Bridging the Traditional/Distance-Learning Divide: How Technology Can Enhance Course Content and Drive Meaningful Online Interactions

In a digital age, many educators struggle with making history relevant to our students as we translate classroom content to online models. With more courses being offered online and with students being inundated with internet resources, it is important for historians to remain relevant in our modes of content delivery and utilization of resources. Digital videos offer a means by which we can capitalize on technology as well as to make an impact on students who struggle to connect key concepts that we emphasize in our courses.

In this presentation, I will examine the potential that video resources have to enhance our courses (in person and online) and creative ways to integrate them into course content. I will explore the ways that historians can navigate retaining our traditional classroom approaches in a vastly expanding online marketplace via purposeful media. Online models require a deftness of communication that often goes unconsidered in the traditional classroom because online education presents limited opportunities for interpersonal interaction. History courses can not easily be recreated online and instructors must by necessity shift from traditional methodology to consider interactive technologies to capture and transmit content.

Empowering faculty to develop dynamic videos to connect with their students can help enrich our interactions with students and can push us to reconsider how we construct our lectures. In my presentation, I will consider the pedagogical usefulness of instructor videos and how video technology can be integrated into courses to help develop more meaningful teacher-student relationships in a distance-learning environment.