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of the resources will encourage students to develop historical research skills such as evaluating and analyzing historical documents instead of only reading about them and memorizing their characteristics.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.
