Intro
Students often enter history classrooms with preconceived notions about the nature of history—”its about facts”—and the function of history classes—”its about memorizing facts.” With the advent of the web in the 1990s word began circulating that this new medium may prove useful for helping to transform the history classroom. Granted, many detractors voiced concern and as the web became more popular, staunch resistance surfaced. However, hopes grew as historians began experimenting with the web and online resources. Now, almost a decade later, the question remains: Has the web lived up to its promises for transforming the history classroom? This panel presentation shares my preliminary excursions into researching this question in the realm of the college classroom and grappling with the various consequences of new media on history pedagogy.
Research Question
The motivating question in my research: Has new media begun to transform history pedagogy in the college classroom?
My preliminary hypothesis: The web provides key tools that used in conjunction with constructivist pedagogical methods transforms traditional history pedagogy and equips history educators to challenge students to move from mere consumers of historical information to creators of content knowledge.
Research Method/ Organization
The question I pose here is considerable, and one only adequately answered after much surveying and researching. As such, this presentation marks my efforts to lay the groundwork for this broader study and to gather feedback from others who may also be interested in this question. This website is divided into three main sections.
Framework reviews many of the promises offered in the 1990s as to the web’s possibilities—and its downfalls.
Interviews consists of selections from three audio interviews I conducted with history educators who have engaged with the medium over the last decade and in a way that has caused them to rethink how they present history to their students. They weigh in on how digital media has changed (or not) over the last decade and how it has challenged their thoughts about history, their methods of teaching history, and their students’ engagement with history.
Conclusions offers my preliminary thoughts on what these interviews suggest about how much the web is affecting the way history is presented in the classroom. It discusses some of the reasons why so few historians have yet to grapple with this in their own classrooms and suggests possible trends for the future. In the spirit of collaboration, these thoughts are presented as laying the necessary groundwork engaging with this issue on a deeper level and I eagerly encourage comments and questions.