That's the beauty of Digital History! Here is what I stumbled upon:
This particular grouping of sources is called "Say it Plain. Say it Loud." It is a collection of important speeches made by African-Americans over the last century. Booker T. Washington to President Barack Obama. It includes sound clips that you can embed and photographs....and full transcripts of some of the most important speeches of the century! The visual/audio presentation really does make you want to keep looking!
The second digital history I chose is one on the civil war. The variety of documents here is really impressive. Take a look around :) This archive has something for everyone. It is fairly easy to navigate and leads you directly to some really neat things!
This last one I really encourage you to look at. This is very close to my home. The photographs in this collection are haunting. They not only show the prosperity Detroit once had, but also the horrible state of disrepair it is in today. The auto industry was the beating heart of this once thriving city. That's where this photograph comes from.
Just like the Chrysler commercial that aired during the Super Bowl last year, everyone has an opinion of Detroit. And for history buffs, Detroit has it all--Native Americans, Industry-we're talking cars, logging, furniture, Wilderness and settlers, Civil Rights activism and more recently, a lot of crime and decay.... It isn't difficult to market Detroit. Everyone seems interested. Perhaps the benefit of studying Detroit is to prevent it from happening where YOU are from.
Articles!! (I'll make this short and sweet!)
What I liked? He says that using video to present less enthralling material may keep your audience awake.... AGREED! :)
And I'm not sure if this fits the assignment, but it's really rather interesting. Games such as Civilization III used to help students understand retain some of the historical narrative? I suppose so.... thoughts?
Sorry this was so wordy. I'll try to shorten it up next time!
I found all your digital histories interesting. I think gaming is a excellent way to teach history as long as those that are writing the programs are knowledgeable and can speak to the issue with authority.
ReplyDeleteGreat sites! It was hard to look at the photos of Detroit. I forgot to mention last class that my father is from Saginaw...so our family has a lot of love for anything Michigan!
ReplyDeleteAlso, your first article makes me wonder about the technology field ...are they designing tools for the humanities faster than we are accepting them into our own field/studies??
I think games like Civilization certainly give students an appreciation of what it took to create a thriving community and a sense of a general historical context. I don't see them being particularly useful beyond that. I worry that they'll spread too much disinformation . . . like historical movies and TV shows.
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of using games, like Civilization, to spur interest in a topic. I also love historical fiction, despite how taboo it might be, mainly because it gets the ball rolling on a new topic in history for me. I think it can be used to springboard someone into further research to get the factual account versus the fictionalized account. I think this same mode of thinking applies to games. As stated in the article, if anything, games will make history 'relevant' to a new generation.
ReplyDelete:-D As a proponent of Civilization (and Age of Empires) in history, I give you two thumbs way up! I actually wrote my admissions essay on the benefits of gaming. When I mentioned to a class I TA'ed for in undergrad that I encourage history-based games, they all threw out "Oregon Trail" which I have since played and agree: awesome. Fun and educational. :-D
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