For this digital history project, I propose to discuss an extension of a research paper I wrote last semester for my Senior Seminar class on the Holocaust. I wrote a paper that discussed the reception of David S. Wyman's controversial book The Abandonment of the Jews: America and the Holocaust, 1941-1945. This book proposed a series of twelve steps that the United States could have taken to rescue the several hundred thousands of Europe's Jews during the Holocaust. The twelve steps include: 1. create a War Refugee Board in 1942, rather than wait until January, 1944; 2. pressure or negotiate with the Germans to release Jews; 3. pressure the Axis satellites to release Jews; 4. provide European havens and aid to released Jews; 5. locate havens outside of Europe for the Jews; 6. provide shipping to transfer Jews to havens; 7. encourage and assist Jews to escape; 8. provide large sums of money for these purposes; 9. provide medical supplies and food to victims in the camps; 10. pressure allied and neutral countries to assist Jews; 11. bomb Auschwitz and the rail lines leading to it; and 12. disseminate publicity about the Holocaust, threatening the German leaders, and warning the victims.
I discussed three prominent Holocaust historians' opinions, reviews, and subsequent books they wrote about the steps Wyman devised to save Europe's Jews, including Henry L. Feingold, Michael R. Marrus, and William D. Rubinstein. These scholars had very harsh opinions about Wyman's ideas and research. Many of them believed that Wyman's ideas were not feasible to implement at the time of the Holocaust and that he did not account for what the victims of the Holocaust were capable of doing to try to save themselves. But there were also many positives written about Wyman's book including the use of his extensive research to open the door for a brand new topic concerning the Holocaust to be discussed. This spurred a great debate among Holocaust historians to examine which was very important and only began since his book was published in 1984.
I would also expand my research by discussing some other famous Holocaust historians who were just as harsh on Wyman as other scholars were that I did not discuss in my paper such as Lucy S. Dawidowicz, Kitchen, and any others that I may find useful for this original research project.
One online resource that I used which was very helpful during my research was the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum website which has a wide range of areas to examine all areas of the Holocaust. Much of my information directed me towards books and journal articles the Holocaust historians wrote about David S. Wyman's controversial 1984 book. I would like to use any images or text that I find on this website to help strengthen my argument that the reception of David S. Wyman's book were mixed and highly controversial, but brought about a brand new debate that is very much apart of our growing history since the Holocaust roughly ended 65 years ago.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Web Review 1
Federal Resources for Educational Excellence: History and Social Studies, http://free.ed.gov/HandSS.cfm. Created and maintained by the U.S. Department of Education. Reviewed Sunday May 31.
This site is very easy to navigate based on content with a wide array of topics ranging from U.S. to World History. There are over 600 resources to explore on U.S. History alone, divided by time period and topic, including Business & Work, Ethnic Groups, Famous People, Government, Movements, States & Regions, Wars, and Other Social Studies. The websites have large collections of primary sources from the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian, the National Archives and Records Administration, and many universities. Most of the websites have primary source archives and virtual exhibits, but many offer lesson plans and ready-made student activities, including some that can be found on EDSITEment.
It is a very clear and easy format for all users to navigate and access the various facets of this website. An easy way to navigate the website is by going to the Subject Map page, which breaks down the resources into sub-topics, such as African-Americans, various time periods in U.S. History from 1607-present day, and even Natural Disasters. There is also a search box available to type in key words for viewers to find what he/she is looking for even faster.
The creators made this website very unique in its design. After each resource, there is a brief annotation that offers a description of the website a viewer is about to explore and this facilitates quick browsing. Everything is laid out on the main page for the viewer to skim and find exactly what he/she is looking for. When a viewer has chosen a topic to examine, below the description of the next site the viewer can click on to read, it also lists where else the information can be found on FREE. For example, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt can be found under three separate areas: Leaders, the time period 1865-1920: Modern America, and also under the time period 1914-1945: World Wars.
The content of this website regarding its scholarship is sound and current. This website mainly gives its audience members all viewpoints on every issue in History. It does not exclude any obscure or unheard of viewpoints, which opens up the minds of the viewers to alternative History and what is good, accurate History that teachers must get across to their students. This website does not have a specific viewpoint or argument about anything in History but it tries to present all viewpoints and arguments accurately with scholarship and evidence to back everything up. It also gives readers the ability to thoroughly analyze any topic they read
This site provides links to other sites, such as the Library of Congress, for additional information about U.S. History and Social Studies topics ranging from the founding of the United States of America to current cases being examined in the Supreme Court. This site is unlike many others in that it points the audience, whether it be a scholar, teacher or student, in the right direction about any topic they desire to read. Many books provide readers with a list of other resources to find additional information about a topic but this website does it in a more interactive way. Students and teachers can learn much about History from the Federal Resources for Educational Excellence website as it provides them with information that goes beyond looking at primary documents. Photographs, film clips, and even animations from PBS series and others are also available to view via FREE which is very useful for its intended audience.
This site's audience is mainly geared toward teachers and students as it offers lesson plans that teachers can use in their classrooms to instruct their students about any historical topic, such as the Constitution. From the Library of Congress, students can explore George Washington's first draft of the Constitution and compare it to Thomas Jefferson's original draft of the Declaration of Independence to his final draft as well as many other topics.
This site is very easy to navigate based on content with a wide array of topics ranging from U.S. to World History. There are over 600 resources to explore on U.S. History alone, divided by time period and topic, including Business & Work, Ethnic Groups, Famous People, Government, Movements, States & Regions, Wars, and Other Social Studies. The websites have large collections of primary sources from the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian, the National Archives and Records Administration, and many universities. Most of the websites have primary source archives and virtual exhibits, but many offer lesson plans and ready-made student activities, including some that can be found on EDSITEment.
It is a very clear and easy format for all users to navigate and access the various facets of this website. An easy way to navigate the website is by going to the Subject Map page, which breaks down the resources into sub-topics, such as African-Americans, various time periods in U.S. History from 1607-present day, and even Natural Disasters. There is also a search box available to type in key words for viewers to find what he/she is looking for even faster.
The creators made this website very unique in its design. After each resource, there is a brief annotation that offers a description of the website a viewer is about to explore and this facilitates quick browsing. Everything is laid out on the main page for the viewer to skim and find exactly what he/she is looking for. When a viewer has chosen a topic to examine, below the description of the next site the viewer can click on to read, it also lists where else the information can be found on FREE. For example, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt can be found under three separate areas: Leaders, the time period 1865-1920: Modern America, and also under the time period 1914-1945: World Wars.
The content of this website regarding its scholarship is sound and current. This website mainly gives its audience members all viewpoints on every issue in History. It does not exclude any obscure or unheard of viewpoints, which opens up the minds of the viewers to alternative History and what is good, accurate History that teachers must get across to their students. This website does not have a specific viewpoint or argument about anything in History but it tries to present all viewpoints and arguments accurately with scholarship and evidence to back everything up. It also gives readers the ability to thoroughly analyze any topic they read
This site provides links to other sites, such as the Library of Congress, for additional information about U.S. History and Social Studies topics ranging from the founding of the United States of America to current cases being examined in the Supreme Court. This site is unlike many others in that it points the audience, whether it be a scholar, teacher or student, in the right direction about any topic they desire to read. Many books provide readers with a list of other resources to find additional information about a topic but this website does it in a more interactive way. Students and teachers can learn much about History from the Federal Resources for Educational Excellence website as it provides them with information that goes beyond looking at primary documents. Photographs, film clips, and even animations from PBS series and others are also available to view via FREE which is very useful for its intended audience.
This site's audience is mainly geared toward teachers and students as it offers lesson plans that teachers can use in their classrooms to instruct their students about any historical topic, such as the Constitution. From the Library of Congress, students can explore George Washington's first draft of the Constitution and compare it to Thomas Jefferson's original draft of the Declaration of Independence to his final draft as well as many other topics.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Defining Digital History
I have very little digital expertise. I would say that I have a beginner level or average level of digital expertise. When it comes to computers and doing research on them, I am not very good at finding information. I prefer to use books and reading the material in a fashion that I am much more familiar with. Also, I can trust that information and not have to question whether it is factual or not from Internet sources without doing a background check on the author. But I do approve of the use of online journals which is so easy to use and locate older editions in a journal's archives collections.
I can do very basic functions on a computer and I am always learning about new websites and what their purposes are. I have learned about a few new websites from going to school, especially when I took Integrating Technology Across the Curriculum but I still do not see what the purposes of using some of those websites are in the classroom. I personally like using technology in the classroom but since I am not a tech savvy person I feel I can not use more complex types of technology beyond power point and doing web searches or quests which get boring for students and teachers alike after a while.
Out of this course, I want to get a better understanding of what digital history is, besides a simple definition, and what the many facets of it are. I would also like to understand more about what the debate of digital history is and why it is so important for some scholars to discuss. I honestly do not understand the hype about digital history besides the fact that much of history is being stored on the internet and books are becoming obsolete, which I find sad. There is nothing like picking up a good book and physically reading it versus reading it on a computer screen, especially when it is about historical events, people, places, etc. during history.
I think it is important for me to understand not just the basics of digital history, but what I can get out of it. I would like to be more convinced that technology is important to use in the classroom and why there is such a need for digital history. I am much more of a traditionalist and I would like to have students to get back into doing research the old fashioned way through going to the library or media center and picking up a book they found using the card catalogue system. I do think the Internet is a great quick source for an answer to a question but for doing extensive research, it can be used as a secondary or tertiary source but not as a primary source, especially if it a large project or research paper.
I also think that from this course I can get an understanding of how to do digital history. I want to know how to create digital history by completing the culminating project and have a better idea of how I can do digital history on my own, especially to benefit students in my future classroom. Maybe I will be able to incorporate digital history into my classroom when I am student teaching in the fall too.
I can do very basic functions on a computer and I am always learning about new websites and what their purposes are. I have learned about a few new websites from going to school, especially when I took Integrating Technology Across the Curriculum but I still do not see what the purposes of using some of those websites are in the classroom. I personally like using technology in the classroom but since I am not a tech savvy person I feel I can not use more complex types of technology beyond power point and doing web searches or quests which get boring for students and teachers alike after a while.
Out of this course, I want to get a better understanding of what digital history is, besides a simple definition, and what the many facets of it are. I would also like to understand more about what the debate of digital history is and why it is so important for some scholars to discuss. I honestly do not understand the hype about digital history besides the fact that much of history is being stored on the internet and books are becoming obsolete, which I find sad. There is nothing like picking up a good book and physically reading it versus reading it on a computer screen, especially when it is about historical events, people, places, etc. during history.
I think it is important for me to understand not just the basics of digital history, but what I can get out of it. I would like to be more convinced that technology is important to use in the classroom and why there is such a need for digital history. I am much more of a traditionalist and I would like to have students to get back into doing research the old fashioned way through going to the library or media center and picking up a book they found using the card catalogue system. I do think the Internet is a great quick source for an answer to a question but for doing extensive research, it can be used as a secondary or tertiary source but not as a primary source, especially if it a large project or research paper.
I also think that from this course I can get an understanding of how to do digital history. I want to know how to create digital history by completing the culminating project and have a better idea of how I can do digital history on my own, especially to benefit students in my future classroom. Maybe I will be able to incorporate digital history into my classroom when I am student teaching in the fall too.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)