Teaching the Civil War with Technology

The following scenario is made possible by American Civil War Augmented Reality, a project created by Pennsylvania history teachers Jeff Mummert (Hershey High School) ,  Art Titzel (Hershey Middle School), and Jay Vasellas (Red Lion High School):

An 8th grade American History class is visiting Gettysburg.  After spending the morning walking the battlefield learning about the battle the students travel to the David Wills House on the Gettysburg Square.  Once they enter the House they are provided a brief overview of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, David Wills, and the aftermath of the battle.  Students  are then  provided tablet pc’s loaded with an augmented reality app entitled “Whose Father Is This?” that will help them assist Philinda Humiston and her 3 children find their beloved  Amos, a soldier for the 154th New York volunteer regiment that was missing after the battle.  Using clues given by the app on the tablet students are directed to points of historic interest around Gettysburg to help them solve the mystery.  As they get close to a clue their app triggers information in the form of letters, newspaper articles, photos, and further clues.  Eventually, the students are guided to the National Cemetery and Amos Humiston’s grave.  At the grave the app triggers a video explaining the mystery of Amos Humiston and how it led to Philinda Humiston opening an orphanage in Gettysburg for the children of deceased soldiers.  Students are then directed to where Abraham Lincoln gave the Gettysburg address and the app triggers an audio of the address.  The debriefing focuses on how their experience relates to the message of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.

The American Civil War Augmented Reality Project (ACWAR) aims to make visits to historic sites more interactive and engaging for all visitors, but especially for students.  Providing students the opportunity to interact with one another on challenging, problem solving tasks is the key to student engagement and learning.  ACWAR aims to create these engaging learning opportunities for students to use at historic sites.

In addition, ACWAR intends to “unlock” the local history and human interest stories related to the Gettysburg Campaign that often gets overlooked by a focus on the purely military aspects of the battle. Students interested in military tactics may be naturally engaged by battlefield tours, but what about the rest of the students who wonder “how much longer until lunch”?  What will make a larger impact on students–passively listening to a guide talk about Gettysburg troop movements, or working with peers to solve an interactive mystery related to the lives of real people involved with the battle.  Augmented reality is the vehicle to this engagement.  If designed correctly the apps and products developed by ACWAR will focus on the story and learning opportunities, and not be focused on  the technology.

With increasing competition in the tablet pc market, and the increasing market share of smart phones, augmented reality applications will play a larger role in our lives.  In addition, the sesquicentennial of the Gettysburg Campaign make the present the perfect time  for ACWAR to be partnered with historic sites to change how students view history.  Recently, the National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg and the augmented reality firm Winvolve have become partners.

Despite the exciting partnerships the problem remains money.  Tablet pc’s need to be purchased in order to test and fine tune the apps on real people.  Without monetary support the full potential of ACWAR will never be realized.

Consider contributing to the ACWAR Kickstarter campaign.  Kickstarter is a micro financing site that helps fund projects through individual contributions.

For more information check out the following ACWAR social media sites:
Blog
Facebook
Twitter

Posted under Applications

During the recent ISTE Conference, I had the opportunity to meet Karen Needles who is the Director for the Lincoln Archives Digital Project (LADP).

According the the website, “the Lincoln Archives Digital Project is providing unlimited access to the historic but fragile paper records of the administration of President Abraham Lincoln.”  This project is “identifying documents from the State Department, Treasury Department, War Department, Justice Department, and other federal offices from the period of Abraham Lincoln’s presidency.”

With a few exceptions, the time period covered by the project is March 4, 1861, through April 15, 1865.

While this site is primarily a “pay for access” website ($2,000 for schools for a unlimited access for a year or $150 for a single PC), it does have some access to free resources related to Lincoln.  Karen, was kind enough to provide me with a temporary login so I could explore the site in more detail.

The Lincoln Archive Digital Project is broken into several sections including Library of Congress, National Archives, Dictionary, Podcasts, Photographs, Lesson Plans, Maps, Cartoons, Newspapers and Timeline to name a few.

So, I thought I would provide a review of a few of the sections.  Let’s start with the Newspapers.

The above graphic shows the listing of the newspapers that users can access via the LADP.  Each of the papers has an overview and background information about the paper (available for free) and then you can drill down to view specific dates for the papers.

Another cool section of the LADP is the maps section. You can view Civil War Battle Maps, City Maps, State Maps, European Maps, Territory Maps, and US Maps.

What is really cool about the maps (and other parts of the website) is a feature called Zoomify.  This feature allows you to zoom in on the maps (or newpapers or photos) and look at the artifact in greater detail. The following two photos are of the Battle of Gettysburg.

Here is the map at normal magnification:

Here is that same map, at max magnification:

Check out the details!  This feature can be used to really get your classrooms talking.  For example, why was the reserved artillery placed where it was?

Another interesting section is the Political Cartoons where you can also click on one of several papers and get some background information about the publication.  From there you can view and examine various cartoons from the period.  One interesting thing that you could do is to have your students compare and contrast political cartoons from the Civil War to those of today.

Two of the free sections of the website that I especially like is the Lesson Plans and the Timeline.  The Lesson Plans section contains links to some really good Lincoln related lessons and resources for use in your classrooms.  The timeline is a very well done and includes events from the day Lincoln was born in 1809 up until his death in 1865.

I recommend that you check out the Lincoln Archive Digital Project and let me know what you think.  If you are a school this could be a great resource for you and your students.

Posted under Famous People, Primary Sources

On January 3, 1863, Harper’s Weekly ran the following Thomas Nast image of Santa Claus visiting the Civil War Soldiers

What can you see in the picture?  There is so much to see in this photo.  From the drummer boys playing with the Jack-in-the-box to the troops chasing a pig in the background (notice one soldier falling down in the chase).

How about a little seek and find.  Can you find:

• a drum
• a soldier with a pipe
• Santa’s Reindeer
• two American Flags
• A soldier with a stocking
• a soldier climbing a pole

This image is fun to look at and rich in details.  I love the outfit that Santa is wearing, the soldiers in their great coats, the Sibley tents and the “Welcome Santa” sign.  According to an brief article in the paper, Santa is showing the soldiers “Jeff Davis’s future.  He is tying a cord pretty tightly around his neck, and Jeff seems to be kicking very much at such a fate.” The article also says that a group of soldiers in the background are playing football.

Merry Christmas from my family to yours.

Posted under Primary Sources

The above illustration by Thomas Nast is entitled “Christmas Eve, 1862″ and is from an 1862 issue of Harper’s Weekly.  On the right side of the illustration is a Civil War soldier on duty sitting next to a fire on a cold night.  In addition to holding his musket, he is holding a photo of his family.  Behind him are other soldiers sitting next to a tree and standing guard.  On the left side is his wife, kneeling in prayer with their children “nestled all snug in their beds.”

Look closely in the upper left portion of the illustration and you can see Santa (complete with reindeer) getting ready to head down the chimney.  In the upper right Santa is delivering presents to soldiers in the field.  All the while, the Civil War is raging below them in the form of both a land and a sea battle.  And in between, the hardships of war, graves of fallen soldiers.

So, on this Christmas Eve, let us pause to remember those families who have loved ones serving in our military and pray for their safe return home.

Merry Christmas.

Posted under Primary Sources

In this season of elections, I thought it would be interesting to share a website on Civil War era elections.

Harper’s Weekly has created a website for researching historical elections from 1860 to 1912. According to the website, the Presidential Elections page features political cartoons from several different digital resource centers such as Harper’s Weekly, the Library of Congress and Vanity Fair. The website also “provides explanations of the historical context and images of each cartoon, campaign overviews, biographical sketches, a review of the era’s major issues, and other valuable information.”

Let’s take a moment to explore the 1860 election between Lincoln, Douglas, Breckinridge and Bell. First, each election contains four sections: Overview, Cartoons, Biographies and Events. From here you can learn about the events leading up to to the 1860 election, how the Democratic party split, the Union Constitution Convention, the Republican Convention and the Campaign.

One of the greatest part of this site for teachers are the political cartoons. Let’s look at one and see how you can use it in your classroom.

The above image shows Abe Lincoln as a rail-splitter and is intended to appeal to the average voter. Before giving your students the full description of the cartoon, ask them to tell you what they see, what do they think is going on in the cartoon, what does the little child represent and why are the words “Democratic Party” listed on the rail?

You can then follow up by reading them the complete description: “In order to appeal to average voters, Republicans emphasized the poor, hardworking origin of their candidate through the myth of Abraham Lincoln as a rail-splitter. This cartoon in the Wide-Awake Pictorial plays on that image by joking that the last rail he split is th Democratic Party in 1860, which divided into the Northern and Southern Factions.”

Then, have your students think about presidential campaign ads or commercials they have seen recently. Do any of those ads try to appeal to the average voter by making the candidate look like every hardworking American? I think so and can name a few but let me know what your students come up with as you review these cartoons.

Until next time….

Posted under Lesson Ideas, Primary Sources, Websites