Pedagogical Pollination
This project is an attempt to model what we call pedagogical pollination, a process that bridges student inquiry, local archives and experts, and emerging technologies to expand digital documentation of those materials and inject authenticity into the study of history in our schools. Examples of student work with these materials and reflection on the experience is included for outside consideration.
This project is an attempt to model what we call pedagogical pollination, a process that bridges student inquiry, local archives and experts, and emerging technologies to expand digital documentation of those materials and inject authenticity into the study of history in our schools. Examples of student work with these materials and reflection on the experience is included for outside consideration.
Our Class Goal:
BACKGROUND:
Under the direction of Thomas Neville, United States History Teacher at the Flint Hill School in Oakton, Virginia and 2013 MapStory Teaching Fellow, our team of thirty 11th graders have undertaken extensive research into the history of alley life in Northwest Washington, D.C. from 1865 to 1935. Our work will address social justice issues relevant to the 2013 theme for the DC Historical Studies Conference, “Marching on Washington”.
Alley life serves as a microcosm for the nation as a whole during Reconstruction, the Gilded Age, the Roaring 20’s, and the Great Depression. In this project we will show how the abolition of slavery and migration of African Americans, as well as European immigration to Northwest Washington shaped the societal and socioeconomic infrastructure of the city. We will also discuss social issues such as race and class, and how they have shaped the government’s role in public housing and social welfare in Washington, D.C.
We will demonstrate how we used technical, crowdsourcing mediums such as MapStory, Historypin, Wikipedia, and Twitter to present our findings in a way that revitalizes historical narrative rather than submits information definitively. Mr. Neville has been selected to pilot the MapStory Software as one of eight teaching fellows. A recent addition to the growing number of digital historical mediums, MapStory allows our team to generate virtual, interactive maps that highlight the progression of locational research both physically and chronologically, while Twitter and Wikipedia are tools we use to document our work and extend our findings to those outside of the classroom. Wikitude, the world’s leading augmented reality mobile application, presents our research in an accessible and digitally appealing way. By doing this we will explore the different ways in which we discuss our history, as a nation, a city, and as individuals, and how technology is impacting that narrative.Along with the research itself, we plan to document our progress daily as a metacognitive exercise. This will include filming of, blogging and tweeting about the progress and setbacks we experience. We will incorporate the technology aspect of our project into this documentation as well as taking a more “old school” written approach; we will include first hand accounts of the impact of alley life in DC through oral history which will lead to a complimentary panel.
BACKGROUND:
Under the direction of Thomas Neville, United States History Teacher at the Flint Hill School in Oakton, Virginia and 2013 MapStory Teaching Fellow, our team of thirty 11th graders have undertaken extensive research into the history of alley life in Northwest Washington, D.C. from 1865 to 1935. Our work will address social justice issues relevant to the 2013 theme for the DC Historical Studies Conference, “Marching on Washington”.
Alley life serves as a microcosm for the nation as a whole during Reconstruction, the Gilded Age, the Roaring 20’s, and the Great Depression. In this project we will show how the abolition of slavery and migration of African Americans, as well as European immigration to Northwest Washington shaped the societal and socioeconomic infrastructure of the city. We will also discuss social issues such as race and class, and how they have shaped the government’s role in public housing and social welfare in Washington, D.C.
We will demonstrate how we used technical, crowdsourcing mediums such as MapStory, Historypin, Wikipedia, and Twitter to present our findings in a way that revitalizes historical narrative rather than submits information definitively. Mr. Neville has been selected to pilot the MapStory Software as one of eight teaching fellows. A recent addition to the growing number of digital historical mediums, MapStory allows our team to generate virtual, interactive maps that highlight the progression of locational research both physically and chronologically, while Twitter and Wikipedia are tools we use to document our work and extend our findings to those outside of the classroom. Wikitude, the world’s leading augmented reality mobile application, presents our research in an accessible and digitally appealing way. By doing this we will explore the different ways in which we discuss our history, as a nation, a city, and as individuals, and how technology is impacting that narrative.Along with the research itself, we plan to document our progress daily as a metacognitive exercise. This will include filming of, blogging and tweeting about the progress and setbacks we experience. We will incorporate the technology aspect of our project into this documentation as well as taking a more “old school” written approach; we will include first hand accounts of the impact of alley life in DC through oral history which will lead to a complimentary panel.
Working w/ Primary Sources in the Classroom
Digging Up New Primary Sources at the National Archives
Oral History Walking Tour with Reverend Oliver "OJ" Johnson
