach to
plagiarism
6. Set clear time restrictions, clear test
parameters, randomize tests
7. Use proctored testing
Collaborative Assignments
Videojournal
UTubeU
Current Events Questions -Then and Now
Wrong Wikis, Quiz Wikis
YouTube, Twitter for Quick Class Assessment
Google Your Cultural Heritage
Using Visuals
Create/Edit Podcasts
Music
Shoes and Culture
Italy’s famously boot-like
appearance might be what gave
Emad Hajjaj the idea for this
footwear-oriented world map.
Hajjaj, a cartoonist for the
Jordanian newspaper Al-Ghad,
manages to craft all major
countries and continents into
shoe-shapes – most of them
endemic to the country or
continent thus represented.
Russia, home of the galosh is made up of two brobdingnagian furry boots (one European and one Siberian, one imagines).
Canada and Greenland are similarly furry and boot-like and icy patches that together form the shape of a low boot.
South America, passionate about futbol, is decked out as a sports shoe.
Mexico and India also seem shaped like locally worn footwear.
Baja California peninsula doubles as an elongated heel, while India’s shoetip is decorated with a pompon – i.e. Sri Lanka.
The US is, of course, a cowboy boot. Alaska is cleverly represented as the nose of Canada’s left shoe
Iceland, New Zealand (perhaps a Wellington boot?), a Japanese geta, an unmatching pair representing the island of New Guinea,
divided between the independent state of Papua New Guinea (eastern half) and Irian Jaya (Indonesia’s western half).
Italy is represented by the exact same shape it has in reality…
I am not familiar with the context of this particular cartoon, so I am unaware of any political double entendre. I can only speculate
that, if such were the case, it might have something to do with the particular place of footwear in Arab social discourse. To be
struck with the sole of a shoe is the ultimate insult – hence the images, at the end of the Baathist regime, of angry Iraqis hammering
Saddam’s torn-down statue with their shoes. Hence also the practice of throwing footwear at despised dignitaries, as happened to
the former president Bush on his last visit to Iraq.
http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/, Shoe World, May 12, 2009
Teaching Module: http://www.batashoemuseum.ca/podcasts/200901/index.shtml
http://www.batashoemuseum.ca/education/
http://www.allaboutshoes.ca/en/heights_of_fashion/east_meets_west/
Shoes and Culture Assignment
• Choose a shoe type from an historic era in
your region/country.
• Post a picture/video/audio along with links.
• In your first post, summarize what you
learned about the symbolic, economic,
religious, and/or social importance of the
shoe in your culture.
• In your other posts, we’ll discuss the role
of material culture (like shoes) in reflecting
culture and work to compare yours with
others.
Earth 2100 DQ
Earth 2100
http://abcnews.go.co
m/Technology/Earth
2100
Transcript:
http://a.abcnews.c
om/images/Techn
ology/Web_Versio
n_Earth_2100_An
notated_2_6.pdf
Teaching “Earth 2100” and Copenhagen
• Use “Reports from the Field” Blogs in
online classes and web-enhanced classes.
• Focus: Reporting from region selected on
environmental problems, solutions, key
movers and shakers, policy positions at
Copenhagen.
• Final Roundtable: Conference to present
positions, solutions to contrast with those
presented at Copenhagen.
Earth 2100 and Copenhagen
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(10 pts.) Watch “Earth 2100” and submit a 2- •
page evaluation of the most pressing issues
raised. Earth 2100
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/Earth2100
Take your own ecological footprint and report
the results: http://myfootprint.org/
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(5 pts.) Select one critical evaluation on the
program from an internet search, summarize
key criticisms, then provide your opinion.
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(20 pts.) Choose one world region (or country•
in Africa, Asia, America, Europe, Middle East)
and submit 4 approx. one page “reports” on
environmental news during the semester to
the course blog, “Earth 2100.” Be sure to
provide a brief summary of the article, the
reference(s) you used, and develop a question
that would lead to discussion with others
online.
(15 pts.) Review the main areas of
discussion for the upcoming Copenhagen
Conference on the Environment, which will
be held in December. Submit a two-page
“report” that highlights your region or
country’s position on some of the key issues
at the conference. (10 pts.) After you post
your review, enter into discussion with other
reporters on the merits and demerits of their
positions. (5 pts.)
http://www.erantis.com/events/denmark/cop
enhagen/climate-conference-2009/index.htm
Ultimately we want to discuss (via the blog)
the questions:
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Will countries/regions be successful in
avoiding the worst effects highlighted in the
video, “Earth 2100.”
What actions is your region taking to make
Copenhagen a success?
If Copenhagen fails, who’s to blame?
Technical Resources
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Audacity: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
Adobe Captivate: http://www.adobe.com/devnet/captivate/
Blogger: https://www.blogger.com/start
Camtasia: http://www.techsmith.com/camtasia.asp
Common Craft: http://commoncraft.com/
Educators Using Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7036945291
Google Maps for History Teachers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nI5_x_6K-A0
Jing: http://www.jingproject.com/
Quizlet: http://quizlet.com/demo/
Snipshot: http://snipshot.com/
Softchalk: http://www.softchalk.com/
SurveyMonkey: http://www.surveymonkey.com
TeacherTube: http://www.teachertube.com/
TwHistory: http://www.twhistory.com/
Twitter: http://twitterforteachers.wetpaint.com
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
World Press Blog: http://wordpress.org/
Resources
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Ron Berk’s website: http://www.ronberk.com/index.html
7 things you should know about Second Life:
http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7038.pdf
Educause Connect: http://connect.educause.edu/
History News Network: http://hnn.us/
Best of History Websites: http://besthistorysites.net/
Center for History and New Media: http://chnm.gmu.edu/index.php
Bridging World History: http://www.learner.org/channel/courses/worldhistory/
Clickers in the Classroom:
http://www.vanderbilt.edu/cft/resources/teaching_resources/technology/crs.htm
Jeffrey Young, “Short and Sweet: Technology Shrinks the Lecture,” Chronicle of
Higher Education, Vol. 54: 41: http://chronicle.com/free/v54/i41/41a00901.htm
The Last Lecture: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo
Teaching with PowerPoints: http://www.teachingwithpowerpoint.com/
World History Connected: http://worldhistoryconnected.press.illinois.edu/
World History For Us All: http://worldhistoryforusall.sdsu.edu/default.htm
Political Cartoons:
http://www.cagle.com/politicalcartoons/pccartoons/archives/hajjaj.asp?Action=G
Resources
Digital History Reader (US and European History): http://www.dhr.history.vt.edu/about/index.html
Evaluating Webpages: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Evaluate.html
Online Map Bank: http://www.phschool.com/curriculum_support/map_bank/a_to_e.html
Strange Maps: http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/
“Twitter and the World Simulation:” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgbfMY-6giY&feature=channel
Kevin Sheets, “Wiki in the History Classroom:” AHA Perspectives, 47:5, May 2009:
http://www.historians.org/Perspectives/issues/2009/0905/0905for11.cfm
World History Since 1945: http://www.uncg.edu/~jwjones/world/index.html
Text Websites:
MyHistoryLab: http://www.myhistorylab.com/login-web-wcwh.html
Traditions and Encounters Brief: http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0073534536/student_view0/
Spodek Companion Website: http://wps.prenhall.com/hss_spodek_worldhist_3/
Brookdale TLC Center link:
http://www.brookdalecc.edu/pages/199.asp
You’ll find additional websites here:
http://ux.brookdalecc.edu/fac/history/Websites.htm
References
Abate, Charles J., “You Say Multitasking Like It’s a Good Thing,” Thought and Action, Vol. 24, Fall
2008.
Chisholm, Julie, “Pleasure and Danger in Online Teaching and Learning,” Academe Online, Nov-Dec
2006.
Kim, Kyong-Jee and Bonk, Curtis J., “The Future of Online Teaching and Learning. . .The Survey
says,” EDUCAUSE Quarterly (EQ), Vol 29, Number 4, 2006.
Hensley, Gordon, “Creating a Hybrid College Course: Instructional Design Notes and
Recommendations for Beginners,” Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, Vol. 1, No. 2, 2005.
Olt, Melissa, “Ethics and Distance Education: Strategies for Minimizing Academic Dishonesty in
Online Assessment,” Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, Vol. V, Number III, Fall
2002.
National Survey of Student Engagement, 2008 Results, http://nsse.iub.edu/NSSE_2008_Results/
Partnership for 21st Century Skills,
http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/route21/images/stories/epapers/skills_foundations_final.pdf
Pausch, Randy, The Last Lecture, Hyperion, 2008.
Rowe, Neil, “Cheating in Online Student Assessment: Beyond Plagiarism,” Online Journal of Distance
Learning Administration, Vol. VII, Number II, Fall 2004.
Teach Online, http://telr.osu.edu/teachonline/index.htm
Vess, Deborah, Ph.D., “Cleo Contemplates Her Students: Reflections on Teaching and Learning
History in the Digital Age,” http://www.usg.edu/academics/fac_dev/awards/2007/gcsu_vess.pdf