First Set of Presentations

I just wanted to quickly say that I was very impressed with all of the projects that were presented on 12/10.  I know that this assignment was challenging because it involved combining history with new types of technology that I was not very comfortable with at first.  I think that many of us were in the same boat.  I couldn’t help but notice the stories of struggles that each of us faced on our journey to completing this project.  It was great to see how proud each person was as they presented the product of their hard work.  I know that we all have more to do before each project is perfected, but it seems as though we are all well on our way.  I wish everyone the best of luck as they continue to edit and add to their work in the attempt to get it “just right.”

Response to week 12 readings

As an educator I haven’t spent that much time worrying about copyright laws, but I guess I should.  I found chapter 7 of the Digital History book to be interesting and informative.  I was unsure what the “public domain” meant, but now I understand that it means these items are free of copyright restrictions.  I also liked the advice to look for a royalty free version of an image/document before just paying money to Corbis.  In trying to decide what material is in the public domain and what is copyrighted, I thought the chart in the book explained this well. 

The idea of “fair use” still seems a bit confusing to me because there aren’t any hard and fast rules in this area.  I guess I always thought that if I was only using a part of a document or a chapter of a book in the classroom, then I was okay.  But Digital History points out that if I am using this year after year, then that may be a different story and it might not fall under fair use. 

I also found chapter 8 of Digital History to be interesting, but also scary.  I never spent that much time considering the idea that information in a digital format may not be accessible one day.  I should think about this b/c I have several really old floppy disks from when I was a little kid and I can’t find a computer equipt to read them.  The advice of saving documents/images in different ways does seem helpful, but I don’t know what some of these formats are (like ASCII or Unicode.)

After reading the plagarism case involving a CCSU student, I think I may bring this in for my students in high school.  They don’t seem to realize that plagarism is a very serious matter and can have a real effect on your life.  I don’t think anyone will know for sure who copied who in this case b/c the dates on the digital files can be changed.  I wonder if they did find out that the female was guilty of plagarism, what would happen to her??

Rethinking Museums

The readings for this week focused around the idea of the public being able to tag and label electronic museum exhibits.  There were some who were proponents of the idea because they feel it will get the public more involved with the museums and will pique the public’s interest.  This could in turn lead to an increase in the number of visitors to the museum.  On the contrary, those opposed to allowing the public to tag and label online museum exhibits seemed to worry that it would take away from the respectability of the curator.  Afterall, it is the curator who has the training to carry out these professional duties.  Opponents actually feel this type of open access tagging could lead people to lose trust in what museums are displaying. 

I guess I fall somewhere in between.  I think it would be a neat project for my students to have to research and label images that are part of an online museum exhibit that correlates to a unit we are studying.  I can understand how this  might get more people interested in what museums have to offer.  It would also be interesting to be able to blog back and forth about the labels and tags people choose to post.  I also think there needs to be a clear distinction between what the curator posts and what the public is writing.  I’m not sure exactly how this could be set up, but it would be interesting to have the two types of labels be completely separate so that once a student, or a member of the public is done tagging the images, they could then find out what the actual curator had to say about them.  I think this would be a great interactive type of activity for high school students. 

So much these days is becoming open source on the web.  I don’t think that museums should abandon the idea of allowing the public to tag their exhibits, but I do think there needs to checks put in place so that the viewing public can see what the curator has to say versus what the amateur has to say about an item.

Our Class Discussion about Libraries

How do we get more people to public libraries????  I don’t really know the answer to this.  I guess they could host events.  But the question came up in class as to whether this would really get more people to use the library for its intended purpose?  And on top of that, as Hunter said, these are really tough economic times and the funding for libraries is being cut.  Can libraries really afford to  hold events to attract people?

Week 8 Comments-late but better than never :)

I’m sorry this post is late, but this past week was a bit crazy for me.  I have to say that I found the readings for this week to be a bit dry.  Electronic libraries…I think they can be useful but it will take a while to work out all of the kinks and I don’t know that I would be comfortable with regular libraries disappearing.  For one, I like having the actual book or document in my hand.  I think it is important to be able see the markings and notes that are on these works.  When these documents are scanned into a computer and digitized, much of this detail can be lost.  Afterall, when digitizing material, it doesn’t always appear as clear as the real thing.  It is also expensive to digitize all of these works.  I agree with the sentiment in Cohen and Rosenzweig that the library or organization that is considering digitizing needs to weigh the cost of doing so against the number of people who will be serviced and how much it will benefit the organization/library.  But, let’s be honest, libraries are not popular with younger generations.  They would prefer to hop online and find a quick answer to a question.  Some of the students I teach have not stepped foot in a public town library and they are lost when trying to use the dewey decimal system at the school library.  I had a student the other day seem very surprised at the fact that public libraries have computers that the public can use.  If libraries are going to make it, they need to find a way to attract people to them by having more community events.  If a community event were held at the library, people may not attend it to go look at books, but the next time they need a book or need to search for information for a paper, they may say to themselves, “Oh, I can go to that place where the coffee was served, and I even know where that library is.”  Are libraries going to make it?  There is no question in my mind that University libraries will NOT go away because they are so necessary for students to survive, especially during midterms and finals.  But small town libraries…well they are used by adults and children, but I don’t know that teens even realize they exist.  Small public libraries need to find a way to spice things up and attract more of the community.

Reaction to Digital History – Website How To!

I found the information in Digital History to be interesting and pretty helpful.  While I still an unsure of how to go about creating a website, at least now I know what to watch out for when it comes to style.  I liked how the book gave recommendations on different programs that can be purchased to aid in creating websites.  I especially liked how there was an approximate cost listed for each product (and I was surprised by the rather large educational discount.)  One of the websites that is mentioned and praised for its use of Flash, I have used in teaching.  The National Geographic Remembering Pearl Harbor is an interesting site that combines flash with maps, and interviews with people who were at Pearl Harbor when the destruction occurred.  My students usually find it interesting and informative as well. 

As I was reading chapter 4, I kept comparing what was said about website design to what I know about designing power points.  Many of the suggestions seem to be the same, such as:  select a font type that is readable, pick colors that don’t overwhelm or wash out the content, don’t crowd the page with lots of stuff, make sure to have links to other important slides or pages, etc.  One other comment I can agree with was the discussion over length of text on web pages.  I hear from my students all the time, “You want us to read ALL of this?”   If the website has more than a few sentences per block of text, they freak out.  But if students are given a few pages in a book to read, they don’t complain as much.  I think this is because too often websites are “dumbed down” and content is cut to make room for flashier technology.  It was nice to hear someone say not to fall into this trap.

Week 4 Response to Readings

I have never been a huge fan of Wikipedia because it has always been drilled into my head that it is such an unreliable source for information.  In the past, I never bothered to read up on how Wikipedia works.  I just assumed that because my professors and fellow colleagues didn’t trust it, that I shouldn’t either.  I would read it occasionally, but it wasn’t a source I rely upon for an answer to a question.  I found the readings this week to be interesting and eye opening.  I had no idea how or why Wikipedia was first formed and I didn’t really understand how it could or couldn’t be edited.  After reading these articles, I feel more informed on the nuts and bolts of how this ever changing encyclopedia works, but I don’t really think I will trust it anymore than I have in the past.  I was not surprised at the vast number of articles that can be found on Wikipedia, one only has to visit the site and play around a bit, before it becomes apparent that there is an article for almost anything you search for.  What I did find surprising were the small number of people who are actually employed by Wikipedia to help patrol the site.  I was also intrigued by the safeguards the site has put in place, for instance if a person edited an article more than three times in one day, they would be blocked from editing for a full day.  Despite the attempts to try and stop people from sabotaging the articles, there are always going to be some changes that are just ridiculous and done on purpose.  I even have a student who was banned from using Wikipedia because he made vulgar changes to several articles, while I have another student who admitted he does the same thing, but hasn’t been caught!  I guess the real questions are whether this site needs expert opinion, whether it can be trusted and whether one can call it an encyclopedia?  I find nothing wrong with people editing Wikipedia, and I am glad that the founders have checks in place to try and catch those who misuse this.  I think there are plenty of people out there who are experts on all sorts of topics, even though they may not be professors or hold their doctorate in that subject.  So, this is a fine way for them to express their knowledge.  But I will always take what I read on Wikipedia with a grain of salt.  As was said in one of the readings, any encyclopedia should not be the ending point for researching on a topic.  Therefore, I think it is fine to read what Wikipedia has to say, but one needs to delve further and look at other sources.

Case Study – Wk 3

For this week’s case study I chose http://historymatters.gmu.edu/  it is one website with a TON of potential and a viewer would need to put aside quite a bit of time to review everything that it encompasses.  Below I have summarized the main sections/links the site has.

The Many Pasts feature was pretty cool.  It contains primary documents in text, image, and audio about the experiences of ordinary Americans throughout U.S. history. The documents have been screened by professional historians and are accompanied by annotations that address their larger historical significance and context.  The full search feature allows you to quickly locate documents by topic, time period, or keyword.

“Making Sense of Documents” provide strategies for analyzing online primary materials, with interactive exercises and a guide to traditional and online sources.  Included are oral histories, films, maps, photos, letters, etc.

www.history has links to many websites useful for teaching US History and social studies.  They also have a list of their favorite websites at the bottom with detailed descriptions.

Digital Blackboard  This feature provides successful Web-based assignments

Reference Desk 

This feature provides annotated links to resources on standards, citing and evaluating Web sites, and understanding copyright and fair use laws as they apply to the use and creation of educational materials on the Web

Talking History    Over the past several years, History Matters has organized twenty-five online dialogues with leading historians and teachers about the the teaching of major topics in U.S. history–from early settlement to the Vietnam War. Those discussions are archived here and contain many useful teaching suggestions.

Syllabus Central    This feature provides annotated syllabi that offer creative approaches to teaching, with particular emphasis on innovative ways of organizing the U.S. Survey and integrating technology.

Students as Historians   This feature presents examples of the kinds of projects history students, from high school to graduate school, have done on the Internet. Projects range from oral histories or prose with Web links to visual essays or exhibits.

Secrets of Great History Teachers   In these interviews distinguished teachers share their strategies and techniques.

Puzzled By the Past    This is an archive of past quizes.

The website also has a link to a page that lists all the other projects affiliated with this website.

scavenger hunt wk. 3

Okay, I think #2 is at: http://www.fullbooks.com/Are-Women-People-.html and I found this by typing the search term in ” ” in google.

#3 http://books.google.com/books?id=p-gsAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA378&lpg=PA378&dq=George+washington+letter+to+timothy+pickering+about+forged+letters&source=web&ots=gKkNZcnwT6&sig=e4-XfcLYGVS0z_dwQEgzajF59Ic&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result  I found this by searching for George washington letter to timothy pickering about forged letters

#4 http://www.afroam.org/history/million/lynch/lynch.html  In google I typed in   Willie Lynch telling Virginia slave owners how to keep slaves in line.

#5  ??

#6  http://www.jstor.org/pss/2598089  found this by typing into google  “Annual Review of Information Technology Developments for Economic and Social Historians, 1993″ in The Economic History Review 

#7  www.stanford.edu/class/sts145/html/Syllabus.htm ,  www.amst.umd.edu/mini-center/amst629v.html ,  faculty.washington.edu/bkolko/games/syllabus.shtml ,  www.swarthmore.edu/SocSci/tburke1/interpret.html

These were found by typing into google: syllabi for courses that include Hamlet on the Holodeck by Janet Murray

#8  ??

#9 ??

 

That’s all I found in 30 minutes

Response to Week 3 Readings

I would like to start out by commenting on the articles we were asked to read.  I had no idea there was even a feud/debate going on about copyrights and digitizing books.  I found this to be rather interesting.  I have a tendency (as do many people) to focus on how issues will affect me personally.  I am in favor of digitizing books, but with some apprehension.  As a graduate student and a high school history teacher, my time is very limited.  While doing research, I am often annoyed at the idea of having to drive to multiple libraries or wait days for a book to be sent to me.  On top of all of that, I am only a teacher, so I cannot afford to buy all of the materials I need for graduate school and for teaching.  (And forget about asking my school district to buy anything…they barely have enough money to heat the building in the winter!)  Digitizing books would make for easier access and if they were available to be viewed for free, that would be much cheaper.  On the other hand, I do like having an actual book in my hands as I read (or at least a print out.)  I like to be able to highlight and mark up the copy and I also have numerous problems with my eyes that are aggravated by looking at a computer screen for lengthy periods of time.  I guess if books were digitized, I would end up printing out the parts I wanted to read.  As for the copyright issue, I think 14 years is plenty long enough.  Furthermore, why should pulishing companies suddenly care about the books that are “orphaned”?  They only care now b/c it affords them a way to make money, but their greediness is only getting in the way of the publics ability to learn from these works!  I liked Google Books idea of only putting snippets of information online if the books were not open to the public already.  That way we know the books are out there and what they are about and can decide if we want to borrow them from a library or purchase them.  I mean really, what is the harm in that?  It is like cataloging the books online.

As for the introduction and chapter one of Digital History, I found this book to be interesting and much more readable than last weeks book.  I liked how the introduction began with the major pros and cons of the internet.  I found that we touched on most of these topics during last week’s class, so I was not very shocked when reading the introduction.  While reading chapter one, it was kind of humorous to think about how small the internet once was.  I kept finding myself thinking back to when I was in highschool and my first few years of college (mid-late 1990s) and how I really didn’t know anything about the internet.  I was pretty clueless about email and how to search online.  It just wasn’t a part of my life, or many of my friend’s lives.  Oh how times have changed!  Now I become aggravated if my internet isn’t working for even one day.  I was surprised at finding out that Yahoo is becoming “outdated.”  I did not really realize this was happening and I guess I always thought that most search engines are created equal.  I was wrong.  After reading the Google printouts from online, I now understand more about how Google searches and why so many people depend on Google for information.  I also found that as I was reading the first chapter, I kept highlighting websites and online archives that I think will be useful for teaching purposes so I can go back to them in my spare time.