Land Ho!: The Best Social Media Options for History Courses

As our ship sails into harbor and prepares to dock, let's take a look at some of the best social media options that can be utilized for the study of history.

1. Facebook - After speaking with several students in my face-to-face classes, it seems that the current king of social media is still the preferred option for students to interact with their instructors and peers in a classroom setting. Many students of all ages are already familiar with the website format, and the page can be updated every semester with a different password. The best part is that you can collect all of the cool photos that students post in your album for the next class! Moreover, students have told me that this is the one social media website they check daily--even if they hate doing so. 

2. Twitter- Students enjoy brevity and constant reminders. I think Twitter can fit that bill. History instructors can use it for reminders throughout the course of due dates and assignments as well as guide students to historical websites, controversies, and videos. I think a great assignment would be for students to choose a particular topic regarding U.S., World or European History (racism, patriarchal societies, fashion, immigration, terrorism, diet, etc.) and compare what current popular societal figures are saying about those topics. Critical thinking questions could be fashioned such as: How far have we come as a society on this topic? If modern society still holds the same views or trends regarding this topic, why do you think nothing has changed? Give examples from sources we have studied and modern-day tweets.

3. Dipity- As mentioned in my previous blogs, this website is chalked full of history-rich ideas that focus on chronological analysis. The use of timelines has several applicable uses in a history classroom such as mapping how individuals changed over their lives or how nations and ideas continued to mutate throughout the centuries. 

Overall, these social media tools can improve a face-to-face or online environment for any history instructor. 

Now that we have dropped anchor on a solid foundation of understanding social media and teaching history, let's get to work!

Managing Mutineers: Using Social Media to Build and Keep Classroom Trust

What can happen in a classroom when an instructor loses control of their class? Well for one, students who challenge the rules of an instructor and do not receive appropriate consequences often precipitate and encourage future violations of those very same rules. The end result--instructors become Anthony Hopkins (Cpt. Bligh)  in this clip from the 1984 film "The Bounty":

In 1789, the H.M.S. Bounty was taken control of by mutineers. All it took was one crazed person (Lt. Fletcher, played by Mel Gibson) to rebel against the rules on the ship and everyone else followed. Part of being a good captain back then was balancing mandatory discipline with certain freedoms for your crew. Too much rigidness could lead to the above scene (as was the case in 1789).

Likewise, instructors of today need to create a structured and regulated learning environment that still allows for their students to enjoy creative freedoms. Social media can be a powerful tool to accomplish this. As long as the instructor sets clear guidelines and enforces consequences for the breaking of rules, history classes can utilize social media to assist in the creative learning process.

One such invaluable social media tool for history classes is Dipity. It allows for students to create historical timelines that are interactive--complete with music, videos, and photographs. Students could build a complex timeline throughout the course or complete a concise one for a smaller project. Either way, it forces them to do exploratory learning--where they hunt for material to prove their historical argument and learn along the way. For more information about how Dipity can be used in a classroom, checkout this review: http://teachinghistory.org/digital-classroom/tech-for-teachers/24620

Remember that in allowing students to use social media for assignments, you are giving them a certain amount of creative license. But that creativity must have rules affixed to it to prevent headaches and future problems. If a student were to, for example, post several profanity-laced historical videos on their Dipity timeline, and the instructor simply glossed over that in their grading without punishment, it would only encourage future rule-breaking by their peers. Deciding to punish similar mistakes later on would lead to a feeling of inequality in the class and distrust for the instructor. Pretty soon, you will have a Mel Gibson running around your classroom screaming, "I am in hell!" rallying others to rebel.

Do not let that happen. Lay down ground rules for social media sites like Dipity, Instagram or Google+ (all useful in history classrooms) early on and enforce those rules constantly. That way a mutiny among your students over rules and guidelines will never be allowed to surface.

"Iceberg Right Ahead!": Protecting Yourself and Your Students from Social Media Pitfalls

If you have even a passing interest in history--or Leonardo DiCaprio, you have probably seen the blockbuster film "Titanic". Perhaps the most memorable (and overused) one-liner from the movie is when one of the ship's crew, after spotting an oncoming chunk of ice off the starboard bow, screams out in a British accent, "Iceberg, right ahead!" If you have yet to see it, here is a refresher:

As the video points out, there was almost no time for the captain to prevent this most famous of nautical 20th-century disasters. Thankfully cruise ships now have advanced technology to assess potential dangers far in advance, allowing captains time to change the direction of their vessel and protect the lives of its passengers as well as themselves.

Similarly, history instructors face an equally dangerous journey attempting to navigate through a frigid ocean of social media technologies. Without certain precautions and safeguards, using social media in teaching can lead to the sinking of students' self esteem, trust in their peers or instructors, and even the professor's own career. Offensive comments and inappropriate photos are jagged blocks of ice just waiting to tear a hole in the side of your smooth-sailing classroom environment.

The key to safely traversing through social media requires that history instructors first take the time to set guidelines for themselves, and their students.

1. As an instructor, how much information do you want to share with your students? Remember, whatever you share with them online, can be sent to anyone. If you are thinking of using social media such as Facebook in a course, perhaps create a separate account for instruction that has a clean-cut version of your life. That way students get to see professional historian you--not the close-friends/family version (that has an awkward photograph your wife took while you were watching TV in sweatpants). Just imagine what some disgruntled students could do with that! "Iceberg, right ahead!"

2. When using social media sites for educational purposes, such as Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, make sure to check privacy settings. Who do you want your audience to be? If it is every historian with access to a computer, by all means set it to public. Usually, however, your audience is just your students. In that case, make these sites private and only invite students in your class into your social circle (or provide them with a password you change every semester). Remember that some historical debates turn into theoretical arguments or counter-factual history. You probably do not want your name attached to a conversation with a student where you are forced to explain what would the U.S. be like today if the Nazis won World War II. "Iceberg, right ahead!"

3. Always set guidelines for students regarding what is acceptable to post, and what is not acceptable to post on social media sites. Better yet, have students sign a contract where they agree to a set of rules and consequences for breaking them. For example, if students were posting pictures to an Instagram account regarding Women's history, the last thing you would want to see is a sexually-explicit photograph from a student who thought it was funny. A clear rule set beforehand with clear consequences for its breaking can avoid--you got it--"Iceberg right ahead!"

With careful planning and precautions, social media can be used to enhance and speed the learning process in history courses. By using the above steps, every history instructor can navigate around the deadly icebergs and guide their students along the semester safely.

Good luck!

Setting Sail: A Voyage into the Unknown of History and Social Media

We have all been there before. It is the first day of class in your high school or college history course. The professor walks in and sets up everything. What will he teach like? Is her material as boring as her syllabus? Do I really need to take this class to begin my career path in *Insert "any field but History" here*?

Then it happens, your teacher begins in a slow, monotone voice: "Today we are going to talk about some of the first colonies in America. Jamestown, which was founded in..." You watch the instructor grab a piece of chalk and begin writing dates on the board while speaking to the chalkboard. You have already looked up at the clock realizing you are only five minutes into class. SIGH. Just like that, 80% of your peers (including you) realize that you are in for another long, dry, boring semester about a topic that has never seemed to interest you in the first place. 

On top of that, your teacher seems to be one of those "old school" types--no powerpoint slides, no videos, no pictures, no mention of how history relates to your 21st-century world, nothing to catch your attention. Nothing to generate passion in history. 

This is the definition of a bad history class. We have all been there before. 

As history instructors, we can do better. This blog is about exploring the ways we can connect with students on their level--via social media. It will attempt to pedagogically take history classes out of the past (no pun intended) and into the present. 

We will journey together through the next few weeks exploring how to use some of the most popular social media tools in education such as YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Tumblr, and many others.

We will critically examine these social media devices in the hopes of finding better ways to relate history to our students. They want to be engaged. They want to learn. They simply need instructors who know how to speak in a language they understand. Social media can (and hopefully will be) our Rosetta Stone.

Bon Voyage!