What are the "history wars," and what are their implications for technology use in history?
The history wars refer to a difference of opinion on how to teach social studies. One group of people think that we should teach it chronologically, the way a lot of us have learned most of our history. The other group suggests that we teach history in the form of lessons that each piece of history teaches us. For example, instead of teaching about World War I, then World War II, then the Vietnam War, teach about wars and how they affect a culture, why they are good, or bad. Certainly use those wars as an example, but they are merely examples, and do not make up the entire lesson. When I graduated from highschool I had taken the normal amount of history, in the typical history format. When I went to Northwest Vista however, they had switched to the other form, I remember feeling a little lost on what I was studying. We would read primary sources about different things, and I was lost. I think it takes an adjustment, and that is hard for a lot of people, but I do think that once the adjustments have been made, a lot of learning could come from teaching the concepts.
With students' ready access to information on the Internet, what might be the concerns of
social studies teachers?
I think teachers should obviously be concerned with legitimate information, and helping students understand that it is not all correct, and also how to find the correct information. But teachers should also be concerned with teaching the correct internet ettiquete. If we want our students to understand that there is incorrect information out there, then maybe we should teach our students to post things that are correct, or even how to use the internet appropriatly.
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Sarah, I was very interested in your perspective as a student who had used both versions of social studies learning. I honestly don't think either one is wrong if it's taught well, but I think that for younger children, it's easier to understand a chronological pattern. In college, students are expected to be critical thinkers, so I think they're better equipped to do the comparing and contrasting that the newer social studies model requires. Younger students would benefit from some version of the newer model over the course of the class, but I think they would have a hard time learning the current TEKS with that method.
ReplyDelete"History wars" are a big issue. Those two ways of teaching history can be positive and negative. When teaching in the correct order of when they occured can help students know all the facts about history, but teaching the concepts first can give value and meaning to history. I personally think that history should be taught in chronological order first so students know the facts and then the concept taught afterwards. When learning the concepts the students can refer back to their facts that learned to support their opinions of the concept. I guess it does all depend on the students as well and how they learn best.
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