Web-based project: WWII history textbook project

[Craig Anthony Thomas]

Dan et al.,

I have adapted a World War II history textbook project from Laura Parker Roerden's Net
Lessons: Web-Based Projects for Your Classroom (1997), published by Songline
Studios and O'Reilly & Associates.

The project calls for Upward Bound students to exam their high school history textbooks
for the U.S. perspective of the second World War. They are introduced to the history
lesson by viewing popular films, either "Saving Private Ryan" or "The Tuskegee
Airmen."

Soon thereafter, they will begin corresponding with high school students, history
teachers and WWII veterans in Japan and Germany. Their international keypals are
expected to relate their respective nations' perspectives in email exchanges over several
weeks.

Learning objectives of the year-long project:
* Students are expected to learn controlling events and personalities leading to U.S.
entry and participation in the second World War.
* Students are expected to learn to master the use of electronic mail and related Web
technologies, such as Web site development and site maintenance.
* Students will learn how to be effective and efficient researchers using traditional and
electronic resources. Instructions will include tips on how to prepare for interviews and
how to conduct interviews with "benevolent skepticism." (The term was used by
Patricia O'Tool during an interview about her book, Money and Morals in America," on
C-SPAN's Book Talk on August 16, 1998. The interviewer needs to gain the trust of
interview subjects, Ms. O'Tool said, while not accepting everything they say as absolute
truth.)
* Students' experiences are expected to help them understand how cyberspace
(information and communication technologies) increasingly resembles society at large in
all of its complexity and affliction.
* If the project is successful, students will gain insights that will enhance their decision-
making roles as members of the U.S. electorate. They will have reasons to reflect on
U.S. values and aspirations and how those values and aspirations affect public policy.

I apologize for the lengthy response, but I believe content should have context (and vice
versa).

Cheers,
Craig

Craig Anthony Thomas
Kalamazoo, MI

<p><p>Craig Anthony Thomas
Cyberconsultant -- Tech Planning*Publising*Training
616 387-5735 (v)
616 998-7370 (m)
707 313-7553 (f)