Wednesday, December 13, 2006

UNESCO World Heritage Site

I'm doing some research about Vikings which were featured in the December/January Issue of The Beaver. The UNESCO World Heritage Site actually has a really cool education section. The website itself is still being worked on a bit, but it does have links to an educational kit all about World Heritage Sites and activities you can do in the classroom. The kit is also available in French and English.

If you're doing units on heritage, community, multiculturalism, etc. this is definitely something worth checking out. And if you sign up on the UNESCO site you can get a free map!

Saturday, December 09, 2006

History Podcasts

Well we checked for a pulse and it turns out I am still here.

I've been burrowed away for a little while working through the busy Christmas rush, but I'm also working on a few new projects here. One thing that has been in the back of my mind for a little while now is creating history podcats.

Admitedly there is a lot online at this moment already in this area. A quick search on Google brought me to a few examples such as the Baseball History Podcast. There you can learn about Arky Vaughan - Yes the Arky Vaughan. It is actually a fun website for baseball junkies, and I would definetly include myself in that category.

I'm really interested in trying to get more academic history out to the general public. Professor Bob Hackett has his own website with History podcasts. Good stuff and actually a neat interview with Bob can also be found at Small World Podcast.

But by far the best History podcasts available online, and the thing that got all of this running through my head to begin with, is The Ongoing History of New Music. Even if Alan Cross got this started for Radio, it is an amazing program that every public historian could learn from. It's edgy, smart, educational, and entertaining. Check it out if you're thinking of getting into the podcast realm.

I would really like to get more professors, in particular with Canadian History, to provide their lectures for online podcasts. I was also thinking that for students busy running around or going to the gym could listen to lectures as they go about their day. You could also create specific topic podcasts, as Bob Hackett has, so students can study specific topics.

Taking this back into the public history world this also might help individuals who are visually impaired to still have access to publications about historical topics.

We're going to do some fun stuff here...