Posted on 05/21/2010 12:17:05 PM PDT by BruceDeitrickPrice
Summary: The Education Commissars have long used TV as a whipping boy, an all-purpose excuse for their own incompetence. Consider the irony. More and more, television is the country's real educator. Public schools get dumber. But the History Channel, etc. know how to teach, and they want to teach. Who could have predicted it? Television rescues us from our Education Establishment!
Of course, the point of mentioning this is to shame these fairly shameless people into doing a better job.
In just a few weeks, you can learn everything you ever wanted to know about UFOs, Nostradamus, and the conspiracy behind the JFK Assassination....
On the other hand, a student is not too likely to be assaulted by fellow scholars when returning to his room from school.
I think his point is not that the History Channel consistently presents accurate history (it does only occasionally, and then I suspect by accident), but that the public schools are so bad that the history instruction there is worse than the stuff on the History Channel.
I use a good many History Channel programs in my class- after careful review to make sure the ones I use are actually factual. Sort of excludes Ice Road Truckers though....:)
I am actually surprised that you found “many” that were factual.
Which ones? I’d be interested in DVRing them for my kids ...
Glenn Beck is a little too Libertarian for me, but his History lessons are facinating. He would make a great History or Civics teacher.
lol, pretty much.
it USED to be an awesome resource. now it’s just junk.
I buy them on DVD. I recommend “Stalin: Man of Steel” which I use in my lessons on the Soviet Union. I use several episodes from the “Foot Soldier” series- the Greeks, WWI Foot Soldier. I recommend both “Barbarians” boxed sets- I typically use the episodes about the Goths and the Vikings most, although I sometimes use the one about the Franks from Barbarians II. “In Search of...the Roman Legions” is also worthwhile. I’ve got a “Great Pyramids” boxed set, but I generally only show either of the first two episodes. Most of these run about 50 minute, but since we have 90 minute classes they don’t take up the whole class, so there is time to get it in and get something else done. Some of the stuff from the Barbarians series is a bit graphic. I also use some things from A&E- Biographies of Christopher Columbus, Thomas Edison, Queen Elizabeth I, and Isaac Newton. I’m currently teaching World History- I guess it shows. I was told this week I’m going to be teaching some US history next year so I guess I need to do some shopping....
Well, I’ve also got some dust gathering on quite a few that aren’t. Sort of a buy ‘em, screen ‘em, and then decide if I can use it approach. No programs used for instructional purposes are going to be perfect- and sometimes that is a good thing. When the students ask “why did it say this in the book, and then in the video, it said..” is a teachable moment.
That’s very helpful. Thank you for taking the time to share what you’re doing in your class. We’re homeschooling, so we’re looking at all the options ...
Glad to help!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.