Communications+technology+-+Katie

Usha's comments in Blue.

Your name: Katie Freeland


 * Lesson Plan with all appendices:**





Initial Reading and Assessment of Textbook Treatment of the Topic
Name of Gr. 10 Textbook examined: Bain, DesRivieres, Flaherty et al., // Making History - The Story of Canada in the Twentieth Century. // Pearson Education Canada, 2000.

Name of more "scholarly" source examined: Innis, Harold. //The Bias of Communication//. University of Toronto Press, 1951.
 * which is not strictly a history work (but is one in many ways), and while I would normally expect a more recent source to be more appropriate, I see Innis as perhaps the most important figure in Canadian historiography, and believe his ideas remain relevant.

__Your Initial Thoughts:__

The textbook discusses three new communication technologies appearing in Canada after 1914 (particularly in the 1920s) —the telephone, radio, and the movies. The discussion focuses on the effect of these on the everyday lives of Canadians, explaining for example the function and functioning of early telephones (including their role as entertainment), some of the impact of radio on rural communities, and the dramatic entrance of the movies (and their content) into Canadian culture.

These developments are mostly considered in terms of what people did with their time and in keeping with a theme of Canadians becoming less removed/isolated from the world and from distant communities within the country. The textbook does treat the crucial “entertainment” aspect of all three technologies, and links them together in this; however, treatment of any of the following topics is absent: ephemeral information and entertainment being linked in a new way; newspapers as technology and some relation to the increased importance of these during the preceeding war; and other effects of radio on the social (diminished conversation) and the psychological (increased loneliness).

I ultimately do not see the topic as being simplified for the sake of accessibility, but as being severely limited by failing to look at some of the most profound implications of these technologies, where doing so could inspire students to think aboiut different approaches to history, to view entire populations as historical agents instead of merely affected by “inventors,” and to think about how these changes relate to ones in their own lives.

Thank you for your thoughtful comments, Katie. Your focus on profound implications is justified, I believe, as is your concern with the true opportunities offered by history education (having consider different approaches, empowering students with the concept of agency, seeing cause and consequence as related to their own lives, etc.)

Critical challenge:

initial idea: Create two entries in the journal of a fictional Canadian born between 1860 and 1905 (you will each be given the date and place of birth and some basic background information about your person). Imagine the first entry to be in 1920 and the second to be in 1928; the second entry must make some reference to the telephone, radio, and movies. Once you have written your entries, and considered their differences, you will discuss them in groups of three, and make use of these discussions in a presentation to the class. This is a good start - clearly a design to specs because you are asking students to write diary entries - however, they don't yet invite critical thinking about the topic. If, in the diary entry, the author needed to make a judgement about the impact of the technologies, that would help to nurture critical thinking. What do you think?

My idea was that the invitation to make those judgments (or rather, to make them explicit) would come after the diary entries were written, and that these might emerge from the combination of students' comprehension of the historical evidence and readings, creation of and reflection on the diary entries, and the small-group discussions. Both the discussions and the individual presentations would use some guide questions. I think I would like to avoid questions asking "whether life was improved or not," aiming instead for ones that ask students to consider both the changes brought on by the technologies as well the diversity of experiences, and which can ask for judgments without expecting arrival at definite conclusions.

To be continued with some specific questions. . . I look forward to the specific questions. I think there are many opportunities to invite critical thinking in the way you outline. For example, students still make reasoned judgements when we ask them to "decode the puzzle" - i.e. approach text/visuals like a detective - look for clues and construct a picture of what actually happened or construct a narrative from a particular perspective. You're right, they don't always need to "judge the better or best" but it is useful to have them move beyond exploring so they examine the evidence with some purpose in the end. Does that make sense?

Thanks Usha. New critical challenge below.

Lesson Design – Initial Planning Stages


 * Identify Key Learning**

Students should come to understand how diverse Canadians of the 1920s experienced and used new communications technologies and be able to identify some of the ways in which these affected a) constructions of identity, including nationality; b) social environments in and out of the home; and c) the relationships between communication of information, entertainment, and creative expression.

Ultimately, they should be able to see both similarities and differences between written communication and print technologies on the one hand and telephone, radio, and movie technologies on the other, and also begin thinking critically about the narrative(s) of progress that dominated in the period.


 * Frame Critical Challenge**

Consider the ways in which the new communications technologies of radio, telephone, and movies differed from written communication and print technologies as well as any similarities between all of them. Decide which of these differences and/or similarities is or are the most significant, being sure to justify your choices in terms of change and continuity in twentieth-century Canada.


 * How will this lesson help students build skills they will need for the summative assessment task for the unit?**

Students will develop better understanding of the historical context for the newspaper spread, a deeper appreciation of some of the aspects of newspapers (as a form of print communication technology), and a sense of the role of various media in constructing identities and in terms of entertainment and expression.


 * What dimension of Historical Thinking will students actively engage in during this lesson?**

“Change and Continuity” (as well as “Historical Significance”)


 * Curriculum expectations:**

Communities: Local, National, and Global Forging a Canadian Identity The Impact of External Forces on Canada – describe some of the ways American culture and politics have influenced Canada since World War I

Change and Continuity Impact of Scientific and Technological Developments – describe various ways in which technological developments have affected the lives of Canadians since World War I

Methods of Historical Inquiry and Communication: Interpretation and Analysis identify different viewpoints and explicit biases when interpreting information for research or when participating in a discussion


 * Intellectual Tools**

Background Knowledge


 * Habits of Mind**

critically-minded independent-minded open to new ideas


 * Thinking Strategies**

identify and articulate differences look for connections (re)consider assumptions identify counter-arguments and other perspectives


 * Critical Thinking Vocabulary**

-compare (in terms of significant aspects rather than trivial ones) -identify effects (again, which are significant) -distinguish (avoid generalizations) -justify a decision (with relevant arguments and evidence)


 * Criteria for Judgment****

Possible criteria for what makes a difference or similarity significant: changes the way people think about themselves changes their fundamental beliefs changes the way they interact with other people changes their work, family life, etc reinforces certain ideas prevents some changes strengthens societal control