Writing, Teaching, and Researching History in the Electronic Age by Trinkle Dennis A

Author:Trinkle, Dennis A.
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781317451426
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

11

Using Multimedia Computer Technology to Teach United States History at Medgar Evers College, City University of New York, from Three Perspectives

Professor, Teaching Assistant, and Undergraduate

Barbara Winslow, Kacy D. Wiggins, and Marisol Carpio

I. A Novice Uses Computer Technology to Teach the United States History Survey

Barbara Winslow

Beginning in July 1996,1 participated in a National Endowment for the Humanities—sponsored seminar organized by the American Social History Project and the City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate School and University Center, called “The New Media Classroom: Narrative, Inquiry and Technology in the U.S. History Survey.” The purpose of the seminar was to bring together university, college, and high school faculty to explore the possibilities of using computer technology in teaching U.S. history and American studies. The seminar, which lasted a week, continued through the 1996–97 academic year and the participants continue to discuss issues both electronically and at seminar meetings. This paper discusses my first attempt at using computer technology to teach a United States history survey course, HIST 200: Growth and Development of the United States.1

To provide some background, I am a historian at Medgar Evers College/CUNY—an embattled and underfunded urban public institution. I am teaching a United States history survey course in a computer lab which is not yet fully equipped, to students who are not history majors, of whom most have little or no computer experience, few, if any, have home computers, and not all have time to use the computers at the school. In addition, I have little experience and a lot less confidence in using computer-based multimedia technology. My situation is probably a common one, especially for faculty teaching in state-funded, urban, and other public institutions.

Based upon my two-semester experience, this paper will discuss some of the problems raised in using computer technology to teach a United States history survey, including: developing an appropriate classroom style for a multimedia computer lab, assessing the advantages and difficulties of using CD-ROMs and the Web for research and writing, and discussing the wisdom of untenured faculty embarking on experimental courses such as this one.

During the New Media classroom seminar, we were given an enormous amount of information to digest. Along with all the technological and historical information, I found that three very strong common sense items had made a lasting impression upon me as I developed my course for the fall:

1.

Don’t try to include too many computer assignments and exercises the first time your course uses computer technology.

2.

Do your computer assignments early in the course; if they don’t work out, you can always fall back on the more traditional assignments and exercises.

3.

COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY CAN BREAK DOWN, AND IT WILL BREAK DOWN. In other words, always have a back-up plan ready and prepared for your class when you are using computer technology.

With these points in mind, I began preparing my class. Since I do not have a great deal of expertise in computer technology, I used my NEH stipend to hire a history graduate student, Kacy Wiggins, who had worked with the American Social History Project (ASHP) and was familiar with the material.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.