Edith Sheffer Twsia
-
Upload
michael-korcuska -
Category
Education
-
view
3.035 -
download
0
description
Transcript of Edith Sheffer Twsia
Germany & the World Wars: Creating Lives on the Wiki
Edith Sheffer, Andrew W. Mellon Fellow in the Humanities, Stanford University
10th Sakai Conference - Boston, MA, U.S.A. 2
Overlapping themes
July 2009
Project: “Facebook
meets History”
Unexpected results –
why it worked
Empowering students through
Sakai
10th Sakai Conference - Boston, MA, U.S.A. 3
Open collaboration: shifting the paradigm of teaching and learning• The students of History 138A and TA Andrew Visser• TWISA Organizing Committee, Judges, and Sponsors• Sakai Community• Keli Amann, CourseWork• Christine Doherty, CourseWork• Allyson Hobbs, History• Alan Mikhail, History• Robert Moeller, History• Bradley Naranch, History• James Ward, History
July 2009
10th Sakai Conference - Boston, MA, U.S.A. 4
This Sakai project in the Humanities suggests how…
Technology can shift the dynamic of classroom learning –
in dramatic and unexpected ways
Sakai is effective for a variety of fields and user
levels
July 2009
Even simple tools can have powerful impact
10th Sakai Conference - Boston, MA, U.S.A. 5
Student engagement and learning
Standard
course
material
The missing link in a survey course
July 2009
Basic course requirements• Lectures, discussion section• Books, Document Reader• Analytical paper• Midterm and Final
The challenge: making history
come alive
A platform to: • Intensify student interest• Deepen historical understanding• Stimulate excitement
10th Sakai Conference - Boston, MA, U.S.A. 6
Student engagement and learning
Standard
course
material
The origin of the idea: partnering with Sakai
July 2009
Consultation with CourseWork
• Multiple options, multiple outcomes
Wiki Tool: Creating Lives
10th Sakai Conference - Boston, MA, U.S.A. 7
Thinking through history
July 2009
“The weekly Identities assignments were somewhat like the weekly problem sets in math or science classes. In a math or physics class, it is not enough to just listen to the lecture and read the textbook; the student actually has to practice solving real problems. The Identities Project […] forced me to consider how real people actually make decisions in historical events; I felt that I was, in essence, ‘solving’ the problem of ‘how and why do ordinary people act in history’ by ‘practicing’ on my historical avatar every week.”
10th Sakai Conference - Boston, MA, U.S.A. 8
“Wolfgang is the son of nobility in
East Prussia”
“Gerhard is the son of a prostitute
in Berlin”
Students created historical lives on Sakai
July 2009
The first week, each student drew an
identity at random
They were given just once sentence – with where and to whom
they were born
All were born in 1900, but their life
circumstances were very different
“Anna is the daughter of a Jewish banking family in Munich”
“Elsa is the daughter of a Catholic farming
family from Dachau ”
Just 3 restrictions…
10th Sakai Conference - Boston, MA, U.S.A. 9
First, the students constructed a childhood
July 2009
Each week, the students posted their characters’ life choices on the wiki
World War I, Revolution, Hyperinflation
Weimar Germany and the rise of Nazism
World War Two and the Holocaust
Cold War and the Iron Curtain
The Fall of the Berlin Wall and reunification
10th Sakai Conference - Boston, MA, U.S.A. 11
Wiki page example
July 2009
10th Sakai Conference - Boston, MA, U.S.A. 12
Wiki page example
July 2009
10th Sakai Conference - Boston, MA, U.S.A. 13
Wiki page example
July 2009
10th Sakai Conference - Boston, MA, U.S.A. 14
Wiki page example
July 2009
The Sakai wiki site
July 2009
Update questions posted each week
Students presented their characters during lecture
Students shared research links
Character wiki pages
16
High community standards sustained the quality of the work and a productive exchange of ideas
July 2009
January 30, 1933It’s happened. I cannot believe my eyes as I look down into the streets. They’ve done it. They’ve chosen an extremist to lead our country to God knows where. I thought Hindenburg would know better than that, but apparently he’s not thinking either. The street is bursting with people. I don’t want Eva going out there alone. Or with the children.
February 27, 1933The Reichstag is no more. Now there is no longer even the illusion of a democracy, for even the building is gone. I don’t think it can be reversed any longer. They’re going to crack down on the communists. I don’t necessarily disagree, but I’m afraid what might happen next. What to expect? I don’t know what to think. It’s only Eva that keeps me from losing hope entirely. She’s always so optimistic. It’s silly sometimes but she makes me feel better.
March 23, 1933Hitler can do anything he pleases now. Anything. My thoughts are in disarray. Panic.
May 1, 1933People think it’s a holiday. They are out in the
10th Sakai Conference - Boston, MA, U.S.A. 17
Sakai empowered students with a rare degree of autonomy and freedom
July 2009
Students went far beyond the required material, researching scholarly works, images, even things like period-appropriate children’s names and food specialties
Students said they grew attached to their avatars, pursued individual interests through them, and discussed them with friends and family
Students averaged 1,121 words per post, equivalent to a 4½ page paper every week for nine weeks, including the weeks of the midterm and final paper
The open platform inspired authorship,
imagination, curiosity, and
understanding
High Investment
Self-motivation
Identification
10th Sakai Conference - Boston, MA, U.S.A. 18
Understanding – and complicating – history
July 2009
“It allowed us to fuse the course material with our own creativity and take away so much more than a typical survey of history would foster. […] The project forced us to see the situation as much from within as a student can, several years later and thousands of miles away. Oskar, to whom I grew attached, had a past, a family, thoughts, ideas. There were justifications for his actions that were intricately tied in with all of these, ones that I would never have considered without a specific persona in mind.”