Author: Lila’s Digital History Blog

After months of planning and attending meetings, recording videos, taking pictures,capturing 3D images, editing digital footage and creating a website through WordPress, my group successfully produced a website featuring 3D scans, videos, object-file information and still images of six objects at the James Monroe Museum and Memorial Library.

Our journey to complete the website included some successes and some challenges.

We were successful at finding a plugin to embed the 3D file on our WordPress website and every week we were able to rent a videocamera,tripod, iPad scanner and camera from the school to complete our project. We also did a good job of communicating as a group using group text messages and meeting  at the James Monroe Museum and Memorial Library and in the computer labs at the HCC to complete our project outside the classroom.

Unfortunately, throughout the course of our project we also had some challenges. It took us a few weeks to capture the first 3D scan because we had to learn how to use the scanner and the first scanner we tried to use did not meet our expectations and the second scanner we attempted to use did not work. Luckily, the third scanner we attempted to use, the iPad scanner, worked to our satisfaction and was a successful capture of a 3D rendering of a museum object. Also, we were not able to host our website on Omeka as we had initially planned, so we generated our website using WordPress.

In addition to the successes and challenges we encountered during the semester we also had to accommodate for some changes. While we had proposed in our group contract that our website would become part of the James Monroe Museum and Memorial Library Website, we did not received permission from the museum, therefore, our website will not be directly linked to the main website. Although we did provided multiple links on our website to the museum’s website for easy access to internet users to encourage them to visit the museum. Additionally, we did not arrange to link our website to social media platforms or to historical organizations as we had planned in our group contract. Throughout the course of the semester many changes were made with regards to the division of labor. While our contract said, “one person is in charge of 3D uploads and working on the object files”, these two tasks were completed by Jon and Mary respectively. Also, in addition to recording the videos, Mary and I also edited and wrote close captioning for all but one of the videos, we took photographs of the objects, and we communicated  with Dr. Meadows, Mr. Kearney and Mr. Harris by email throughout the semester. All group members assisted in the editing process and the web design.

In conclusion, I believe that while we had successes, challenges, and changes to our group contract about the website we were ultimately successful in creating a interactive website of 3D scans, videos, and still pictures of six objects from the James Monroe Museum and Memorial Library.  We created a website accessible to and for students, teachers, researchers to enjoy. I think that this website will encourage people to visit the  James Monroe Museum and Memorial Library  view the six objects we included in our website in person.

During the final week of the semester my group members and I edited the website in accordance with Dr. McClurken’s suggestions. Additionally, we sent elite invitations for the April 22nd presentation to staff members at the James Monroe Museum and Memorial Library including Mr. Harris and Mr. Kearney and Dr. Meadows. Also, my group members and I prepared a Google Slides presentation for the April 22nd History and American Studies Symposium and assigned specific pages to each group member. Finally, I bought thank you notes and a gift for the staff at the James Monroe Museum and Memorial Library and Dr. Meadows who have helped us complete our website project to express our appreciation and our gratitude.

In “The Digital History Reader: Teaching Resources for United States and European History by E. Thomas Ewing and Robert P. Stephens the authors introduces readers to the Digital History Reader. This new technology is very useful for both professors and teachers because the large availability and accessibility of primary source documents allow educators to incorporate primary source documents and charts and graphs into their lessons. The authors predict that the inclusion of the resources will encourage students to develop historical research skills such as evaluating and analyzing historical documents instead of only reading about them and memorizing their characteristics. According to the report, Digital History Reader is a more inclusive technology for learning environments because it has multimedia components such as audio and video files available for students.

From the reading by Ewing and Stephens I think the Digital History Reader is a wonderful tool for educators to employ while teaching United States and European history because it challenges students to learn research skills and it caters to different types of learners. The Digital History Reader  is an encouraging example of the potential for digital technology to enhance the learning experience and it proves that investing in digital technology can be advantageous for school systems.

In “Blogging for Your Students” by David Voelker, the author defines ‘blog’, discusses their advantages for use in classroom settings, and discusses how he uses the online resource into his own classroom to communicate and thoroughly engage in the subject matter with his students. Additionally, the author provides links to blog platforms including: WordPress, Edublogs, and Blogger, so that other educators can create their own blogs.

I chose to read and comment on this  article due to its relevance to this class and my overall educational experience at UMW. Throughout the three and a half years I have been at UMW, I have created and participate in six blogs. While I understand the many benefits to blogs from a professor’s perspective including the easy flexibility and accessibility, I have never enjoyed blogging. Not only do I find blogging to be an impersonal and unfulfilling experience. I detest the fact that my words will be on the internet forever and I also dislike the fact that it requires me to use technology even more than I already do. While comments about blog posts can be helpful sometimes, I prefer having conversations with people to gage how they are saying what they are suggesting and being able to ask them for clarification on a comment or suggestion.

While progress on the James Monroe Museum 3D scanning project began slowly, it is now progressing on schedule. Last week my group and I filmed three videos of Jarod Kearney, the curator at the James Monroe Museum talking about three of the objects we have scanned. Additionally, we took still pictures of the objects for internet users to view as well as the 3D scanned images and videos of the objects. The videos have been successfully downloaded to my computer and the next step is to start editing them. This week my group plans to focus on getting more information on the website and to complete all pictures, videos, and 3D scans of the five museum objects.

The first article I read about how the internet has changed how we read and how we thing was very interesting and I agree with the conclusions wholeheartedly.  I have noticed myself being distracted or uninterested in reading a book for a long period of time, and even if an online news article  is long, I seomtimes don’t get through the whole think in one setting which is upsetting and frustrating. As a lover of books, literature, and libraries who has volunteered for years at the library in my hometown, I have also noticed that my peers do not visit the library often or read physical books for pleasure. When I am my the local library in Northern Virginia I often notice that the age group in libraries is ether young or old. There are children and caregivers or parents in the reading sections and there are older people using the computers for searching the internet, but there are a very few number of young adults in the library. I have read articles which talk about how elementary, middle and public high schools are getting rid or downsizing their libraries which makes me very sad. I’ve always loved the feeling of holding and reading a book new book. Additionally, I have never been a fan of electronic book technologies such as kindles, nooks, or iPads because they do not feel as confuting or as familiar as touching a real book or flipping real pages to read.

Digital Resume:

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed creating a digital resume. I expected the assignment to be very difficult and stressful, but with help from the Digital Knowledge Center I was able to create the website I wanted. As a result of completing the assignment, I feel even more confident in using digital technology, specifically WordPress.If you would like to see my digital resume you may se it at

About

James Monroe Museum 3D image and Video Project:

Last week my group and I were very productive. We successfully 3D scanned three objects including a shoe, a bicorn hat and a pair of pistols (guns). Additionally, we recorded two 1-2 minute videos of Jarod talking about the two pistols and the Napoleon chair. We were also able to videotape the objects by themselves to edit into the videos with Jarod.

Five Lessons I learned about Digital Identity
I looked at these three websites:
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/nov08/vol66/num03/Footprints-in-the-Digital-Age.aspx

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/02/personal-branding-in-the-age-of-google.html

Jeffrey W. McClurken

1. It is the responsibility of school teachers and administrators should be teaching students how to use the internet to their advantage by modeling how they use online resources for networking.
a. How would this work in an academic setting? At what age would students begin to learn how to make and sustain an online profile and network. How would students be evaluated? Would there be personal learning network projects? How would digital skills and knowledge fit in with current curriculum standards?

2. A person should use their real name on the internet but be careful not to disclose personal information online.

3. The technology shift makes students more knowledgeable about technology than adults.

4. C.V. stands for resume online. How are the two equal? What does CV mean?

5. In order to improve your online profile, post as many positive things online as possible because other people could post information online that is negative about you. Everyone has the power to influence what information is available about a person online. There can be two or three other people with your name and it is important that the possibly negative information on their websites does not come up before your positive information does.

This week my group and I prepared for our ten minute presentation on Thursday about our group’s progress, we attempted to scan a bicorne hat at the James Monroe Museum and we presented information about our group project.

Using a large lazy susan and an xbox connect we attempted to 3d scan the bicorne hat. Unfortunately though, the xbox connect was not connecting correctly with one of the group’s computers so we were unable to use the scanning technology. Luckily, in addition to renting the xbox connect to 3d scan the museum objects, we also rented a iPad that has an app to take 3d scans of objects. While we successfully scanned the bicorne hat, we did not successfully email the file to our email addresses and do not have the completed scan.

1) Look at the History and Discussion tabs of several Wikipedia history entries and write about what you see. 2) Consider what Creative Commons License you might use for your own site. What role does copyright play in the resources you are working with this semester?

1a) Ant Page

History: Over 500 edits
Some people add information, others take it away and a few fix links to media
People that make edits make more than one edit at a time
Discussion: One can see where people changed parts of the page
People add links to other helpful websites
1b) Baseball Page

History: People added links and books to the page for further reading for internet users
Tagging page???
Date maintenance
Reversions of edits
Discussion: Some edit requests have been answered
Very little discussion when compared with the Ant Page

1c) Potato Chip Page

History: Same person made over 10 edits in multiple categories
Undid revisions and reverted
This page has been visited very frequently over the past two months when compared
to the other two pages
Discussion: Some discussion is going on but not much

2) Since my group and I are working with primary source artifacts, it is very important that we are aware of the copyright information regarding these objects

Just as last week was busy for our group, so was this week. We were busy both in class and outside of class. met with Dr. Meadows to practice using the ipad scanner and another portable scanner outside of class.

During class time we worked on revising our contracts and answered many of Dr. McClurken’s questions We changed many parts of our contract including our purpose, our materials, our timeline, and our division of labor. The biggest change we made after talking with Jarod Kearney, curator at the James Monroe Museum, was that we decided to in corporate a few quick videos of either Scott or Jarod talking about each of the artifacts to go along with the 3D scanned object.

Outside of class on Thursday 2-11-16, the group and I met with Dr. Meadows in Trinkle Hall to practice using the ipad scanner and another portable scanner. During the meeting we also sent an email to Jarod at the James Monroe Museum asking if he would be able to bring one of the artifacts to campus next week for us to scan using the largest scanner that is available at UMW.