<html> <head> <style></style> </head> <body class='hmmessage'><div dir='ltr'> <div> </div>in all the world, the story is told by those who won the war ... Slavery and Civil War? It has to do? Activity Library should bring: "Uncle Tom's Cabin" ... <div>> Date: Fri, 24 Jun 2011 11:34:23 -0500 > From: nicestep@gmail.com > To: sverma@sfsu.edu > CC: ndoiron@andrew.cmu.edu; gonzalo@laptop.org; yamaplos@gmail.com; iaep@lists.sugarlabs.org; support-gang@lists.laptop.org > Subject: Re: [IAEP] Historian David McCullough endorses constructionism? > > In the United States teaching History is very political. A little > less than half the country believes that our civil war had nothing to > do with slavery, that our founding fathers were deeply religious and > wanted to create a Christian nation, and many other things that are > not true. School boards may require children to be taught these > things, and they will not approve textbooks that have anything > negative to say about our history. As a result the approved textbooks > of U.S. History are very dull reading. > > If someone was foolish enough to allow me to teach a History class to > impressionable children there is a wealth of good material in Project > Gutenberg and the Internet Archive that I could have them do reports > on. Thomas Paine, for instance, is considered a hero to the > conservatives here for writing the pamphlet Common Sense. Their heads > would explode if they read some of his later writings, and PG has > them. > > I do think that a U.S. History class could be valuable and enjoyable > for children if it was allowed to be. > > James Simmons > > > On Fri, Jun 24, 2011 at 11:11 AM, Sameer Verma <sverma@sfsu.edu> wrote: > > On Fri, Jun 24, 2011 at 2:05 AM, Yamandu Ploskonka <yamaplos@gmail.com> wrote: > >> It is a nagging feeling I have that in the lack of understanding of cause > >> and effect lies a lot of what is wrong everywhere, especially in countries > >> that do not seem to be able ever to get out of the "subdesarrollo" > >> (underdevelopment) - and also help us to avoid debt ... > >> > >> I see History and Science as venues where cause and effect can be learned, > >> understood, and hopefully become part of what people are empowered with. > >> > >> Interactive History can make that subject be useful, beyond the traditional > >> memorizing of dates and events, and actually start reflections of the "what > >> if?" type > >> > >> > > > > Yama, > > > > The are very good observations indeed. Not only does interactive > > history provide context, it provides a flow that explains how the > > world came about to being what it is today (not good or bad, but just > > how it is). > > > > Growing up in India, we were told how Sanskrit is the mother of all > > languages worldwide and nothing was ever before it. This is of course > > a very ethnocentric view, and is quite common around the world, but we > > were not allowed to question it. We also did not get to ask the how or > > why. For instance, learning about the origins of Brahmi script, which > > is considered to be the root of many South Asian languages, is very > > interesting because it connects Brahmi to Phoenecian and/or Aramaic > > (not to be confused with the language Amharic). Brahmi did not happen > > in a vacuum! Languages travel, and the world is a lot more fluid than > > a political map :-) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahmi_script > > > > I also find that learning about cause and effect helps in > > understanding the difference between causality and correlation - > > perhaps the most important lesson I learned in my doctoral program :-) > > > > cheers, > > Sameer > > > >> > >> On 06/19/2011 11:19 PM, Gonzalo Odiard wrote: > >> > >> Good reading, thanks. > >> > >> Gonzalo > >> > >> On Sun, Jun 19, 2011 at 5:45 PM, Nicholas Doiron <ndoiron@andrew.cmu.edu> > >> wrote: > >>> > >>> This interview in the Wall Street Journal discusses history education and > >>> a couple of interesting, interactive lessons which could be programmed. We > >>> don't have many history activities in Sugar > >>> > >>> > >>> http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304432304576369421525987128.html?mod=WSJ_hps_sections_opinion > >>> > >>> -- > >>> Nick Doiron > >>> > >>> _______________________________________________ > >>> IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!) > >>> IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org > >>> http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep > >> > >> > >> _______________________________________________ > >> IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!) > >> IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org > >> http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep > >> > >> _______________________________________________ > >> IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!) > >> IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org > >> http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep > >> > > _______________________________________________ > > IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!) > > IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org > > http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep > > > _______________________________________________ > IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!) > IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org > http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep </div> </div></body> </html>