Virtual Tour

I am interested in teaching Middle School grades. I chose the topic of Rome as I have numerous personal connections. I lived in Italy for 18 months, and visited Pompeii, Hercolano and Paestrum. Also I am a history re-enactor. Like you couldn’t tell that from my blog picture! Anyway, locally, there is a Roman Legion’s re-enactor’s group. I have talked to them, and I know for a fact that they like to visit schools and show off.

In trying to pick a site for 6th graders (who cover the Roman Empire as per the 2001 Social Science Framework), I ran into websites that were either too complicated or too simple. There is an excellent site at Bowdoin college for covering Roman Aqueducts. Way too technical for 6th graders. Some would be absolutely fascinated, but I don’t think they could all quite follow how or why a castellum would work or be used.

I chose the BBC site for a number of reasons that just all came together while I was playing with it myself. First off, it seamed a wonderful Introduction. It had eleven sections that covered religion, the military, Roman engineering, family life a taste of Roman culture. It even has a timeline, and a website that names ALL the Roman Emperors. Instead of having to listen to the Teacher (me) drone on and on about this, I felt that the website conveyed this on it’s own without being overwhelming. There is more I would want my students to know, but I believe this website is a wonderful jumping off point.

I also just loved the notion of using a foreign website. At 6th grade, I find many students are ready to start understanding that history is often about perspective, and that there can be slants to history depending on who wrote it. In turn, this can lead to connecting kids to BBC news as a means of getting alternate news, information that is not Americancentric. One of the points to the Internet is the easy access to viewpoints that are different from that of the US, but one problem is that many of these viewpoints are written in languages other then English. BBC by it’s very nature is available in English.

I did attempt to use MOOs, but the principle list given was either leading to sites that have shut down, or there is a technical problem of some sort involving my computer. Very frustrating. The one I found that looked like it might function would have required registration and a lot more work then I was willing to put in at the time. It also looked like it would have had me identified as a teenage student. That made me distinctly uncomfortable. That’s another letter I will have to write- to whoever runs the wireless network at school. In the spring, I could get out to the internet. Now I can’t. Grrr…….. Heck, as late as the last week in June I could get out. But not sure how to clear up the technical problem, unless our professor wants to come out to my house!

Another reason I chose this site is that with it’s links to other sites, the glossary and the time line, it seems like a wonderful website to return too, and have the students do more exploring on their own. This led me to another conclusion.

In writing directions for this, I didn’t like the notion of having to take time out to cover computer literacy as well as the topic (Rome). When I find myself in a position to use computers as an adjunct for the class, I intend to take time out just to cover the computer skills required. That way I can just focus on the topic. Not both computer and topic. I would also think that would force me to make sure I know how the school computers do or don’t function. This is another reason that I chose to put the guide on paper, as that seemed simpler then trying to rely on prior computer literacy. I know for a fact that some students in the even the Moreland district only experience computers at school – there are no computers and/or internet access at home.

Grouping in this case would be to aid in computer literacy, and to take care of the fact that I have yet to see 25 or 30 computers in one school room. I have seen 12 in the same room.

As for Virtual Tours, it seems a nice way to get students onto the Internet and make sense of what they are doing. In my experience, even college students don’t know what all is out there, and it’s a fun way to get one’s mind stretched. The biggest problem with setting up such tours is the time function. I don’t see that I could set up too many of these my first year teaching. I can see setting up a portfolio of these as time goes on.