This semester I will focus on History, Grades 9-12, Content Standard 3: Historical Themes. Manipulation of graphic images using gimp or photo shop, gives students the opportunity to use digital imagery within the classroom while developing the knowledge of key historical concepts. Students will be able to research the geography and culture of various themes from history, select pictures that they feel represent the culture and combine the themes into one shot. By creating “collages” students can include famous people, famous buildings or even a photograph of themselves. The image that I created on my blog for class, could stand as a model of what students can create with a little history and a lot of imagination.
Inspiration provides both teachers and students the opportunity to share ideas and summarize information. Inspiration directly supports the standard thread which emphasizes that students “describe the multiple intersecting causes of events.” By using Inspiration, students can create “idea webs” which examine different causes and effects of a historical event. Students can also use different pictures to represent their ideas, as well as, use the links feature to provide information on the Internet about the topics.
