This week has been quite a productive one for me! After a day off in remembrance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday, I had a meeting with Dr. Snyder and the other History Lab intern, Owen, on Tuesday. We discussed our roles for the internship and Dr. Snyder filled us in regarding her expectations for us in the position. Some of the tasks we talked about included creating content for the History Lab as well as supporting survey-level students in the History department. I’m very much looking forward to this as I have so many ideas that might help other history students expand their historical horizons. I spent the rest of the day on Tuesday exploring the back end of the History Lab on the WebCourses Dashboard and emailing with Dr. Snyder and Owen to brainstorm our ideas.
On Wednesday, I started the process of content creation for the Sources module in the History Lab. I created an info-graphic highlighting the differences between primary and secondary sources to insert into the module to help more visual learners. We also discussed creating a widget that might help students further their understanding of source types. Owen and I talked about creating a resource for additional study that might assist students with their classes. We decided that we wanted to create a “Historical Era Link Collection” to post on the History Lab. One of the strategies that I use for myself is to immerse myself in the era that I am studying by listening to podcasts, watching documentaries, visiting online exhibits, and reading more about those time periods. Owen and Dr. Snyder agreed that this sounded like a great idea. I started assembling resources in a google doc and invited Owen to add his suggestions. He and I will work together to figure out how exactly we want to present the resource in the History Lab modules. I also had the thought that it might be useful to send the google doc to other History department faculty so that they can add their suggestions as well. I believe that this could be somewhat of a “living” document that will grow and change as new resources become available or new areas of interest can be added.
Thursday I decided to press on with content creation and made a widget using UCF’s Materia open-source widget creator. I used the “Choose Your Own Adventure” widget creator to make a tool for history students. In this widget, which will be posted in the Sources module of History Lab, students will be asked yes/no questions regarding their source and the widget will help them determine whether it is a primary or secondary source. I want to continue to refine the widget to allow for all circumstances that might cause students confusion, such as a primary source within a secondary source. I also want to add more images to the widget before adding it to the module. Below is a preview of the widget. Please note this is not the final product. Let me know in the comment section if you see anything additions or changes you think it needs!
Next week, I’m looking forward to continuing these content creation projects and I’m hoping that soon I’ll be able to work one-on-one with students from Dr. Snyder's Age of Atlantic Revolutions course.