Many people have a negative view of the use of videos in the classroom. However, research shows that properly chosen video clips have educational benefits. The keys are to keep the videos short (preferably under 10 minutes), to make them interesting, and to present the information from a different perspective. A plethora of YouTube channels exist that provide teachers with pre-recorded videos for use in the classroom. Below, I’ll list my favorite channels that put a different spin on history, allowing for more critical thinking on the part of the students.

Benefits of the Use of Videos in the Classroom

• Leads to more efficient memory recall
• Addresses varied learning styles
• Engages students in critical thinking
• Allows students to “visit” past events and cultures

My Favorite YouTube Channels

These are my favorite channels in part because they provide some unconventional views about history. The screenshots all look similar, but I’m providing them to give an idea of the playlists on each of the channels.

Alternate History Hub

Alternate History Hub is a channel entirely predicated upon the question “What if …?” This is a great site to get the students thinking about the consequences of specific actions and events. The videos show the creator’s prediction of how the world would be different if certain events had ended differently. This is a great starting point for the students to create a similar “What if…?” video.

The Cynical Historian

The Cynical Historian is a channel that is meant to be, in the words of the creator, “insightful and provocative.” My favorite part of this channel is the Based on a True Story playlist that compares movies to the actual events that inspired them. This is another channel that can be used as a springboard for students to create similar videos. Some of the videos are a little long, but they are interesting enough to hold the attention of the students.

Hip Hughes

Hip Hughes provides a slightly more conventional view of history than the previous two channels. I love this channel because it was created by an actual high school history teacher named Keith Hughes who has appeared on a number of History Channel programs. Hughes’ videos cover a number of social studies topics, but the primary focus in United States history and government. The videos are short and perfect for flipped instruction. His attempts at trying to be “hip” often miss the mark, but the videos are informative and entertaining.

Extra Credits

Extra Credits is not specifically designed for history, but the channel includes a playlist called Extra History that offers over 300 animated videos mostly about world history and events that shaped the world. The channel focuses on relatively obscure historical events and their impact. The videos are the ideal length (most under 10 minutes) for use in class or to use for flipped instruction.

Crash Course

Crash Course is perhaps the best known of the YouTube channels that provide historical content. The site was created by John Green (maybe better known as an author) and his brother Hank. John does the narration for most of the history videos. This channel provides excellent material, however it is at the bottom of my list for a few minor reasons. The videos are a little long (not too bad), the narration is very fast (hard to understand the first time), and the humor is often lost on high school students. This channel is probably better suited to older students.

Let’s be honest; a lot of kids dread school because, to them, it is boring and irrelevant. Teachers need to provide activities to address these issues. Game-based learning is an instructional method that is increasing in popularity. Kids like games because they are fun. But having fun is not enough. Many teachers are hesitant to embrace this method because they don’t see the advantages and good games are hard to find. I will address both of these issues.

Advantages of Game-Based Learning

• Engagement – Kids are more engaged because games are fun
• Motivation – The use of competition and rewards increases student desire to succeed
• Immediate Feedback – If kids make good choices, they advance or win the game. If they make a poor choice, there are immediate consequences. The avatar “dies”, goes broke, or has some other negative consequence.
• Student-centered – Avoid boring lectures where kids are passive recipients.
• Low-risk, High-reward – The worst that can happen is losing the game. There are few, if any, real-world consequences.

My Favorite Sites

ICivics

ICivics is a website that focuses on teaching citizenship and how the government functions. At the time of this writing, there are 21 games available. My favorite games for the classroom are “Win the White House” which is a great game to teach about running for President, and “Do I Have a Right?” in which students start a law firm that specializes in Constitutional Law. These games are a lot of fun, and kids really do learn. The site offers supplemental teacher materials, and it is free. Totally free.

Mission US

Mission US is designed for use in middle and high school US History classes. It revolves around transformational points in the development of the nation. A combination of interactive game-playing and primary source document analysis allow students to choose actions to take during specific eras. There are fewer games on this site and each is accessible through a link on the home page. This site also has plentiful resources to help teachers who are new at game-based learning. These games are not as fun as ICivics, but the combination of primary sources provides a deep learning experience. This site is also absolutely free. It does require an update version of Flash Player.

Minecraft Education Edition

Minecraft Education Edition is specifically designed to allow students the opportunity to collaborative construct their own “world”, recreate cities from the past, or participate in adventures through pre-constructed worlds. This game is a great way for teachers to incorporate collaboration, problem-solving, and digital citizenship into their instruction. The major drawback is that this site is NOT free. There is a free trial version, after which a subscription must be purchased.

By now, most teachers are familiar with the concept of flipping the classroom. The concept consists of watching the lecture portion of instruction outside of class, leaving more time for critical thinking activities during class. This model allows students to become self-directed learners. But like most instructional methods, it has it advantages and disadvantages; it is not for everybody. So here are few pros and cons of the flipped classroom. Later in this post, I have some tips to make it easier.

Pros

1. Allows for deeper exploration of subject matter
2. Provides more practical application in class
3. Promotes student collaboration
4. Lectures can be watched multiple times by students
5. Greater access to material by parents
6. Students work at their own pace

Cons

1. Requires significant time investment
2. Must trust students to come to class prepared
3. Testing can become problematic (See Pro #6)
4. May create or increase a digital divide

Tools for Flipping

If you’ve read this far, you probably have some interest in flipping your classroom. It is not a coincidence that the first item on the con list is time. The biggest concern of most teachers who flip the classroom is the time it takes to create lectures. Here are a couple of tools to help with this issue.

EdPuzzle

EdPuzzle is an website that allows teachers to access pre-made lectures from other sites such as Crash Course or Khan Academy. The site also allows teachers to embed their own questions into videos, holding their students accountable. The site also allows teachers to upload their own videos. The site is free for basic functionality.

Screencastify

For those with a little more time, or who want more control over the content, Screencastify is a screencasting extension that works with the Google Apps for Education. This extension will record the screen, webcam, or the screen with the webcam embedded in the corner of the screen. Teachers can use pre-existing slide shows or presentations and record their lecture, and save it all to Google Drive or share through Google Classroom. This takes longer than EdPuzzle, but is easier than creating all new lectures entirely from scratch.

Other sites you might want to check out

• Flipped Learning Global Initiative
• Flipped Learning Network

I am going to start this post with a disclaimer. I have never used any of these tools in my classroom, so I cannot vouch for their effectiveness. They look like they would be fun activities that could be used in a learner-active classroom. They are all free, at least for the basic functionality. 

Profile Publisher

Profile Publisher is a tool created by the people at ReadWriteThink with which students can generate mock social media profiles similar to Facebook for fictional characters or historical figures. This site is a great tool for students to improve communication skills using a multimodal format. Students can also work together to improve their collaboration skills. This is a web based program that does not require any software installation, but it does require access to Flash Player.

Nowcomment

Nowcomment is a site that is used as an online discussion board with the teacher as the discussion moderator.  Teachers can upload their own documents, divide their students into groups and subgroups, and create discussion questions for students to answer. This is great for social studies teachers for several reasons. They can use the discussion as a formative assessment of student knowledge. They can also use it as part of a flipped classroom by posting documents to read and discuss prior to class. All comments are stored for ease of access at a later date. And teachers can set a period of time when the discussion posts must be made. This looks like an interesting way to increase student engagement.

Comic Creator

Comic Creator is another online tool created by the folks at ReadWriteThink. On this site, students can use for pre-writing, pre- and post-reading, historical storytelling, and political cartoons, just to name a few activities. Students can choose a single panel up to a maximum of six panels for the comic. They can choose from various characters, backgrounds, and props to tell their stories. Students can then download and share their comics for feedback and assessment. This looks like a fun tool to incorporate creativity into social studies classes. Flash Player is required.

One of the most important yet challenging tasks of a history teacher is to move away from the memorization of facts and dates toward higher level historical thinking. Fortunately, there are several websites available to help us in this endeavor. One excellent free resource is the Stanford History Education Group website.

Reading Like a Historian section of this website contains almost 200 lessons practicing the skills of contextualization, sourcing, corroboration, periodization, and use of evidence. The Beyond the Bubble section contains History Assessments of Thinking (HATs) to use as either formative or summative assessment tools. This is a great source for teachers looking to use primary source analysis to improve historical thinking skills.

Welcome to my new blog about teaching social studies. I am starting this blog because I believe that in the digital age it is imperative for teachers to create an online presence through which we can communicate with each other. Blogging provides a medium through which we can share our experiences, both successes and failures. We can learn from each other in an informal setting on a schedule that suits our needs. It also allows us to share ideas about how we can improve our instruction to better serve our students.

The main purpose of this blog will be to share educational resources. As a social studies teacher, I will focus primarily on the courses that I currently teach: World History and Constitutional Law. But I will also try to include helpful information on the 21st-century skills that students need to acquire in order to succeed in today’s world. Hopefully, we’ll all learn something along the journey. Thanks for stopping by.