TEACHING THE VIRTUAL PAST
Experimenting with Technology in the Undergraduate History Classroom
Online presentation with Prezi and student videos
Facebook is just one venue where students can actively present and discuss their ideas. Another social media tool that I have used with great satisfaction is "Instant Chat." Whether they prefer Google Chat, Facebook, or any other tool, with instant messaging, everyone in the class has the chance to explore their ideas in a relaxed and intimate fashion, before coming to class. In addition to these resources, students have also taken advantage of other applications such as YouTube and Vimeo to show off their resarch, writing, and analytical and technical skills. While some students are unaccustomed to social media, others have reported that using these tools helps them to organize their thoughts differently and thus come to unexpected and welcome conclusions.
The above image highlights a transcript taken from an instant chat (IM) that four students in my 100-level course, "Japanese Histories" completed and e-mailed to me before class. The chat was about an academic article assigned on the popular history of Japanese earthquakes for homework. All students were expected to read the article and participate in a minimum 20-minute chat about the article's main points. The chats allow all students to have their ideas and voices heard by the professor in a more relaxed context. Meanwhile, they allow the professor to identify strengths and weaknesses in the students' understanding before we have even had our first in-class discussion on the new material.
This hypothetical radio show was produced by three seniors during their last semester in college. Highly creative, the students used the "talk show" to showcase their understanding of Edward Said's Orientalism as applied to the U.S. encounter with Japan during the mid-19th century. (Incidentally, they added pictures to their discussion, thus presening a mini video to complement their oral analysis).
Similar to the example to the left, the First Year students also created a multimedia presentation, saved it online, and provided a link to their peers on the course Facebook page. In addition to presenting their research findings, the students were also able to share with the class their technical skills navigating the online presentation application Prezi. Unique to this presentation is the students' incorporation of graphical maps, archival images, and even a few flash videos of themselves discussing their research.
Students in my First Year Seminar created this powerpoint presentation on the "Japanese Family." Included in their presentation is a voiced narrative that elaborates on the various images and ideas on each slide. In addition to adding their voices, the students converted the presentation into a video, uploaded it on YouTube, and posted a link to the YouTube file on the class Facebook page. Again, using various social media applications, we were able to "flip" the class, starting much of the research and preliminary discussions for homework beyond the classroom.
More Social Media, IN and BEYOND the Classroom
YouTube video with oral PowerPoint presentation
Instant Chat
