This article, from the AHA's History and Technology column of the May 2007 Perspectives issue, by E. Thomas Ewing and Robert P. Stephens discusses what the Digital History Reader is, an online learning experience designed to enable students to develop the analytical skills employed by historians, which I read from their homepage. http://www.dhr.history.vt.edu/modules/us/intro/index.html. It mainly focuses on key topics presented throughout U.S. and European history. It also provides students and teachers with free peer-reviewed resources to enhance the teaching and learning of history. http://www.historians.org/Perspectives/issues/2007/0705/0705tec3.cfm
This article stated the purpose and goals of Digital History Reader, which is to push students beyond absorbing information and interpreting it for themselves. It made me think even more in depth about how the standards for Social Studies are changing drastically. I remember reading in The Record a brief article about how Bergen County was changing the requirements of its high school students and having them take at least one semester of an Introduction to Economics course. I believe that is a good idea and students should be aware of how this subject translates across to other subjects, obviously Mathematics and Social Studies. Students should be able to understand what the economy is going through right now and be able to explain in simple terms how it can be related to the Great Depression. I think it is so important for students to have a wide range of knowledge from all different subjects and not just the subjects that affect them in regards to test scores in Mathematics and Language Arts. Because of projects like Digital History Reader, students will be more diverse in their knowledge and be able to apply it to the real world. A project such as this makes students interested in Social Studies and views it as just as important as any other school subject.
The module design is very typical in that it is based around a central questions students must answer as they explore the information they are presented with. This is almost always a successful way to engage students and teachers in learning about U.S. and European history as well as any subject for that matter. This reminds me of Bloom's Taxonomy and how important it is for students to be able to achieve higher level thinking and/or learning as they sort through information provided by Digital History Reader. I like how the different sections are in stages that help the students progress in their thinking and learning, especially the Assignment section which students complete a self-evaluation, as well as the Conclusion section that help the student rethink the initial question in a different context now that they have the complete knowledge of the historical event. The Resources section also aids students who have become even more interested in the topic to perform further research which is key in developing the qualities of a good historian which is what teachers want students to become. I also like how the module asks students to a wide array of questions involving politics, the environment, labor, etc. which exposes them to many issues throughout history that they may not have learned previously.
The module design incorporates different forms of technology that students can become involved in hands on such as examining photographs, videos, and audio clips of speeches and other information. When students interact with history in a way that interests them by doing something instead of reading a 20 page historical document, that draws them in and I am a huge supporter of these ideas. In any format, the students learn the same amount of information in a non-traditional fun way which is always a plus for the teachers teaching them and the students enjoying what they are learning. This outs learning in the hands of the students and the teacher takes a more passive role, which I think is exactly what classrooms should be like when teaching any type of history course.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Web Review 3
Famous Trials
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/ftrials.htm
Created by Professor Doug Linder and maintained by the University of Missouri-Kansas City Law School.
Reviewed Sunday June 21, 2009.
Doug Linder created this website for the original purpose of providing information to his students in his Famous Trials Seminar. His purpose has clearly shifted now to high school, college, and law school instructors and students. It could also be used for scholarly purposes to research the trials to publish books. This sites provides these audience members with transcripts of the most important materials from the thirty plus trials Linder said he has selected, which can be located on the bottom of the homepage under Purpose of the Famous Trials Site.
The site in its design is simplistic but it serves its purpose of providing those viewers with the information they need to be found in a very navigable way. Linder also knows he provided much information to those viewers who can understand the more complex transcripts but accommodates to his younger viewers by providing games and fun facts that draw in middle school students. He also made it interesting for any viewer to become compelled in a wide range of trials during history, from Ancient Times including the Trial of Socrates in 399 B.C., through the present day including the 9/11 trial of Moussaoui in 2006. There is also a list of other famous trials not mentioned on the homepage that could be included in the future, with a few links, including trials from the pre-1800s, 1800-1899, 1900-1949, and 1950-the present day. Some examples include Joan of Arc, Dred Scott, Mohandas Gandhi, Brown vs. Board of Education, etc.
On the bottom of the page, there is a section entitled There's More, with links for other pages, including Other Famous Trials, Exploring Constitutional Law, Profiles of Trial Heroes, Searching for Evil, Searching for Law's Heroes, Clarence Darrow Homepage, Linder's Web Creations, Beliefs, and Ascending the Mountain. Also, there is a factoid that this site is one of the 101 Best Web Sites presented by ISTE Publications in 2005-2006.
The trials are organized in a similar way with an image or photograph in the center and links to primary sources, images, opinions, maps, testimony, and secondary materials. He has included bibliographies for additional research. Another note is that most of these trials have occurred in American history, although some were in other parts of the World, including the Nuremberg Trials and the Oscar Wilde Trials. The design is very basic and not original whatsoever since every trial has the same contents of who were involved, what occurred before and during the trial and what the conclusion of the trial was, which makes the structure coherent.
Linder's point of view in his content is that he has presented both sides of each trial as fairly as possible and presented as much fact as he could replicate with his basic knowledge of web technology. Linder even admitted that some critics did not find the coverage of the trials as fair and balanced but that he attempted to do his best to not display his opinion in what he limited information he chose to present for everyone to see.
The scholarship is sound and current, which especially is shown in the more recent trials he has included in the last forty years. This site is accessible to all viewers and clear in its purpose. The site does not however do much that print, an exhibition, or film could do. This site is lacking in presenting the information in a new media format. The site would be much improved if more newspaper articles, possibly video clips, or other ways to enhance each trial and make it more interesting for his intended audience.
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/ftrials.htm
Created by Professor Doug Linder and maintained by the University of Missouri-Kansas City Law School.
Reviewed Sunday June 21, 2009.
Doug Linder created this website for the original purpose of providing information to his students in his Famous Trials Seminar. His purpose has clearly shifted now to high school, college, and law school instructors and students. It could also be used for scholarly purposes to research the trials to publish books. This sites provides these audience members with transcripts of the most important materials from the thirty plus trials Linder said he has selected, which can be located on the bottom of the homepage under Purpose of the Famous Trials Site.
The site in its design is simplistic but it serves its purpose of providing those viewers with the information they need to be found in a very navigable way. Linder also knows he provided much information to those viewers who can understand the more complex transcripts but accommodates to his younger viewers by providing games and fun facts that draw in middle school students. He also made it interesting for any viewer to become compelled in a wide range of trials during history, from Ancient Times including the Trial of Socrates in 399 B.C., through the present day including the 9/11 trial of Moussaoui in 2006. There is also a list of other famous trials not mentioned on the homepage that could be included in the future, with a few links, including trials from the pre-1800s, 1800-1899, 1900-1949, and 1950-the present day. Some examples include Joan of Arc, Dred Scott, Mohandas Gandhi, Brown vs. Board of Education, etc.
On the bottom of the page, there is a section entitled There's More, with links for other pages, including Other Famous Trials, Exploring Constitutional Law, Profiles of Trial Heroes, Searching for Evil, Searching for Law's Heroes, Clarence Darrow Homepage, Linder's Web Creations, Beliefs, and Ascending the Mountain. Also, there is a factoid that this site is one of the 101 Best Web Sites presented by ISTE Publications in 2005-2006.
The trials are organized in a similar way with an image or photograph in the center and links to primary sources, images, opinions, maps, testimony, and secondary materials. He has included bibliographies for additional research. Another note is that most of these trials have occurred in American history, although some were in other parts of the World, including the Nuremberg Trials and the Oscar Wilde Trials. The design is very basic and not original whatsoever since every trial has the same contents of who were involved, what occurred before and during the trial and what the conclusion of the trial was, which makes the structure coherent.
Linder's point of view in his content is that he has presented both sides of each trial as fairly as possible and presented as much fact as he could replicate with his basic knowledge of web technology. Linder even admitted that some critics did not find the coverage of the trials as fair and balanced but that he attempted to do his best to not display his opinion in what he limited information he chose to present for everyone to see.
The scholarship is sound and current, which especially is shown in the more recent trials he has included in the last forty years. This site is accessible to all viewers and clear in its purpose. The site does not however do much that print, an exhibition, or film could do. This site is lacking in presenting the information in a new media format. The site would be much improved if more newspaper articles, possibly video clips, or other ways to enhance each trial and make it more interesting for his intended audience.
Project Design
For my final project, I am arguing the importance of the controversial book written by David S. Wyman entitled The Abandonment of the Jews: America and the Holocaust, 1939-1945. The author argues about the lack of effort by the United States to rescue many thousands of Jews during the Holocaust and what could have been done.
I hope to incorporate many arguments by the Holocaust historians that I have researched that discussed his book and what scholarship they created in response to his book. I would like to make this project simple to navigate on the web with tabs for each author and what their arguments were about Wyman's book. If I can include pictures to associate a name with a face of each historian and what books they have written, that would make this much more organized for the viewer to examine. I would also try to include the most interesting information and not make the website too sparse either.
I have to examine the information and decide what is worth including that a viewer would enjoy reading and not skip over. I want to make the website have a straightforward purpose and not include anything too flashy or distracting as well. The site needs to be professional in its appearance and in its inclusion of information, which is very important to me above anything else.
I would also have to give a detailed explanation of who David S. Wyman is and exactly what his argument in his book is about, which would be the first area I need to display. The viewer would need to understand what type of person this author is so a Curriculum Vitae would be necessary, especially a link to Wyman's website which is the David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies, provided here, http://www.wymaninstitute.org/. This website gives viewers a much more comprehensive look at what Wyman has studied and how that his been incorporated into his book that I have examined. There are many photographs, newspaper articles, conferences, and information about other works Wyman has published which would give the viewer a complete understanding about the author and make an excellent transition into what The Abandonment of the Jews: America and the Holocaust, 1939-1945 is actually about. I would have to attempt to do the same for the other historians but more briefly. I would give a short biography on each historian and then explain what their arguments against Wyman's book are too.
This project must be easy for me to create and maintain at an ongoing basis from now until it is due in August. Even the simple aspects of this website that I need to create and examine must be viewable for everyone, including the background, color scheme, font, etc. I will make sure that everything works properly to my knowledge of computers and learn along the way how to digitize the information I have.
Taken straight from the syllabus for this course, I also need to concentrate on how design and the medium affect the interpretive work and its relationship to the historiography. This statement has really interested me because I am not sure yet how I will do that but I will figure it out. I know that with Holocaust history, much of the information is presented on the web, especially from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum site, provided here, http://ushmm.org. I will definitely include this link on my website for viewers to look at so they can examine additional information about the Holocaust, as it provides a plethora of sources ranging from a wide variety of topics about the Holocaust, including mine. There are videos, pictures, accounts from victims, research, and much more that educators and the like can explore via this website which I think will be very useful for my project.
I hope to incorporate many arguments by the Holocaust historians that I have researched that discussed his book and what scholarship they created in response to his book. I would like to make this project simple to navigate on the web with tabs for each author and what their arguments were about Wyman's book. If I can include pictures to associate a name with a face of each historian and what books they have written, that would make this much more organized for the viewer to examine. I would also try to include the most interesting information and not make the website too sparse either.
I have to examine the information and decide what is worth including that a viewer would enjoy reading and not skip over. I want to make the website have a straightforward purpose and not include anything too flashy or distracting as well. The site needs to be professional in its appearance and in its inclusion of information, which is very important to me above anything else.
I would also have to give a detailed explanation of who David S. Wyman is and exactly what his argument in his book is about, which would be the first area I need to display. The viewer would need to understand what type of person this author is so a Curriculum Vitae would be necessary, especially a link to Wyman's website which is the David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies, provided here, http://www.wymaninstitute.org/. This website gives viewers a much more comprehensive look at what Wyman has studied and how that his been incorporated into his book that I have examined. There are many photographs, newspaper articles, conferences, and information about other works Wyman has published which would give the viewer a complete understanding about the author and make an excellent transition into what The Abandonment of the Jews: America and the Holocaust, 1939-1945 is actually about. I would have to attempt to do the same for the other historians but more briefly. I would give a short biography on each historian and then explain what their arguments against Wyman's book are too.
This project must be easy for me to create and maintain at an ongoing basis from now until it is due in August. Even the simple aspects of this website that I need to create and examine must be viewable for everyone, including the background, color scheme, font, etc. I will make sure that everything works properly to my knowledge of computers and learn along the way how to digitize the information I have.
Taken straight from the syllabus for this course, I also need to concentrate on how design and the medium affect the interpretive work and its relationship to the historiography. This statement has really interested me because I am not sure yet how I will do that but I will figure it out. I know that with Holocaust history, much of the information is presented on the web, especially from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum site, provided here, http://ushmm.org. I will definitely include this link on my website for viewers to look at so they can examine additional information about the Holocaust, as it provides a plethora of sources ranging from a wide variety of topics about the Holocaust, including mine. There are videos, pictures, accounts from victims, research, and much more that educators and the like can explore via this website which I think will be very useful for my project.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Thoughts on The AHA Guide to Teaching and Learning with New Media
In chapters four through six of "The AHA Guide to Teaching and Learning with New Media," McClymer discusses Cognitive Flexibility, Making Mental Links Across Time and Among Diverse Materials, and the Conclusion. I chose to focus on chapter four which brought up many thoughts about teaching History and how it can be done successfully.
In Cognitive Flexibility, he is absolutely correct with the statement about how History is not something that students can build upon with routine practice. His example about students learning Calculus is excellent in that they learn how to solve easier problems and move onto more difficult ones. History is nothing like Calculus and it made me realize how difficult the subject of History really is. Also, on a side note, this got my brain thinking about how this is possibly a good reason why Social Studies it is one of the most hated subjects in school, which is what James W. Loewen began with in his critically acclaimed fascinating read Lies My Teacher Told Me. McClymer then made the transition into how teachers cannot simplify history without distorting it but it can be explored. Exploring history leads to more questions asked by students and more answers are discovered which I think makes teaching so rewarding and makes me understand the title of the chapter a little bit more.
McClymer then discussed his take on History and how to solve the problem of its flexibility or lack thereof and what can be done about it. He brought up the example of what he is personally doing about it in one of his survey courses. He continued to discuss the strengths students need to improve upon in such survey courses like McClymer's to help students think more like historians and challenge them in the realm of History. I also liked the way McClymer said that students need structure, or as he put it in better terms scaffolding, provided by their teachers which makes History more feasible as well as flexible to study.
I found it very interesting and useful how McClymer is able to challenge entry-level students with material that is presented in a unique way that they enjoy learning. Just one question posed to students that seems simple at the surface allows them to explore the many different facets of an answer it has by providing students with the materials and means of discovering History. It also is able to pull in different contents of History into one lesson or activity. The example McClymer used was about The Age of Reasoning was great because it tied together History with Economics and Geography and also made a very good transition into other topics of History such as Ben Franklin, Adam Smith, even minor public historical figures that were very important in History that are not discussed very much or at all, including Mandeville. The lesson extended even further into the next topic which was The First Great Awakening.
Even though the topics are probably considered boring for students, the ways in which we teach them make it intriguing for everyone to explore together in a less complex way at any level of secondary or higher learning. In this way, students are challenged beyond what they believe they are capable of learning and doing which makes the teaching of History successful for everyone.
In Cognitive Flexibility, he is absolutely correct with the statement about how History is not something that students can build upon with routine practice. His example about students learning Calculus is excellent in that they learn how to solve easier problems and move onto more difficult ones. History is nothing like Calculus and it made me realize how difficult the subject of History really is. Also, on a side note, this got my brain thinking about how this is possibly a good reason why Social Studies it is one of the most hated subjects in school, which is what James W. Loewen began with in his critically acclaimed fascinating read Lies My Teacher Told Me. McClymer then made the transition into how teachers cannot simplify history without distorting it but it can be explored. Exploring history leads to more questions asked by students and more answers are discovered which I think makes teaching so rewarding and makes me understand the title of the chapter a little bit more.
McClymer then discussed his take on History and how to solve the problem of its flexibility or lack thereof and what can be done about it. He brought up the example of what he is personally doing about it in one of his survey courses. He continued to discuss the strengths students need to improve upon in such survey courses like McClymer's to help students think more like historians and challenge them in the realm of History. I also liked the way McClymer said that students need structure, or as he put it in better terms scaffolding, provided by their teachers which makes History more feasible as well as flexible to study.
I found it very interesting and useful how McClymer is able to challenge entry-level students with material that is presented in a unique way that they enjoy learning. Just one question posed to students that seems simple at the surface allows them to explore the many different facets of an answer it has by providing students with the materials and means of discovering History. It also is able to pull in different contents of History into one lesson or activity. The example McClymer used was about The Age of Reasoning was great because it tied together History with Economics and Geography and also made a very good transition into other topics of History such as Ben Franklin, Adam Smith, even minor public historical figures that were very important in History that are not discussed very much or at all, including Mandeville. The lesson extended even further into the next topic which was The First Great Awakening.
Even though the topics are probably considered boring for students, the ways in which we teach them make it intriguing for everyone to explore together in a less complex way at any level of secondary or higher learning. In this way, students are challenged beyond what they believe they are capable of learning and doing which makes the teaching of History successful for everyone.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Web Review 2
Travel, Tourism, and Urban Growth in Greater Miami: A Digital Archive
http://scholar.library.miami.edu/miamidigital/
Created and maintained by the Otto G. Richter Library, University of Miami.
Reviewed Sunday June 7, 2009.
This site, Travel, Tourism, and Urban Growth in Greater Miami: A Digital Archive, uses essays, a detailed timeline, and an image gallery to examine the growth of Miami and the history of its travel and tourism industry. The website's homepage has an essay by the project director that introduces the archive. The site has seven main sections, broken up into advertising, architecture, environment, land use, migration, tourism, and transportation. Each section is introduced by a three-to-five page essay and features a chronology and bibliography. There is also an image gallery with more than 590 subjects, many with multiple images that can be searched. The visitor can browse the gallery by subject, location, resource (such as photographs, postcards, etc.), or collection. The site also offers an overall chronology divided into sections from 1800 through World War I, World War I through the 1930s, World War II through the 1950s, and the 1960s through the 1990s. The chronology can also be viewed by the many themes including civil rights, the Great Depression, hurricanes, land use, migration, and tourism. The bibliography lists various books, links to related websites, and other similar archives. It also offers incredible resources for teaching and researching the history of Miami and South Florida.
The content is sound and current due to the presentation of it, especially in the extended bibliography and ease at which the information can be located. The content is clearly presented for anyone to read and the information is up to date. The interpretation or point of view is that Miami became a growing center of urban development due to the unique architectural expansion of the city and the tourists that chose to help the city grow by remaining there. It also expanded due to the development and extension of transportation, advertisements, the unique environment that surrounds Miami, the land use and mitigation of the area. This website gives viewers an in depth analysis through text and many fantastic images that create a successful narrative about the city of Miami and its history.
The form is very navigable and easy for anyone to use, moving from one page to the next, from topic to topic without becoming lost in the information. Everything is very clearly presented for the viewer to examine at any time. It has a very basic design for a website which does not make it difficult to explore the image gallery, essays, and other content available as well. Whatever page a viewer is on, the tabs on the top and/or sides make it simple for the user to move from topic to topic and also go back to the homepage. The structure is coherent in that the site takes you through each section beginning with advertisement, architecture, environment, land use, mitigation, tourism and transportation in chronological order.
The archive offers many images associated with each section that are very colorful and grab the attention of the viewer, which is mainly directed towards historians, researchers, and teachers especially, as well as students and anyone interested in the history of the city of Miami itself. The site offers useful information that can direct historians, researchers, teachers, and students to additional information via books, websites, and other archives, serving their needs well.
The new media and web is used effectively due to the extensive bibliography presented for each of the seven sections. Each annotation has a description of what the information is and where it is from. It highlights the important parts of each annotation and draws in viewers that exhibits and films can not do, which is lead the viewers to further research about each topic concerning Miami.
http://scholar.library.miami.edu/miamidigital/
Created and maintained by the Otto G. Richter Library, University of Miami.
Reviewed Sunday June 7, 2009.
This site, Travel, Tourism, and Urban Growth in Greater Miami: A Digital Archive, uses essays, a detailed timeline, and an image gallery to examine the growth of Miami and the history of its travel and tourism industry. The website's homepage has an essay by the project director that introduces the archive. The site has seven main sections, broken up into advertising, architecture, environment, land use, migration, tourism, and transportation. Each section is introduced by a three-to-five page essay and features a chronology and bibliography. There is also an image gallery with more than 590 subjects, many with multiple images that can be searched. The visitor can browse the gallery by subject, location, resource (such as photographs, postcards, etc.), or collection. The site also offers an overall chronology divided into sections from 1800 through World War I, World War I through the 1930s, World War II through the 1950s, and the 1960s through the 1990s. The chronology can also be viewed by the many themes including civil rights, the Great Depression, hurricanes, land use, migration, and tourism. The bibliography lists various books, links to related websites, and other similar archives. It also offers incredible resources for teaching and researching the history of Miami and South Florida.
The content is sound and current due to the presentation of it, especially in the extended bibliography and ease at which the information can be located. The content is clearly presented for anyone to read and the information is up to date. The interpretation or point of view is that Miami became a growing center of urban development due to the unique architectural expansion of the city and the tourists that chose to help the city grow by remaining there. It also expanded due to the development and extension of transportation, advertisements, the unique environment that surrounds Miami, the land use and mitigation of the area. This website gives viewers an in depth analysis through text and many fantastic images that create a successful narrative about the city of Miami and its history.
The form is very navigable and easy for anyone to use, moving from one page to the next, from topic to topic without becoming lost in the information. Everything is very clearly presented for the viewer to examine at any time. It has a very basic design for a website which does not make it difficult to explore the image gallery, essays, and other content available as well. Whatever page a viewer is on, the tabs on the top and/or sides make it simple for the user to move from topic to topic and also go back to the homepage. The structure is coherent in that the site takes you through each section beginning with advertisement, architecture, environment, land use, mitigation, tourism and transportation in chronological order.
The archive offers many images associated with each section that are very colorful and grab the attention of the viewer, which is mainly directed towards historians, researchers, and teachers especially, as well as students and anyone interested in the history of the city of Miami itself. The site offers useful information that can direct historians, researchers, teachers, and students to additional information via books, websites, and other archives, serving their needs well.
The new media and web is used effectively due to the extensive bibliography presented for each of the seven sections. Each annotation has a description of what the information is and where it is from. It highlights the important parts of each annotation and draws in viewers that exhibits and films can not do, which is lead the viewers to further research about each topic concerning Miami.
Week 3 Readings/Project
This article was the most interesting to me and I decided to post my thoughts about it since I had many.
"The Pasts and Futures of Digital History" by Edward L. Ayers brought up some very valid points about digital history, especially when he discussed the actual writing of history in the third paragraph. It was very interesting when he stated that it has not changed despite the advancements in technology and how it has not affected the way we teach history. History itself has not changed despite the changes in technology; only the way it is presented has changed and I think that is very important to understand, especially today.
Ayers then stated how ironic it is "...that history may be better suited to digital technology than any other humanistic discipline" in the fourth paragraph. Here is where he explained the important need and advantages for technology to be used in history today. Therefore, studying the past can be approached in new ways and this can especially be related to my project. The same information can be used in different ways to connect to audiences all over the world to examine various parts of history which proved true about my project on the Holocaust. Debates about what could have been done to save thousands of Jews have occurred for 25 years and many historians throughout the world continue to discuss this topic thoroughly. This can be seen with the help of technology through the many resources available that do not include traditional methods of viewing this research such as books but also through web reviews of David S. Wyman's The Abandonment of the Jews: America and the Holocaust, 1941-1945, online discussions and other alternate ways of viewing this debate. This has especially helped me with my research to examine the Holocaust without having to leave my laptop and view information that may not be physically available for me to read, especially when such websites as the Holocaust Memorial Museum website exist that brings much of the information available for anyone to view. Technology has also helped interest the public in reading about more obscure history by making information so readily available.
Technology can assist historians in their quest to answer questions and receive input about any topic in history to discuss in an easier way, especially now that the Internet is such a prevalent part of out lives. I think Ayers is right; technology has made digital history that much simpler to use without as much work involved to find information and connect with so many people that are experts in a particular field of history with the click of a mouse instead of participating in a professional conference on a particular topic of discussion.
Not only has technology been easier to research through various scholarly sites but articles published in journals are easily viewable. The idea to digitize print media onto the web is remarkable and aids in making older information available in newer forms, bringing digital history from the past into the present. Even the way digital history is presented has changed and some historians have tried to write history, especially history from digital archives, as more of a complex narrative, bridging the gap between digital history and literature which is a fascinating concept Ayers delved into.
Even the language of history has changed with the use of technology, from HTML format to XML. This is something I was interested to read because I have not heard about XML before and I know very little about HTML as well. I get the impression that the language used to write digital history has made some material too simple but connecting it with images and other content has made the material more organized and efficient to examine. Does this language shorten the history being read? Does it dumb down the ability for people to read complex history? I would answer yes to both of those questions and it makes me skeptical to believe every aspect about digital history is perfect and wonderful. But with historians trying to prefect the ways digital history is presented, I think these obstacles will be overcome with much thought and carefulness to present/write history in a way that its integrity will be kept in tact.
Technology and history will continue to develop and an attempt to merge the two in a near perfect union by historians will be made eventually, hopefully benefiting everyone.
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