From: IN%"HISTORY@PSUVM.BITNET" "History Discussion Forum" 30-AUG-1993 10:12:11.74 To: IN%"HISTORY@PSUVM.BITNET" "Multiple recipients of list HISTORY" CC: Subj: Communicating with the Past Return-path: <@WVNVM.WVNET.EDU:owner-history@PSUVM.PSU.EDU> Received: from WVNVM.WVNET.EDU (MAILER@WVNVM) by muvms6.wvnet.edu (PMDF #2995 ) id <01H2CPMD2AY80000MR@muvms6.wvnet.edu>; Mon, 30 Aug 1993 10:12:04 EDT Received: from WVNVM.BITNET (NJE origin LISTSERV@WVNVM) by WVNVM.WVNET.EDU (LMail V1.1d/1.7f) with BSMTP id 8656; Mon, 30 Aug 1993 10:08:52 -0400 Date: 30 Aug 1993 14:09:24 +0000 (GMT) From: Wigo Skramm Subject: Communicating with the Past Sender: History Discussion Forum To: Multiple recipients of list HISTORY Reply-to: History Discussion Forum Message-id: <01H2CPMD2AYA0000MR@muvms6.wvnet.edu> Organization: Local History Resource Centre Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Comments: Warning -- original Sender: tag was NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU COMMUNICATING WITH THE PAST Electronic mail and electronic communication in History Background The combination of History and futuristic technology like electronic mail seems at first sight strange. Perhaps History more than most subjects has been associated with a text book approach, which, in the popular imagination at least, has concentrated on history writ large - the history of kings, nations and empires; of wars and world events. This view of History, however, is itself becoming part of the past. In the modern treatment of History there is an increasing emphasis on the local and the everyday; on the daily lives of the ordinary people as well as on the exploits of their rulers. This is a History which cannot be read in text books alone, it is not always written history at all, but is stored in local archives and materials, is revealed in the local landscape and is held, above all in the minds and memories of local people. It is also a history which can be elucidated from raw historical data such as local census information. It is an approach to History which brings learners closer to the living blood of the past itself. If this history is largely unwritten, or is written by local people for a mainly local audience, and if there is to be comparison between different local areas, then a means of communication between these areas must be found. In this way a local approach to History avoids the pitfall of becoming merely parochial: through comparison with the historical experience of other communities, and especially with those in other countries, learners become aware of both the uniqueness of their own national history and of similarities and parallels in other countries. The Aims of the Project Our aim is to bring together both teachers and learners of History through the medium of electronic mail and electronic conferencing. Unlike other forms of communication such as telephone and fax which allow only one to one communication, electronic conferencing allows interaction between several schools. Besides being fast, electronic mail and conferencing give a real sense of immediacy - questions, answers and suggestions fly between different people on the network within split seconds rather than days. This is especially important when working with younger learners for whom time delays can easily lead to loss of interest. A link is already well established between Scotland and Norway: two countries with much in common. They share a similar geographical position and religious heritage, and are both characterised by the relative isolation of many of their communities. Work has been started comparing local communities in Akershus County in Norway and Grampian Region in Scotland. A small number of schools have become involved so far, but interest is high, and already striking historical similarities are emerging. The study and comparison of such communities can have many aspects: comparisons based on the study of census data; following the historical development of individual communities through time and comparing them; comparing what happened locally to what was happening nationally and internationally. History can be brought alive through the study of the everyday detail of ordinary people's lives: their names, their work, the number of children they had, their housing, the clothes they wore and the food they ate; their music and pastimes; and most importantly, the ways in which these changed over time. In addition, one of the major benefits of the project so far, though not one of its aims, has been the way in which working relationships have built up between its participants, in spite of the lack of face to face contact. Electronic mail is far from being a depersonalised form of communication. How you can get involved The work we are doing is in its infancy, and its continuation depends on you! We need your participation and your ideas. If you would like to get involved, or are interested in discussing possibilities, get in touch with one of the contacts listed below by post, telephone, fax or email. Contacts Wigo Skramm is Project Manager at the Local History Resource Centre, Romerike in Norway. Wigo has worked extensively both with electronic mail and with the use of census data in electronic format in support of teaching and learning history. You can contact him at the following address: Lokalhistorisk Ressurssenter Kirkevien 97 N-1900 Fetsund Norway Tel: +47 6388 1500 Fax: +47 6388 4405 Campus 2000 Mailbox: ynp128 Internet addresses: Bergen by Byte wskraamm@.bbb.no U. of Oslo wigo@ulrik.uio.no SKODA Wigo_skraamm@skole-kom.uni-c.dk David Morley is Information Technology Development Officer at the Resources Centre, Aberdeen, Scotland. David is involved both in the educational use of electronic mail and with providing schools with access to on-line databases. He is involved in Grampian Region's International Project (GRIP). You can contact him at the following address: Resources Centre Belmont Street Aberdeen AB1 1JH Tel: +44 224 646612 Fax: +44 224 636480 Campus 2000 Mailbox: 01:YMP002 Internet addresses: Bergen by Byte dmorley@bbb.no CIX dmorley@cix.compulink.co.uk GreenNet montage@gn.apc.org Compuserve 100065,31 Wigo and David have been cooperating recently in setting up electronic mail links between Norway and Scotland using the Norwegian electronic mail and conferencing system Bergen by Byte. These links reached their culmination on May 6th of this year when pupils from Norway and Scotland who had been communicating using electronic mail saw each other face to face for the first time. This was acheived using a live video-phone link, which enabled the children to talk to each other almost as if they were in the same room. The link took place in front of a large audience in the Conference Centre in Aberdeen, and formed part of the exhibition for Grampian Region's International Project.