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| Technical Plan |
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The technical plan is relatively simple. It will be developed as a series of flat html files using Macromedia Dreamweaver MX for design and editing. Primary sources will include Debate transcripts, video excerpts, and newspaper accounts. The transcripts are free and readily available from a number of online and print sources. They will need to be transcribed in machine readable text and contained within a searchable database. Highlighted words within the text of the transcripts will link to brief summaries of the issues which will have to be written. Links to video excerpts and perhaps audio will also be available on the site which could be accessed using RealMedia, Windows Media, or QuickTime. Brief histories of the debates, biographies, and summaries will have to be written in a digital format. Debate-specific and cross-debate lesson plans will be developed posssibly with the assistance of high school and college instructors. Within the lesson plans, links to primary sources available at American Memory and other archival sites should be included in the same manner as they are in Edsitement although licensing issues have to be resolved.
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| Conclusion |
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As instructional use of the internet grows, the hope is that there will be an increased demand for specialized and reliable history sites that address specific topics. Effective teachers are always looking for new and better ways to enhance their instruction. Since most young people are conversant with the web, the possibilities for melding the web with instruction seem as limitless as they are exciting as long as the sites have been screened as to their reliability. DoHistory certainly stands as a prototype for all that a topical site can be. Even though topical sites have been criticized by Cohen and Rosenzweig because such sites "lack focus and wind up being a hodge-podge of materials centered on a particular theme" (Doing History Ch.1-47), it is hoped that my TV debate site will avoid those pitfalls. Since the site is designed as a teaching resource, it will consciously include only those materials that contribute to an understanding of the topic. There are a vast amount of materials related to TV debates so one of the tasks in developing the site will be to sift through these materials and decide which will be useful. It is hoped that the end result will be a website that entertains as well as enlightens. |
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