Blog #7 end of class review/ project update

In terms of my individual project, I am done. Not just editing, not just fine tuning, done. I am really proud of the pavilion I chose and the online experience I have created. I feel like it is an easily accessible online experience without being boring or bland. I am actually excited because I would love to one day see how it could transition to the web because I think it would be something I would enjoy doing myself. Overall, I have really enjoyed doing this project, it not only incorporated history but it also pushed me to be creative and think in ways I wouldn't have before.

In regard to the class itself, it has been a wonderful learning experience. I have learned about the virtuous circle, the digital world and how learning can transcend multiple levels. It has given me a new perspective on learning and has actually prompted me to sign up for another public history course. I also enjoyed the group project because it took our individual to a whole other level which showed me the endless possibilities in terms of teaching. I am really excited about what I have learned in this course. At the beginning of this process, I was really unsure of the multi-media aspect of learning but with the discussions and research we have engaged in has turned me into a believer. I think that the digital world has endless possibilities for educators who are willing to utilize this limitless form of learning.

Blog # 6 Museum visit

Originally, I had planned to go to the Holocaust museum in St. Petersburg. However, I changed that initially selection and decided to take my boyfriend, who is new to the area, to Ft. Christmas. This place has held a special place in my heart since childhood. When I was in the 5th grade my entire class went to Ft. Christmas for a weekend and camped within the fort's walls. During the day we listened to old indian stories, made butter, and participated in various crafts. I remember it being one of the best field trips I had ever been on and a contributing factor as to why I chose to pursue a career in history. This fond memory guided me back to Ft. Christmas for the first time since my childhood and I was surprised to see it through an adults eyes. The re-created fort is impressive with its massive walls and aged wood. As I entered the fort I stopped at each sign, reading the description of the fort, its history and it's significance. The thing I always liked about Ft. Christmas is not only the fact that they re-created the fort, but they placed the museum within the fort, giving it an authentic feeling. Each corner of the fort housed a museum that focused on a different component of the fort's history and in many cases local history as well. I was amazed at how many artifacts were donated by local citizens and how entertwined the fort's history was to the local community. In one wing of the museum, there was a room dedicated to photos of the original settlers and their families. I was impressed with the well kept chronology and was interested in who the people in the photos were.

Though impressive, the fort is not the only museum component on the property. Once my boyfriend and I left the fort, we walked farther back and discovered a re-created township with homes, stores and government buildings created to represent what Ft. Christmas looked like. I was really amazed at how well the, "town" was mantained and its authenticity. Not only did the outside look like that of a frontier pioneer settlement, the interior of each building was decorated with items from the era, again, donated by the local community. Though I have no interest whatsoever in colonial history, I am an American cultural focus and I loved the magnitude of artifacts that reflect the daily lives of the average person in the area. Another facet that I found interesting was the Native American representation at the fort. The museum had an extensive photo collection and artifacts representing what use to be a native population. As someone ignorant to the history of Native Americans, it was an informative section which presented me with a better understanding of the region.

Though I loved my experience at Ft. Christmas, I was saddened by the lack of traffic and resources that the fort has. I think that with a total, "face lift" Ft. Christmas could become a staple for the local community and a popular tourist attraction. I think the first thing that would add to the overall experience is interactive. The most technology the fort has right now is a 1980's movie on the Native Americans that runs on a loop. For the fort itself I think that the museum should install a touch screen so that visitors can touch a map of the area and see images of what it looked like then and how it looks now with a synopsis on the changes that have occured, showing the growth of the local community. I think that in the war memorbile section, there should be a simulation in which visitors can experience what it's like to shoot a musket from the era. The ability to smell the gunpowder and feel how much backlash there was on a musket would be a lot more interesting then just seeing a musket in a case. With technology like the wii, simulations are no longer unattainable.

Another really interesting change the museum should utilize is digitizing their photo archive. One of my favorite parts of the museum was seeing the people and the family tree of each family in the community. However, their was no information besides the name of the family member and for some, when they died. I think that if the museum had a touch screen with all the photos uploaded, guests could select a families last name and pull up photos of each member with a more detailed background on who they were, what they did and what their significance was to the community. This sort of interaction allows people to feel more connected with the Ft. Christmas community and gives a better understanding of life in the area.

At the end of our adventure, I asked my boyfriend what he thought of the museum and his response was, " it's cool." Though he enjoyed the fort, it did not resenate with him, nor did it leave him with a feeling that he may come back. I believe the fort does not just symbolize the second seminole war but the history of a town that has long been forgotten. Christmas does have a history and I believe that the fort represents that but with lackluster displays and uninterest from the community, it is doomed to perish. The fort staff should look into getting grants and aid from the state to revive this local piece of history. At 20 I still love Ft. Christmas and I worry that it may not be around for my children to experience the same things I did there without an overhaul in its displays and appeal to the public. If I have learned anything this semester it is that museums, especially small, locally based ones like Ft. Christmas, depend on the people in the community to care. Without the community invested in its own history, no one else will care about it.

Blog #5 educational video games

In our last class meeting the discussion of educational video games came up. This is a topic I never gave to much thought to prior to taking this class because I viewed video games as an outside form of entertainment or the ancient, boring games I was forced to play in high school. However, while Dr. Walters was playing Grand Theft Auto on the xbox360 I realized that video games could be so much more. Sadly, the problem with educational video games is that they are often 10 to 20 years behind the technological times or they are so one dimensional and boring that they rarely peak a students interests. I believe that with the easy accessibility of quality graphics and a new movement towards a more technologically driven classroom, cheesy educational games could be a thing of the past. For instance, if I was teaching a course on pioneer expansion to the western United States, instead of using an archaic game like the Oregon Trail that often bores students due to its lackluster graphics and elementary components, I could create or use a interactive game that utilizes the graphics of a game like Grand Theft Auto with elements that allow students to build their own pioneer experience complete with various characters that would have gone out west and the different realistic problems they would have faced. That sort of game gets students invested in the history of American expansion while still being entertained and interested in the storyline. I believe educators must realize that they are dealing with a digital generation that has grown up with computers, television, video games, graphics and all sorts of other technological gadgets that have become available in this day and age.

In regards to the two games we were asked to view, Wolf Quest and the Canadian history game, I was severly disappointed in both of them for differing reasons. Wolf Quest was painfully boring and left me with little gained knowledge about a wolf. Not only did the game take forever to upload onto my computer, once I uploaded it I was shocked by the poor quality of the graphics. For a game that was released in 2007 the graphics looked like my mortal combat game from the original play station in 1995. Educational video games often fall prey to the lack of stimulating graphics or a sub par visual vision. In order to sell a game like Wolf Quest to a student who has an xbox at home, the graphics must be extremely good. Another problem I had with the game was how boring it was. There was no story line, all the wolf could do was hunt, urinate, howl, and run. Now as a 20 year old student with a pretty extensive attention span I lost interest within five minutes, I can only imagine how long my 14 year old brother would last. It would have been much better if the creators would have installed missions that the wolves need to accomplish or a storyline that interested the user.

The second game, Canada, a history, was equally atrocious but for different reasons. As I went to go download the game I realized that I actually had to download another type of game/server called Civilization III that I had to pay for. Now I know that educational games cost money to make but as Dr. Walters pointed out, an educational game that received money from a grant should not charge its users. Plus, if I was a teacher wanting to do a segment on Canadian history in an interactive format I would have loved to use something like this game but would have had to resort to another method due to the fact that it costs money to use. Also, when I went to you tube to search the game all I could really find was promotional videos that didn't really allow me to see all the different aspects of the game. If an education game costs money, there should at least be a free trial run in which people can experience the game first hand before buying it. I think if they had done something like that there would have been a much higher response to the game.

Overall, I think that educational video games are wonderful tools for future educators. With new technology coming out all the time and a higher demand for interactive education, I believe interactive video games can become a great teaching tool to transmit knowledge to students. However, I also think that in order to make the digital transition into the classroom successful, educators need to become more modern with the graphics they use and more interesting and complex with the storyline development. They need to remember that most of the time their target audience will be the young, digital generation that has high standards in regards to technology.

Blog # 4--picture archives

For this weeks assignment, I decided to use www.dailynewspix.com as my online picture archive. I don't have a lot of background with picture archives, I usually use something like google images or my own personal collection of photos for presentations or anything I need to integrate a photo into. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the cohesiveness and overall layout of the New York Daily's photo archive. The home page is easy to navigate and inviting to a digitally uneducated user. When I opened the web page it has a column streaming down the left side which has categories of photos, from crime to humor and transportation, virtually anything dealing with New York City and the photos that were published by the paper. As I scrolled farther down I was happy to see that they have a most popular stream of photo archives in which you can browse what other visitors enjoy looking at the websites most popular photos. Intrigued, I clicked the crime link and was happy to see a easy layout of various pictures that were of a reasonable size and clarity. The really cool part though was the ability to slide the mouse over each individual photos and a a small blurb about the photos caption, print date and the location that the photo was taken. I really liked the organization and cohesiveness of the website and I would definitely use it again.

In regard to the article by Claudio Fogu entitled, "Digitalizing Historical Consciousness" the topic is something we have heavily debated in class. I liked the ease in which Fogu writes, allowing someone with or without a public history background to understand his thesis and main arguments. It was really interesting to me when he described historical, "video games" of the future like Holocaust II and September 11th, the idea of these horrifying historic events, many still fresh in the minds of people today, being turned into a virtual simulation or video game is intriguing and yet a bit upsetting to me. Fogu makes relevant arguments in that the development and production of simulations like this could open a visually stimulating and educated method of teaching these events to students who have grown up in a digitized world and as a future teacher, the idea of reaching students, on any level, and transmitting historical knowledge to them is extremely enticing. However, as a person who witnessed the events of 9/11 and has visited Auschwitz, it is unsettling to me that these sobering events would be turned into some sort of game. Fogu also makes another valid point in that the digitization of history ushers in the idea that we are, " no longer interested in what happened but in what could happen." This idea totally contradicts the whole reason why I study history and the validity of history in an educated forum. I am still conflicted on the idea of digital history but I am open to more arguments and ideas on the topic and I hope that it becomes a widely discussed issue among historians and academicians.

Museum choice

I have decided to go to the St. Petersburg Holocaust Museum for my assignment. It's a museum I have always wanted to attend and I hope it lives up to my expectations.

Blog # 3

As I viewed the JFK assassination simulation, I pondered the question of whether this simulation was just that, a historic simulation allowing people to gain a better appreciation for the assassination of JFK or if it was an exploitative video game. One of the things I like most about YouTube is the user comments under each video that is available. After viewing the JFK simulation, I scrolled down to see what the general audience thought of the game. Some were extremely offended by its content and protested the distribution and use of it as a video game, siting that it is disrespectful to the former presidents memory. However, as I continued to read the comments, I realized that most people seemed to understand the historic content of the game and were less bothered with the assassination of JFK and more impressed with the angle options and high quality graphics. Though I am not a parent, I have a younger brother who loves video and computer games and as his older sister I wouldn't have a problem with him playing the JFK game if it peaked his interest in history or the life and death of JFK. I also know that though he is young, he is, like most kids his age, intelligent enough to decipher whether something is real or imaginary.

I think with the growth of technology, historians and video game production companies could utilize one an other's skills. With the introduction of things like the JFK simulation I believe that other visual simulations of historic moments could be utilized in the classroom as learning tools for students. Though I would never want something as violent as the JFK simulation to be introduced into the public school system I believe that programs like this could be revolutionary in giving an interactive and detailed view of historic moments in time. I also believe that the moment we start censoring things because they make us, " squeamish" or uncomfortable, we limit our ability to learn and grow from all forms of education. When I think of censorship I always think of the debate among educators in the public school system as to whether The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is appropriate for students in high school or not. I think that it is a literary masterpiece, written by one of the most influential writers of American literature and to ban it from the English curriculum would be a great disservice to students.

Overall, though I understand the concern by some when it comes to the JFK simulation game, I believe that its intention was not malicious or meant to degrade the memory of John F. Kennedy. However, I think that it is a use and interesting visual aid for those curious about the conspiracy theories surrounding the assassination or for historians that may want to further explore the events of that historic moment. I also believe that the JFK simulation is the first in a long line of historically based games and visual aids.

Blog # 2

While looking for a commercial website to review, I stumbled upon the barbie website at http://www.barbie.com/. Though I initially brushed it off as a childish and irrelevant website, the bright colors and interesting designs peaked my curiosity. As I explored the website further, I was stunned by what I found, in what appeared to be a simplistic website was a plethora of interactive models, creative layouts and personalized stories. I was drawn into the interactive, " design your barbie" section and was duly impressed. Not only could I choose the skin, eye, and hair color of my barbie, I could dress her in a wide array of fashions, add accessories, and even give her a name. At the end of the interactive design, I was even given the option of loading my newly designed barbie onto my computer to set as a desktop image. This was extremely entertaining to me and I even went on to design two or three other barbies. The ease in which I could navigate the website was great, it gave me more to actually use the resources on the website as opposed to spending ten to fifteen minutes trying to figure out how to do various activities on the website. I was impressed by the wide array of options on the website as well, if I got bored with creating a barbie I could design a room, create a fashion show or give barbie a makeover. The graphics and music that they use is interesting and draws in a visitor for longer than a mere minute or two, and I must admit, I have even gone back in my spare time because I liked it so much.

The second commercial website that I went to was www.amctv.com/originals/madmen. After seeing it in class I was curious to know more about the show and its characters. I was shocked to see how many resources they had the revolved around one show. When you get to the website there is a bar at the top with 24 different interactive and informative options pertaining to the show. As I explored further, I discovered that I could create my own mad men character, look up popular cocktails from the 1960's and even take a quiz which determined which mad men character I was most like; I'm Betty Draper. Fun and informative, the website gives in interesting glimpses into life in corporate America during the 1960's and it does a fantastic job of promoting the show without being overbearing or obnoxious. Another factor I found appealing was the iphone, facebook, and twitter options linked to the mad men website. By just linking up to the website via twitter or facebook, I can get updates about the show, cast, and more. In such a technologically driven society, a tool like that on a website can make your product or show mobile which allows the website to reach a much broader audience.

One museum that I have always wanted to go to in Florida is the St. Petersburg Holocaust museum. When presented with this assignment I figured it would be a great opportunity to check out their website and see what they have to offer. However, when I opened the link I was totally underwhelmed by the website. Not only is it in boring, monochromatic colors, their is no interactivity to the website at all. Though disappointed I figured that maybe through a more detailed exploration of their website I might be more impressed but I was sorely mistaken. The description of their exhibits are paltry at best, they are brief and most of them only had one picture and the picture offered wasn't even of the exhibit. The website as a whole is a totally let down and I think in order to captivate a larger audience, small museums like the St. Pete Holocaust museum, should use the web, particularly their website, as a cheap and efficient way to expand their visitor base and educate people about the holocaust.

First off, I think that the Holocaust museum should have a twitter and facebook component. Something this simple would give visitors an opportunity to become more connected to the museum and its events. For instance, this is the last month that they will have the Bielski Brothers exhibit, if they had a twitter and facebook option, they could send out a message letting people know that this really interesting traveling exhibit is about to leave town. They could also reach a younger audience by utilizing facebook and twitter which would help educate a younger age bracket. I also think they should have a brighter website, though the material is somber, something like a calming nature theme or a beautiful array of photos and quotes pertaining to the subject matter would be more visually appealing than the cold, sterile website layout they currently use. In order to captivate a visitor of their website, they should have more interactive components. Maybe they could have a interactive section in which visitors could click on a persons picture and get a blurb of who they were, what happened to them and where they are now. They could also have an interactive component to their exhibits online, allowing people to take a virtual tour of certain areas or be able to virtually explore the inside of the boxcar they have on display. These tools will allow the museum to draw in more visitors and get a better response online.

Though I still want to go to the museum, I am more apprehensive now because the website was so underwhelming and limited in information about what I will be seeing. In a technological time like this, there is no reason that a museum, even a small one, cant have a wonderful website that allows people to really connect with the museum and motivate them to come visit. Also, I think that a website is such a smart and economically efficient way to advertise a museum without a enormous budget. With so many t.v shows, corporations, movies, and other commercial websites employing interactive components to their websites and making them easy to navigate, I still don't understand why academia, specifically the museum world, has not caught on to this brilliant marketing and educating strategy.