Let’s play a word association game. What do you think of when you hear the word history? Do you think significant and powerful or do you think boring and useless? For me, I agree with the former, but for many people, they agree with the latter. Most people I have encountered loathed history because they “found it completely uninteresting, dry, irrelevant, and quite frankly…boring” (“28 Tech Tools to Bring Out the Story in History,” n.d.). I can’t say that I blame them; it can be very boring, especially in the way that it was and continues to be taught. Luckily for me, I had my dad that helped me see the power and relevance in history, but so many people have not had that opportunity. But this is starting to change as more technology is integrated into the history classroom, making the subject more relevant, authentic, and engaging.
Prior to the use of technology in the classroom, history teachers primarily relied on one resource: the textbook. Textbooks are secondary sources that are known to be boring, overly generalized, and written in one perspective so its no wonder that students find them uninteresting. Technology now allows students to truly engage with the stories of history through the increased access to primary resources, the actual documents, artifacts, and writing from the past. “[Primary] resources give students an up-close view of life in the past” (Roblyer, 2016). With technological tools like the World Digital Literacy Project, Primary Access, and Library of Congres with Flickr, students are able to access a wide variety of resources, which expands and challenge their understanding of history (“28 Tech Tools to Bring Out the Story in History,” n.d.). The best part is that these resources do not need to be purchased or updated every five years like a printed textbook.
It is no surprise that the lack of funding to schools has resulted in cuts, especially field trips. Unfortunately, the lack of travel for students means that they are not given a richer, more comprehensive perspective on the world around them (Roblyer, 2016). As a result, teachers have started implementing virtual field-trips, which are budget-friendly and allow an unlimited number of students to see and understand a variety of cultures, sights, and events outside their own communities (Roblyer, 2016). Technological tools that allow for virtual field trips, including Google Earth, Google Maps, Google Cardboard, etc.
Before the widespread use of technology in the history classroom, students had a passive role in the subject; they were simply asked to listen, memorize, test, repeat. Now, students can take an active role in history through digital storytelling, “the process of using images and audio to tell the stories of lives, events, or eras” (Roblyer, 2016). They can use movie-editing software, cameras, animation tools like Powtoon to create their own digital stories, which can then be shared publically online.
When done correctly, “technology and students and inquiry and history and begin to come together to form a more powerful–and authentic–whole” for students (“How Technology Changed My Social Studies Classroom,” 2015). As more technology is integrated into the history classroom, I believe that history will no longer be associated with boring, useless, and unimportant.
Bibliography
Kaitlin Morgan: Edtech Learning Log 
Kaitlin, you did a great a job of drawing the reader into this post and explaining the distinctions in the learning experience using secondary vs. primary sources. It is exiting to think about the possibilities for re-integrating primary sources and experiential learning into the history classroom. Until I started working on the social studies lesson for this course, I was having a hard time thinking about the historical connections to my focus on career and college planning. However, as I reviewed different resources, I rediscovered legislation related to career opportunities (the Equal Pay Act) that helped me to make some interesting connections. I’d like to try engaging students in research focused on primary sources more often, so they can craft their own interpretations before reading someone else’s take.
LikeLike
Kaitlyn,
I love how you mentioned virtual field trips. Virtual field trips can become even more powerful than in person, because we can stop and insert learning immediately. We can allow students to go on scavenger hunts and learn in a jigsaw format. We can provide access to parts of history they would never be able to view through paper books and classrooms. We can interact with elements from the past, the present and forms of the future with the technology available to us. History is completely enhanced with technology! I liked how you referred to their previous role as “passive” and is has now turned into “active”! Well done!
Joy
LikeLike