What We Are Doing Today in Class

by Shelly Blake-Plock

Our AP Euro class is currently discussing the French Revolution. And, of course, a topic of interest has been similarities and dis-similarities to what has been happening in Egypt since Jan 25.

Below is a brief outline of what we're doing in class today. We would love readers to leave comments and questions for us to think about and discuss. We'd also love to talk to people on the ground in Egypt about what they are experiencing right now. Please get in touch @TeachPaperless on Twitter.

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We are going to be looking for similarities and dis-similarities between the French Revolution and the current revolution in Egypt.

French Revolution // Egyptian Revolution

Essentials:


1. Compare / Contrast Louis XVI and Mubarak.
2. In each case, WHY were the people protesting? (Cite primary sources).
3. What role did women play?
4. What concerns are their about the current situation in Egypt? How might they relate to the days following the fall of Louis XVI?
5. How did/are people express(ing) their views?
6. Are the current protests violent?
7. What do people on the ground in Cairo think is going to happen now? (Directly contact reporters and bloggers in Egypt via Twitter during this class period).
8. Based on your study of the French Revolution and your current observations of the situation in Egypt, what do you think are possible outcomes? How are the possible outcomes in Egypt alike or different with outcomes in France -- both in the short and long term.


Sources:


Sources on French Revolution


http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbook13.html




Sources on Egypt


Al Jazeera
http://english.aljazeera.net/
http://blogs.aljazeera.net/middle-east/2011/02/10/live-blog-feb-11-egypt-protests


New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/11/latest-updates-on-day-18-of-egypt-protests/?hp


NPR
http://www.npr.org/?refresh=true
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/02/11/133675132/live-blog-latest-on-events-in-egypt


CNN
http://www.cnn.com/?refresh=1


NBC
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/
http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/egypt


Twitter Search
http://search.twitter.com/search?had_popular=true&q=%23Egypt&result_type=recent

Today's Lesson: Students Will Be Able To Explain How a Global Network Responds to Current Events via Real-Time Search

Present events have created a perfect teachable moment.

In the time it took me to write that sentence, 93 new reports came across Twitter Search concerning the situation in Iran. Twitter Search updates automatically in real time and posts the number of updates since your last check right in the tab you've got it running through on your browser.

I've had classes of students use Twitter Search to create collaborative bibliographies as well as self-directed grammar reviews.

It's also a darn good way to explain how a global network responds to current events.

The ability to process and analyze real-time search is one of the fundamental 21st century skills. Unlike the traditional search functions most of us are used to, real-time search opens up many new possibilities: including the ability to use search as a broadcast tool.

We're now up to 435 new reports since I wrote that first sentence.

Real-time search is also a democratizing tool. It evens out the media playing field and gives each voice -- from the correspondents of major news organizations to the average persons-on-the-street -- equal time. Real-time search is carrying live and in real-time the news of what's going on right now in Iran; and it's doing a much more comprehensive job than any traditional media outlet.

This is something our kids need to understand.

And it's something that needs to be explained in no uncertain terms to the folks who would otherwise choose to block social media in schools.

Social-media-driven real-time search is currently producing a wealth of human knowledge. For what reason, barring ignorance, would we want to hide that from our students?

As for the updates? In the time it took me to jot out this post, over 1045 individual stories came through Twitter Search -- just on the situation in Iran. Stories, links, first-hand accounts, video feeds, Flickr galleries, and a whole lot more. Over 1045 news messages in the time it takes CNN to run commercials.

Here is the link to the #IranElection feed.