Case Statement - National Council on Public History

do. 25 years ago when I started learning about public history one of the things that frightened
and then excited me was the way that Dr. Howe taught us that we would have to learn to speak
the language of many disciplines because we could not expect them or rely on them to interpret
history. I think this is a classic lesson that stands the test of time.
Are there specific knowledge, technological skills, theory, or perspectives that…?
We think that public history training in digital history and new media must remain current,
especially with a focus on software and programs that are open source and newbie friendly.
Public historians should be educated about where to go on the Internet and through professional
organizations to find out about new sources for skills and tools. As we build a body of literature
about this field we need to identify if any articles or books that can join the canon that began
with Tilden. Students need to know about Roy Rosenzweig and his work at George Mason.
Students should also be educated about the new ethical concerns that have accompanied the
digital and technological age.
What approaches have educators found to be the most effective for teaching digital history to
their students?
Are there specific projects, assignments, or approaches that have been particularly effective in
helping students to gain competence or expertise in digital history methods?
Becky:
In the past, what has helped me organize successful class projects is to divide the class project
and its assignments into a phase-based calendar. For example, phase 1 would entail research and
learning about the technology tools to be used; phase 2 would be the experimentation and rough
editing of the project work; and phase 3 would be the concluding, revising, and polishing phase
of the project. This has required overtime the scaling back of the scope of the project and the
communication to the sponsoring partner that the completed project should still be only
considered a "prototype." I have also found it useful since beginning to scale back the project
scope to include work tasks that allow for individual grading this is helped manage student
anxiety significantly.
Insights into what you see as the greatest challenges facing educators seeking to teach students
about digital history and new media. Also, how a digital history course might or should differ
from other courses for historians.
I think hands-down the greatest challenge facing history educators across the board for the next
several decades will be overcoming the deficit in our students’ knowledge of history and their
ability to research and analyze history. 21st-century students have more information at their
fingertips than previous generations could even imagine but too few of them know how to think
analytically and write critically about history. Without those fundamental skills, history
presented digitally or through the new media will still probably be bad history. That said, with
the right kind of pedagogical scaffolding, history presented using the tools made available
through digital and new media sources, could help teach students the skills I was just moaning
that they did not have. I don't think a digital history course has to differ all that much from other
history courses unless you mean to imply or impose a strict thematic or time focus.
V. Suggestion about other topics . . .
One issue that we are dealing with and are curious if others are has to do with trying to collaborate with
our communications and technology colleagues in another college; essentially, there is an unfortunate silo