My Thoughts on Digital Primary Sources

          I believe that there has never been a better or more exciting time than today to teach history because of the awesome opportunities available to teachers and students via digital primary sources.  Digital primary sources are basically historical documents and media—diaries, images and photographs, songs, posters, etc.—that can be accessed using technology and, most notably, the internet.  The availability of these sources is a huge asset to a history classroom for several reasons: first, they can pique student interest because they are often more fascinating, provocative, and personal than a history text; second, they allow us to look into the lives of “ordinary” people not found in textbooks, giving students the ability to experience history in a unique way; and, third, they give teachers the means to regularly expose students to important historical skills like analyzing multiple perspectives and “reading” historical images.

            I definitely plan to use digital primary sources on a regular basis in my classroom.  To do so, however, I must keep in mind that students need to learn the basics of a topic before they can effectively interpret primary sources.  I think that a solid pedagogical approach would be to begin class with a lecture on a topic (teacher-centered instruction), then give students a related primary source document and have them work individually or in groups to interpret it (student-centered instruction).  Or, if the students have already received the background information on a topic, they could complete a structured web activity to explore multiple digital sources.  Whether the activity is more teacher-centered or more student-centered, I know that the keys to student understanding are structure and scaffolding.  By giving students guiding questions that progress from basic to higher-level thinking, I can help them analyze primary sources—essentially, I can teach them to think like historians.