Learning with Technology: Module 4 Post

ISTE Standard 4: Critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making

Relevant question: How can computational thinking be applied to the history classroom?

It seems this question is not a common one, as at first glance I only found one useful resource that addressed it. Unfortunately for me, that resource is another teacher's blog post - not exactly scholarly or peer-reviewed. Further, I suspect the blog post is similar to this blog post - written as part of a school assignment.

Upon further research, I found this article which addresses specific ways computational thinking was adapted and used in a history classroom. It notes that computational thinking was used for such things as developing proper note-taking skills,  improving active listening skills, improving recall skills, and recognizing the difference between studying and homework. It lays out a method for teaching proper note-taking by utilizing pop-culture phenomena, specifically hashtags, to help students catalog information they take notes on during class time. It suggests that similar methodology can be applied to teach the other three things the article claims computational thinking can be applied to in a history classroom.

Personally I feel that history only has limited use for computational thinking. Computational thinking is not useful as a historical analysis tool, but rather only as a method for teaching useful student skills like note-taking. As a classmate pointed out earlier this week in online discussions, history is not a subject known for frequent use of logical linear decision-making. On the contrary, history is a nearly continuous stream of illogical, irrational, emotional decisions, made by men dealing with complex problems to which reason never applied. The decision to blame Germany for the entirety of the first world war, for example, is not logical or rational, is deeply emotional, and does not obey any laws of computational thinking. Since this example is not unique to history, I would argue that computational thinking cannot be used to analyze most historical decisions or events.

Computational thinking is, however, useful for teaching student skills that are often learned (or at least reinforced) in the history classroom. Such skills include note-taking, active listening, recall, and noting the difference between homework and studying. These are all skills that require training in a logical thought process in order to be done correctly. That lends itself nicely to computational thinking - and this is how I feel computational thinking can be most effectively applied in the history classroom.

Learning with Technology Module 3 Post

Relevant ISTE Standard: ISTE 3: Research and Information Fluency: Evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on the appropriateness to specific tasks.

Triggering Event for this module: What are ways in which students can apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information?


My related question: How can I work a Skype in the Classroom project into a history curriculum? How do you accommodate time differences, with such a project?

In a little over a month, my students will begin a research project that is done entirely using digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information. I would like to encourage my students to use multiple mediums, including Skype, to access information. This is my attempt at evaluating an selecting digital tools based on their appropriateness to this specific task: researching for a project.

In my search for ways to integrate Skype into a research project, I found an actual lesson plan for using Skype for a history project. In the lesson plan, the teacher has students talk to a professional archaeologist in Africa, in order to learn about archaeology, the archaeologist him/herself, and the work he/she is currently doing.

I think this could be expanded to include doing research for a project by conducting interviews over Skype. I once, during my observations of other history teachers, saw a teacher run an oral history project that encouraged his students to interview people they knew who had lived through major historical events. Some of these students used skype to conduct interviews with grandparents or family friends about experiences in everything from major protests to World War II. This is closer to what I imagine for my students' use of Skype.

I envision at least some of my students being able to get first-hand accounts of the topics they choose for their research projects, and being able to use school computers (few of them have home computers) to Skype with people they might interview about their experiences.

However.

I also have to recognize that the likelihood of this is small. I do not believe Skype is installed on the school computers, and I foresee other issues as well - my students do not know how to conduct an interview, and will need significant guidance in their attempts. I also have to prioritize that they learn to use databases, rather than Skype, for their learning, since database inquiries are a more transferrable skill that they will use later in other future classes.