Using Primary Documents Found Online

Primary Document Analysis

Often in the course of history, primary documents have changed the course of history and human relationships. Primary document analysis is one of the most essential tasks of a historian and thus that of the history student. To analysis a document is not only to glimpse another period of time but to empathize with another's perspective. Students should examine all primary documents with six points in mind: content, citation, context, connections, communications, conclusions. Content, that is, what is the main idea of the document? Citation, that is, who is the author and when was it created? Context, that is, what was going on in the world, region, or the locality where the document was created? Connections, that is, to prior knowledge. Communication, that is, perspective; is the source reliable? Conclusions, that is, how does the primary document contribute to our understanding of history? These points will enable students to better understand historical information through primary documents which generated the initial historical questions generated by historians and information utilized by historians. Most of the essential historical documents are available on-line, transcribed from other languages and placed into a readable format as well!   

This document is a passenger manifest.

Content: The document was designed to track the movements of people into the country during an era of immigrant expansion.

Citation: Canadian government official during the 1920's.

Context: Mass movement of people from other lands to new opportunities in Canada, and other so-called 'new-worlds'.

Connections: Whatever may exist.

Communication: The source is generally reliable as it records information in a straight forward form, but note people commonly changed their names to anglicized versions, other countries created poor identity papers, people occasionally gave incorrect birth dates or baptism dates as their birth dates. The information is also highly generalized, what exactly constitutes the ability to read in a language? How was it tested? Was it even tested? 

Conclusions: A reader can locate familial relations, locations, important dates, and other pertinent information, such as ability to read, write, and speak and in what language.  

Orientalism and Indiana Jones

Orientalism is a used by scholars to describe the depiction of aspects of Middle Eastern and East Asian cultures (Eastern cultures) by people from the West. Edward Said's landmark academic text Orientalism published in 1978, highlights the general patronizing Western attitude towards Middle Eastern, Asian and North African societies. In Said's insightful analysis, the West essentializes these societies as static, undeveloped, lazy, feminine and thus fabricating a view of Oriental culture that can be studied, reduced, and depicted. The Occident (West) can thus transmit an image of the Orient through popular culture back to the Orient to be learned by the Orientals. This is the internalization of oppression. Juxtaposed on the fabricated image of the Orient is the idea of Western society as developed, rational, hardworking, and masculine. To help students understand the fabricated image of Eastern cultures a video analysis of an obviously biased depicted of the Orient such as Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Students should notice how people who are not European are depicted, what false foods are eaten in the east, the settings the characters find themselves in, etc. To understand complex historical concepts, students should engage in an analysis which readily highlights the principle arguments of a concept.

To understand why an idea was first created, one must study the author as Edward Hallett Carr once said: "Study the historian before you begin to study the facts." Further, one must understand the historical context in which it was first created.

Folding Paper

Once again access to information has changed the way I think of the space around myself, check out the video below. Fold A Piece Of Paper In Half 103 Times And It Will Be As Thick As The UNIVERSE!

Source:
http://www.iflscience.com/space/fold-piece-paper-half-103-times-and-it-will-be-thick-universe

Bitcoin: Open Source P2P Money: Kind of Interesting

Bitcoin uses peer-to-peer technology to operate with no central authority or banks; managing transactions and the issuing of bitcoins is carried out collectively by the network.

Courtesy of Wikipedia

Bitcoin is a software-based payment system described by Satoshi Nakamoto[note 1] in 2008,[4] and introduced as open-source software in 2009.[5] Payments are recorded in a public ledger using its own unit of account,[6] which is also called bitcoin.[note 2] Payments work peer-to-peer without a central repository or single administrator, which has led the US Treasury to call bitcoin a decentralized virtual currency.[9] Although its status as a currency is disputed, media reports often refer to bitcoin as a cryptocurrency or digital currency.[10]

Bitcoins are created as a reward for payment processing work in which users offer their computing power to verify and record payments into the public ledger. Called mining, individuals or companies engage in this activity in exchange for transaction fees and newly created bitcoins.[11] Besides mining, bitcoins can be obtained in exchange for fiat money, products, and services.[12] Users can send and receive bitcoins electronically for an optional transaction fee[13] using wallet software on a personal computer, mobile device, or a web application.

Interesting Watch:

Three Dimensional Printing

The technology while revolutionary will inevitably be slow to permeate most schools and classrooms. The rendered objects would be excellent for topographical models in geography and history. Constructed models could serve future classrooms as a platform and be an ongoing project which crosses curriculums. To build sections at a time could contribute to a community in the school and outside. Students could also construct historical artifacts which would require intensive research and allow museum plethora of objects to be collected and utilized for future classes.  Recreating key historical objects and devices could bring history alive for serious students and allow those students interested in the science and technical aspects of learning to engage meaningfully. Precision instruments, which normally would run exorbitant amounts of money, such as sextants and compasses, could be reconstructed by students. Already lessons and units are being written to facilitate the new technology, hopefully soon I can engage with this new medium.

Technology Usage in an International Setting: Kuwait Edition

My teaching journey has taken me from the security of Canada to the uncertainty of the country of Kuwait. Upon arrival I was unsure what subjects I would be teaching or the technology available at my disposal, my expectations of limited resources was meet. Unfortunately for these wealthy students, their school is operated as a business and is lacking numerous technological benefits. Fortunately these students are from wealthy families and mostly have their own devices or personal computers, sometimes both. The classes, are mostly, equipped with basic projectors which are able to connect to computers or laptops. The usage of video and music is scarcely known in the school and I have quickly developed a popularity among the students for implementing the usage of these basic learning modalities. Generally I am able to continue working as normal, minus the fact that their are no computer labs and students have not received formal training on computers. The difficulty in attempting anything in terms of technology is ensuring that everyone understands the basics such as Word! and PowerPoint! before proceeding. The international baccalaureate program at this particular school is enormously comprehensive and complex, requiring students to behave and engage with material as if they are at a university year one or two level. Students are also required to write research essays based on periodicals, books, and peer-reviewed journals accessed at a library or on-line database. In an attempt at technological integration I provide many tips and tricks, as well as sites and programs which will be useful in their later careers. Building digital portfolios, writing blogs, website creation, filming and editing digital videos, and constructing digital presentations are among the other skills I am attempting to impart. These students are both capable and ready, but the background knowledge needs to be built. The classes operate in a traditional sense with lecture but also infuse historical discussions and debates in correspondence with technology infused assignments to build positive on-line identity.  

This Channel is great for Geography issues:

George Curos: Job Hunting

Clean the Facebook but keep the "you" element. Tweet and Blog important information and express your ideas about education. Create an eportfolio and carry a small paper one in case technology fails. Eportfolios allow you to carry your ideas, lessons, plans, etc. in a convenient manner. The prospect and benefits of linking to the web in a positive way, in order to share information, network information, and build a constructive and dynamic on-line life. The importance of staying current the current books and articles that are relevant from teachers in the field are more important than the articles from a century ago from John Dewey. It is important to over-communicate with parents so they know their child is loved in the school, that positive rapport is key in case there is ever a reason to communicate with parents concerning negative behaviour. Overall it would appear strange if one could not be readily located on the Internet, communicating positive knowledge and ideas.