For a social studies or history teacher, blogging offers a unique way to really stimulate students’ minds using a variety of media. With the presence of video sharing sites such as YouTube, we are able to present students with topics through a different kind of medium thanks to the Internet. It’s not that video hasn’t been around for years, it’s just that we haven’t been able to offer it in such a direct and immediate way. Links, podcasts, video and images can all easily be embedded into a blog. This offers a teacher a variety of tools to choose from when approaching a lesson.
This first example really shows us what one can do with multimedia and blogs in the social studies classroom. The creator of the blog, Mr. Shelnutt, offers up images, videos, poetry and lots of questions for his students to comment on.
To view Mr. Shelnutt’s blog, click HERE.
This next example comes from Lea Hansen-George and her high school social studies class. She takes a similar approach as Mr. Shelnutt, offering lots of visually stimulating material for her students to consider. What I think stands out is that she offers lots of project ideas for her students by pointing to various resources on the Internet.
To view this example, click HERE.
I’ll leave you with a video and link to a blog that showcases how Eric Langhorst, a history teacher at South Valley Jr. High in Liberty, MO, uses blogging to bring his students together for a common project about the Civil War. The focal point is book called The Guerilla Season and it is discussed over a four week period among students via the blog. The video says it all.
To view the blog, click HERE.