Election Fever - Apathy is Boring

Canada, as you have noticed, is in the middle of an election at the moment. And one of the best places for helping your students get involved and active is Apathy is Boring. They are a great organization that works to get young people not just voting but engaged in the political process.

What also makes this organization so terrific is the way they use technology. They are creating new ways for students to interact with politicians and to get information about platforms and policies. Why should we expect that students want to learn about politics the same way as previous generations?

They have just released a candidates guide to reaching young people. The guide was sent to candidates of all parties to help them use technology to reach and engage young people.

The guide should be mandatory reading for all candidates and their election teams. But if you go through and replace the word candidate with teacher, there is also a lot of lessons to be learned for the classroom.......

If you do only one project next year....

I know the summer is kicking in but if you happen to drift into thinking about next year here is the one project you should do in your classroom - Google SketchUp.

I'm not an expert on the program, but essentially Google SketchUp allows you to create 3d buildings which can then be placed on the map in Google Earth. Imagine in your classroom creating 3d models of your historic community.

The actual technical work of Google Sketch Up is pretty straightforward and the historical research required to recreate and measure a building would bring in lots of interesting primary sources. Imagine a well documented building with first hand accounts, letters, and documents detailing every part of the building. And best of the program to do that project is already fully functional.

Google has also posted selections from it's recent Google Sketch Up basecamp (sadly I was not drawn to participate). Spend the summer getting used to the program and then clean up at the local Heritage Fair when your students present 3d models instead of outdated power point presentations.

Speaking of History Teacher's Who Blog.....

Speaking of History is a blog/podcast out of Liberty, Missouri, run by 8th grade American History Teacher Eric Langhorst. Not only does Eric have the sharpest looking header of any blog that I've seen, it's a great set up and looks like a terrific blog. I just listened to his post on a video called Please Vote for Me, a video about democracy in China that looks amazing.

I realized with this post and on Dan McDowell's that I need to start keeping track of these great history blogs so I'm adding a new sidebar with specifically history teachers who blog. In this case they happen to also blog about using technology in the classroom, but that doesn't necessarily have to be the case.

After speaking with Vincent Massey Collegiate I'm realizing more and more how these tools are so important to professional development and keeping in touch with amazing teachers like Eric and Dan. Welcome to Canada guys!

A History Teacher - Dan McDowell

One of the best things I have had the opportunity to do since I arrived at the History Society was to sit down and interview the six recipients of the 2008 Governor General's Awards for Excellence in Teaching Canadian History. The interview is on YouTube.



I'm just working with some of the winners again right now to get their great work out to a larger audience and I read this post from Dan McDowell who blogs at www.ahistoryteacher.com out of San Diego. Dan has been nominated for teacher of the year and with good reason. I've just started reading his blog on a more regular basis and he has a faithful following. Great teachers cut to core values that I think Dan has also tapped into here.

The post just reminded me of sitting down with our GG winners last October. Great teachers and incredible people all around, can't wait to see this year's list of nominees.

Check out Sprout!

So you may have noticed a plethora of podcasts all over the blog of late. I noticed a new program called Sprout Builder care of the Sam Roberts album (Sam Roberts Rocks!). Sprout Builder is a flash device builder built using flash. It is essentially a flash what you see is what you get and it is amazingly easy to use and creates really nice finished products.

For those of you that have missed some of my past posts, I really dislike power point for being a linear thought line with little room for creativity for students. Not to mention Power Point is already on the way out - so teaching students to use it is not providing a valuable skill.

I'm still playing around with Sprout - but it would be really easy to combine video, audio, and images into a really engaging presentation. Students could also use the program to share their projects afterwards on Facebook, blogs, etc. Thus why I have been posting all my recent podcasts to my own blog.

Check out Sprout! This is easily one of the most useful and powerful programs that I've encountered.

Northwest Passage 2.0

I'm currently working on our upcoming edition of BITE: Beaver Information for Teachers and Educators, just give me a shout if you would like to subscribe. The feature article is a great piece by Ken McGoogan on the opening of the Northwest Passage, so I've been searching around for some additional information to provide background for the story.

I found a great video on YouTube from a European voyage through the passage in 2004. What is so terrific about YouTube, Flickr, and other resources is that they allow students to get a first hand perspective of far away places and histories. While these videos don't have the trumpets and drums of National Geographic, but they are a great way to add life to the classroom.

This particular YouTube video gives a good account of the conditions early explorers must have also faced: chipping ice away from the deck, snow covered ships, and mammoth icebergs. I found a lot of these videos for Expo 67 as well.

Flickr provides the same documents when exploring the beaches of Normandy, providing countless images and stories from European battlefields. These programs provide a great way to add life and cool interfaces to your classroom.

I understand why school boards often ban access to programs like YouTube, but at the end of the day they are doing a disservice to their students. Educators need new and original ideas to create engaging classroom content. These free programs will never replace teachers and chalk, but they provide unique opportunities not only for teaching, but for learning about the past.

RubiStar

One more neat program from the friendly Social Science staff at Vicent Massey Collegiate. For teachers who are only too painfully aware of the time required to make rubrics, a new free website can provide you with a quicker and more effective answer

RubiStar allows you to quickly create and edit Rubric templates for use in your class. The rubric templates are broken down into various subjects and you can adjust all of the categories.

I was going to include this in the last post but felt it needed it's own reference. Great program for the behind the scenes of teaching.

Vincent Massey Collegiate

On Monday I had the chance to visit with the Social Studies department at Vincent Massey Collegiate here in Winnipeg. They generously shared a morning discussing some of the digital history projects they were using in their classroom.

They are doing some great projects with their students that are really fun. Currently they have their own Wiki that provides students with work and project space. By using Wikispaces they are able to upload their students emails with easy passwords to get them started and track changes made to the Wiki.

Some of the other programs they are using that might be helpful in your classroom are:

1. Quizlet
• Create your own interactive quiz sheets and flashcards for test prep
  
2. Xtimeline
• Create scrollable time lines with information and dates
  
3. Bubble.us
• Awesome program to create essay and project outlines - no more doodling

They are also doing some great podcasts with visitors to the school. You can find their podcast feed at Podomatic. The most recent entry includes a speech by Stephane Dion, leader of the liberal party of Canada.

I also suggested they start blogging about these great projects so hopefully we will see them online very soon!

Voice Thread

While attending the podcasting workshop with the Learning Technologies Centre George Siemens mentioned Voice Thread as an interesting new program.

Voice Thread allows you to post individual images, movies, or presentations. You can then add your own note or audio to go with the picture. The best part is that others can then come along and post their own audio comments as well - essentially creating an audio forum.

One example I noticed had an art teacher asking a question about a piece, and then letting students post their own comments. I think this would be a really great program to help walk students through complex sections. Also a chance for an inspired teacher to explain difficult topics to students across Canada.

I put together my own quick example describing my history trip to Hecla Provincial Park in Manitoba. Feel free to post your own comment as a test just to try it out! If you set up your own Voice Thread for you class be sure to let us know.

The Story of Stuff

I was hoping to add at least one more blog entry before we break for the Holidays and fortunately I was introduced to The Story of Stuff just a day or two ago.

The Story of Stuff is an online 20 minute flash movie describing how stuff is created, produced, consumed and discarded. On the one hand I thought it would be helpful for Social Science and Geography teachers, or anyone teaching World Issues. It's an excellent video that is engaging and challenging, and would open up a host of projects inside the classroom.

Every kid in school should show this to their parents (I don't think we should have mandatory anything for students, since invariably, mandatory for kids means that it's something the parents should watch, feel guilty about not watching, and force the future to see.)

The other reason I bring this up is because I think this is a great online presentation and is a great indication of where things online are going. We recently received invites to an open house at our web developers using similar technology where they recorded each greeting and put them into a card with the information about the event - essentially it looked just like the Story of Stuff but was asking us to attend.

Very cool and would make a great project. Either way happy viewing!

Kiva: Loans that Change Lives

Kiva is a really interesting site and if you are looking for something different to do in your classroom this Holiday season, you might want to check it out. Kiva puts you in touch with small businesses and entrepreneurs in developing countries. It explains their business and the amount of money required for their loan.

Individuals then put up 25, 50, 100 or more dollars towards the cost of the project. Loan payments are then payed back over a particular schedule.

I won't say this very often on this blog - but I heard about Kiva from Oprah so it's received a certain amount of press recently. But spread the word and take a look through some of the projects. Also if you are not convinced about the power of Microcredit, read Banker to the Poor by Muhammad Yunis.

So before you hold a secret Santa in your classroom this year, think about how that $10 gift could go a lot further for someone in a developing country.

Bilaal Rajan, World Saver and Blogger Extraodinaire

Bilaal Rajan is one amazing Canadian. At age 4 he started raising funds to help earthquake survivors in India. What started with $350 dollars has grown into a host of charitable events over the years that you can read all about. In 2005 he was named Canada's UNICEF National Child Representative.

This past month he was the featured speaker at the Nova Scotia Social Science Teachers Association conference in Brookfield, NS. His work is an inspiration to thousands of Canadians, both young and old.

Why does this quality as a Digital History Education story though. Bilaal blogs on his own site, http://www.bilaalrajan.com/. If Bilaal can blog about all the work that he is doing, than surely your classroom can start a blog as well. Started this past summer, his blog follows his exploits and seeks to inspire others.

This holiday season take a few moments to read about Bilaal in your class, you never know what might be inspired.

Paul Keery's Podcast Presentation

At OHASSTA this year I had the opportunity to attend Paul Keery's presentation on Podcasting in the classroom. Paul has been at it a while now and has put together an impressive package of results. He has also generously provided a copy of his powerpoint presentation and examples of student work on his website.

I would strongly suggest taking a moment to check out his website and his material. He also has a fun classroom website going as well. One of the real benefits to these conferences is the opportunity to meet fellow educators working on digital history projects. It's great to have a real example of classroom success. I'm also adding a link to all of Paul's material on the sidebar.

Keep up the great work Paul!