Platform for Sharing Moments Connecting with Loved Ones
In this historic pandemic, when people across the country are feeling alone, one meaningful conversation can make all the difference. National Council for the Social Studies is collaborating with StoryCorps, an independent nonprofit with the mission to preserve and share humanity’s stories in order to build connections between people and create a more just and compassionate world. Teachers and students can share a moment of connection with loved ones through a new remote technology. The StoryCorps Connectplatform enables anyone to remotely record a StoryCorps interview with a loved one using videoconferencing technology. The audio and a still photo from each interview will be preserved in the Library of Congress. Students’ interviews will become part of American history, and hundreds of years from now, future generations will listen in. StoryCorps has developed a companion toolkit and interview questions to help teachers bring the StoryCorps model into their virtual classrooms. The lessons and multimedia resources cover the process of planning, recording, and preserving interviews remotely.
Each year we publish blogs and newsletters full of digital learning, funding, professional growth, social media, and STEM resources. Below are items from our blogs and newsletters that educators turned to the most in 2020.
Before the recent inauguration, then Vice-President Elect Pence accused the news media of being biased. As the media and Washington seem to be careening out of control, our students and their families are becoming more confused about navigating news.
Since Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland debuted in 1865, the fantastical tale of a girl who falls down a rabbit hole and ends up in an alternative universe has inspired countless retellings. From rabbit holes to mirrors, flamingoes to hedgehogs, Wonderland is the perfect world for virtual reality.