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Glad to see you write that "In future courses I plan to emphasize applications of history skills in society and the workplace, as well as digital skills like semantic search and publishing content online."
I found myself nodding when I saw in January 2008 that Philip Zelikow pointed to the value of looking at history from "a helicopter . . . 100 feet up" as opposed to 10,000 feet up."
http://hnn.us/roundup/comments/46155.html
History depends on records. When they discuss digital records, historians often focus on information sharing by archival institutions. They look at the end of the life cycle of records -- dissemination. What about the beginning of the life cycle of records? How often do academics discuss in the classroom how to balance or mitigate risks that surround the records on which historians rely for "helicopter" views?
Just the other day I read an article in the NYT about President Obama's efforts at transparency. One non-governmental observer suggested that some Cabinet meetings be streamed live. However, the reporter did not examine why the federal government traditionally has used the exemption which precludes release of some pre-decisional records under the Freedom of Information Act. (Over time, privacy and sensitivity erode and some such information is released from archival, non-current records.)
Reading the NYT piece and then your comments brought to mind what I think would be a great classroom exercise. Divide students into groups, All undertake the same assignment, one which requires persuasion and collaboration. In coming up with a topic, be sure to include elements involving specific, named people and issues with some ambiguity (no clearcut easy solutions or "good guys" and "bad guys.")
Tell half of the class they can discuss the project only by using certain social media/web 2.0 mechanisms, i.e., publicly readable Twitter accounts, blogs, and Facebook pages. Tell the other half they may use any of the above but that they also can strategize and exchange thoughts through private email messages, unrecorded face to face discussion, and telephone conversations. After completion of the project, discuss the outcome with the class. Examine factors which lead to greater candor and factors that lead to or minimize grandstanding and posturing. Discuss whether the communications methods affected the quality of decisions made and the overall quality of the product. Discuss whether members of the more restricted group were tempted to seek out backchannel methods that bypassed the authorized means of communications. (I'm thinking of moves similar to the use of private RNC accounts rather than whitehouse.gov accounts.)
Glad to see you're thinking about practical matters of this sort!
Best,
Maarja
I found myself nodding when I saw in January 2008 that Philip Zelikow pointed to the value of looking at history from "a helicopter . . . 100 feet up" as opposed to 10,000 feet up."
http://hnn.us/roundup/comments/46155.html
History depends on records. When they discuss digital records, historians often focus on information sharing by archival institutions. They look at the end of the life cycle of records -- dissemination. What about the beginning of the life cycle of records? How often do academics discuss in the classroom how to balance or mitigate risks that surround the records on which historians rely for "helicopter" views?
Just the other day I read an article in the NYT about President Obama's efforts at transparency. One non-governmental observer suggested that some Cabinet meetings be streamed live. However, the reporter did not examine why the federal government traditionally has used the exemption which precludes release of some pre-decisional records under the Freedom of Information Act. (Over time, privacy and sensitivity erode and some such information is released from archival, non-current records.)
Reading the NYT piece and then your comments brought to mind what I think would be a great classroom exercise. Divide students into groups, All undertake the same assignment, one which requires persuasion and collaboration. In coming up with a topic, be sure to include elements involving specific, named people and issues with some ambiguity (no clearcut easy solutions or "good guys" and "bad guys.")
Tell half of the class they can discuss the project only by using certain social media/web 2.0 mechanisms, i.e., publicly readable Twitter accounts, blogs, and Facebook pages. Tell the other half they may use any of the above but that they also can strategize and exchange thoughts through private email messages, unrecorded face to face discussion, and telephone conversations. After completion of the project, discuss the outcome with the class. Examine factors which lead to greater candor and factors that lead to or minimize grandstanding and posturing. Discuss whether the communications methods affected the quality of decisions made and the overall quality of the product. Discuss whether members of the more restricted group were tempted to seek out backchannel methods that bypassed the authorized means of communications. (I'm thinking of moves similar to the use of private RNC accounts rather than whitehouse.gov accounts.)
Glad to see you're thinking about practical matters of this sort!
Best,
Maarja
Re: suggested assignment for students
(#133500)
by Sterling Fluharty on April 9, 2009 at 11:18 AM
by Sterling Fluharty on April 9, 2009 at 11:18 AM
Thanks for the idea. It would be interesting to adapt it so that students learned the value of microhistory. So many of them think that history is a set of facts that are set in stone. I think the students would enjoy learning how to find documents that change our views of history.
Re: suggested assignment for students
(#133510)
by Maarja Krusten on April 9, 2009 at 1:15 PM
by Maarja Krusten on April 9, 2009 at 1:15 PM
Thanks for the nice response. One can talk to people about how a U.S. President use Cabinet meetings -- Eisenhower to hash out issues, other Presidents for more pro forma meetings with details hashed out elsewhere informally. But how much sense do they get of how decision making and deliberations work? And how personalities and character types affect them?
And why sunshine can be an aid or a hindrance, depending on the group dynamic, the issues under discussion, and so forth?
Web 2.0 provides wonderful opportunities for students to debate issues, collaborate on products (I should have mentioned Wikis as well), and to figure out what inhibits communications and what encourages it. What intimdates people. What makes them feel free to drop the masks and say what is on their mind, in a way that moves issues forward. What leads people to posture or grandstand and what minimizes such behaviors. How to handle dominant personalities in groups. How to make sure quieter voices are heard, not just the loudest ones. What is the value of safety valves and non-public means of venting. Why people look for workarounds and backchannels if they are restricted to certain means of communications. The same things come up in most workplaces, including within the White House. One can read about the Bush administration, the Eisenhower administration, whatever. But until the world of web 2.0, there weren't many ways to experience such things in the virtual world.
Posted on personal time
And why sunshine can be an aid or a hindrance, depending on the group dynamic, the issues under discussion, and so forth?
Web 2.0 provides wonderful opportunities for students to debate issues, collaborate on products (I should have mentioned Wikis as well), and to figure out what inhibits communications and what encourages it. What intimdates people. What makes them feel free to drop the masks and say what is on their mind, in a way that moves issues forward. What leads people to posture or grandstand and what minimizes such behaviors. How to handle dominant personalities in groups. How to make sure quieter voices are heard, not just the loudest ones. What is the value of safety valves and non-public means of venting. Why people look for workarounds and backchannels if they are restricted to certain means of communications. The same things come up in most workplaces, including within the White House. One can read about the Bush administration, the Eisenhower administration, whatever. But until the world of web 2.0, there weren't many ways to experience such things in the virtual world.
Posted on personal time
Re: suggested assignment for students
(#133511)
by Maarja Krusten on April 9, 2009 at 1:38 PM
by Maarja Krusten on April 9, 2009 at 1:38 PM
I meant to add that T. Mills Kelly did some great work at Edwired a year or two ago, looking at H-Net's moderated discussion lists. I've long been interested in what affects deliberations, among the subjects I study (Presidents and their advisors) and in my own Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 interactions. (Lots of trial and errer in the latter.) Glad you and Kelly are interested in this.
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by Maarja Krusten on April 9, 2009 at 8:09 AM