The Teaching History with Technology Newsletter
(Winter 2008)

The THWT Newsletter offers resources, lesson plans, and tech tips to help history and social studies teachers incorporate technology effectively into their courses. To subscribe to this newsletter click the Membership link at the top of this page.

The THWT newsletter is produced by Tom Daccord and Justin Reich. Tom is a veteran history teacher and an academic technology specialist for the Humanities. Mr. Daccord has been featured in the Boston Globe ("Making Tech Connect" December 29, 2003) for his contributions to teaching with technology. Justin is a doctoral student at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. His editorials on school life and technology have been featured in the Providence Journal, the Worcester Telegram and Gazette and the Christian Science Monitor. Together they direct the Center for Teaching History With Technology, which publishes the Best of History Web Sites and Teaching Literature & Writing With Technology.

In this edition:

• Summer Workshop Series
• Best of History Web Sites Now in Print!
• New Partnership with CHOICES
• New Web Sites for Teachers

 

Center for Teaching History with Technology announces our 2008 Summer Workshops for Teachers!

This year we are pleased to offer three teaching workshops in Boston.

New for this year, we are offering Teaching with Web 2.0, a workshop for teachers from all disciplines and academic technology specialists who want to delve into the incredible opportunities presented by new Web 2.0 services and technologies. We'll cover some of the most popular topics like blogs, wikis and podcasts, but we'll also look into some of the most exciting emerging services, like Tumblr and Voicethread. The workshop will be offered from June 24-26, and professional development credits will be available. Click here to learn more about Teaching with Web 2.0.

For the six year, we will offer Teaching History with Technology, and once again this year we will hold the workshop in the beautiful new computer labs at the Noble and Greenough School in Dedham, MA. This three day workshop will focus on finding the best history resources on the Web, finding the best lesson plans, teaching resources, and templates on the Web, and then putting those tools to use in the classroom. The workshop will be offered from July 7-9, and professional development credits will be available. Click here to learn more about Teaching History with Technology.

This year we will once again offer Teaching English and Language Arts with Technology with technology expert and veteran English teacher Carla Beard. This three day seminar will introduce English and Language Arts teachers to the best resources available on the Web for teaching grammar, literature and poetry. Tom and Carla will also help teachers find the best teaching tools, lesson plans, and templates and then allow time for teachers to begin developing their own lesson plans with technology integration. This seminar will also have a special focus on using word processors to teach writing and grade essays. The workshop will be offered in Dedham, MA from June 14-16, and professional development credits will be available. Click here to learn more about Teaching English and Language Arts with Technology.

 

Best of History Web Sites Now in Print

The Best of History Web Sites is a print compilation of the Web resources and annotations from our Best of History Web Sites (www.besthistorysites.net), and it also includes two introductory chapters on tips for locating the best resources on the Web and integrating them into the history classroom. The book is now available from Neal-Schuman press sometime this fall, and can be purchased from Amazon.com!

Also our previously annouched guide for teachers has been expanded to include examples from all the subject disciplines, and our book will be titled Classroom Tested Ideas for Teaching with Technology and should be available this summer from from M.E. Sharpe press. The book is organized around the kinds of activities teachers do, with chapters on Lectures, Discussion and Communication, Note-Taking, Guided Inquiry, Open Research, Homework, Writing, Student Presentations, Grading and Assessment, and Class Management.. Be on the look out for sample chapters, coming soon!

 

New Partnership with the CHOICES program

The Center for Teaching History with Technology is pleased to announce a new partnership with the CHOICES program from Brown University's Watson Institute. Our History Today page will now be produced by the educators at CHOICES, and it will provide online curriculum materials and ideas to connect the content of the classroom to the headlines in the news. For each of the major issues of the day, from environmental challenges to the threat from terrorism, History Today provides lesson plans, background information and supplementary materials for the classroom.

Click Here to visit the History Today page with CHOICES.

 

Five Great New Web Sites for History Teachers and Researchers

1. Frontline: On Our Watch
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/darfur/

PBS Frontline examines the crisis in Darfur and asks why the United Nations and its members have failed to stop the slaughter. One can watch the entire program online as well as read the transcript of interviews of various officials and experts on the topic. The site offers a detailed timeline, a map, recommended resources as well as analysis from various journalists and authors. Frontline puts special focus on China's role in the region and the actions of select UN member nations.

2. The Holt, Rinehart and Winston Social Studies Home Page
http://go.hrw.com/gopages/ss-gy.html

The Holt, Rinehart and Winston Social Studies Home Page is full of free resources helpful to teachers and students of American History, Geography, World History, Government & Civics, Psychology and Sociology, and Economics.  The subject resources are organized by units in Holt's respective textbooks and feature online quizzes, activities, research links, an atlas, and more. The Holt Researcher helps one research select topics in American History, World History, and Economy and Government. Search results include encyclopedic entries, maps, and charts.

3. The Traveler IQ Challenge
http://www.travelpod.com/traveler-iq

The Traveler IQ Challenge is a fun online geography game that tests your knowledge of various places in the world. Among the topics are World, Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America, and USA Challenge. You need to reach a predetermined score within a set time frame to advance to the next level of the game. So, move fast! Whether you want to test your own travel knowledge or those of your students, the Traveler IQ Challenge is an engaging option.

4. Early American History
http://www.common-place.org/vol-08/no-01/kulikoff/

Allan Kulikoff, Professor in the Humanities at the University of Georgia, wrote this piece for Common Place about his quest to compile a list of free, Web-based primary sources on early America (extended to 1877). The sites he details will be of special interest to all those who teach early American history and culture. As part of the essay Professor Kulikoff attempts to explain what digitized primary sources tell us about history
and memory.

5. Bridging World History
http://www.learner.org/channel/courses/worldhistory/

Bridging World History is a complete teaching unit offered by Annenberg Media. It includes 26 themes and features videos, an audio glossary,  and a thematic timeline.  The unit traces the history of several faiths, including Shinto, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, Confucianism, Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, and Greek thought. You can download select readings, bibliography, activities, and more. In addition, their Archive features a database of over 1500 images and maps.