Making History Relevant to the Lives of Young People
Connecting content, pedagogy, and technology
The main idea I kept in my head while exploring this particular problem of practice was that ALL of my students are different and technology is uncertain on any given day. First, with my students, I need to have a variety of ideas to use based on their individual learning styles and preferences. I also chose to explore broad concepts of high tech/low tech versions of learning activities so that I can tailor to the needs of a particular class or individual. Because they are so diverse and so unique, there is not ONE approach that will work across the board. The best solution for me to any given problem I have is to have multiple possibilities of solutions that I can cater to each context I am dealing with.
Content is something that will stay relatively constant for me. History is history...you can't change the past!! I can change what specific details I go into, depending on the particular context, but the information (for the most part) stays the same. But, technology and pedagogy are ever evolving concepts, no matter what I am teaching.
Availability of technology is going to make a major impact on my pedagogy. If I teach US History 3rd hour, the same hour as the online class, I will not be able to use any student-web interaction activities for that hour. But if I also have a US History class 5th hour, I might be able to use the web more with those students. Also, whether or not the computer lab is being used by another teacher on any given day (regardless of if they signed up for it!!) will affect what types of technology I can use.
The group of students I have each hour is also going to impact both pedagogy and technology. If they are more low-level students, I will employ more low-tech strategies that are simpler to understand. For instance, the third strategy of seeking to understand global perspectives may be too complex of thinking for those with severe learning disabilities or other issues. Also, my students maturity level will dictate whether or not I want to take them to the computer lab with the risks of surfing the web for noneducational purposes.
The most important lesson I can take from this project is that I have to remain adaptable, given my particular context. Resources that can be adapted in low and high tech ways are crucial for my classroom. I will still use my PowerPoint to introduce the topic and touch on the emotional side of that day, but now I have additional strategies to build on the information and take it to a higher level of thinking. In the future, I will explore using these various strategies and technologies (through trial and error) to see what combination works best for different students.
Content is something that will stay relatively constant for me. History is history...you can't change the past!! I can change what specific details I go into, depending on the particular context, but the information (for the most part) stays the same. But, technology and pedagogy are ever evolving concepts, no matter what I am teaching.
Availability of technology is going to make a major impact on my pedagogy. If I teach US History 3rd hour, the same hour as the online class, I will not be able to use any student-web interaction activities for that hour. But if I also have a US History class 5th hour, I might be able to use the web more with those students. Also, whether or not the computer lab is being used by another teacher on any given day (regardless of if they signed up for it!!) will affect what types of technology I can use.
The group of students I have each hour is also going to impact both pedagogy and technology. If they are more low-level students, I will employ more low-tech strategies that are simpler to understand. For instance, the third strategy of seeking to understand global perspectives may be too complex of thinking for those with severe learning disabilities or other issues. Also, my students maturity level will dictate whether or not I want to take them to the computer lab with the risks of surfing the web for noneducational purposes.
The most important lesson I can take from this project is that I have to remain adaptable, given my particular context. Resources that can be adapted in low and high tech ways are crucial for my classroom. I will still use my PowerPoint to introduce the topic and touch on the emotional side of that day, but now I have additional strategies to build on the information and take it to a higher level of thinking. In the future, I will explore using these various strategies and technologies (through trial and error) to see what combination works best for different students.
