Using Digital History Archives in a Secondary Classroom

This project was done as part of a collaboration between Dave Riddick, a Albemarle County teacher and Hallie Simms, a 5th year BA/MT student. Albemarle County Public Schools and the Curry School of Education have a long standing history of collaboration. For years, the Technology Infusion Project (TIP) has paired Albemarle County teachers and Curry preservice teachers to develop and implement technology-infused activities in real classrooms. This program has been recognized by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) as one of the exemplary models of university /teacher education partnerships.

During the 1999-2000 semester, this unique collaborative effort was expanded to include the "Using Digital History Archives in the Classroom" workshop. This partnership paired fifth year Curry social studies students with county teachers to research, write, and field test lessons using primary sources from digital archives and other internet resources. Course participants have created web sites with user-friendly, curriculum-based lessons on a wide variety of social studies content, including westward expansion, the Civil War, the Civil Rights era, the Industrial Revolution, slavery, and modern-day Virginia.