Reflection
on students’ online contributions (final assignment)
Internet discussion in Digital Histories provided
a communication platform for students to disseminate history-related ideas.[1]
Academic blogs were published in the form of diary entries. By creating a
Google account students were able to link into each others’ blogs and comment
on each others’ publications. Research
was inspired by a topic such as war photography; or a personality like Adam
Smith. Some students explained the methodologies and tools used in Digital History
such as XML or OCR which resulted in greater clarity when they simplified it in
their own words. Others created animations and posted history-related video
links. A range of learning processes was evident, unlike other modules where
contributions are more formal.
Students
were able to respond to each others’ experiences after a History conference.
Equally, an evaluation of topics such as Visualisations or Images was possible.
Reflection about an online conference
was achievable after access through a link on Twitter. This system provided a valuable
network for Digital History students because it was a swift means of accessing
links to relevant websites and blogs. Furthermore links to lectures were available
on Twitter; and these were generally quicker than the ones on Studynet.
However, contributions in the form of a blog in particular, had an
effect on the way students created academic entries. There were presentations
of student blog sites in the Digital History workshop: it was apparent that
this form of online discussion was more successful than on a network such as
Twitter or Studynet. This was probably because of the diary methodology and a
large amount of user-friendly space for history-related entries. Another reason
for the success of blogs could have been because it was in the public forum and
available for many people to read. The format used meant that students could
use different styles of text and images while adhering to university protocols.
[1] http://www.myuniversalfacts.com/2006/08/definition-and-purpose-of-blog-what-is.html published on 30.08.2006; accessed
02.04.2012
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