The medium can be the message

Roshen Dalal

Every history teacher must keep in mind that history consists of those aspects of the past that we consider significant, and that therefore, no two historians, write history in the same way. However, when teaching in school or college, there is usually a fixed syllabus, without much choice in what can be taught. Despite this, there are various ways in which different types of media can be used to make history more interesting.

Traditional media
Though there are several new forms of media, even traditional media can be effectively used in the classroom. Traditional media includes books, magazines, journals, and newspapers, all of which can be used in innovative and exciting ways. Some of these ways are described below:

Quotes: Choose a significant sentence or passage from a book. Enlarge it by scanning, photographing, entering it into a computer, or in the old-fashioned way, by writing it out in large letters on a chart paper. Put this up in the class and have a discussion on it. The sentence should be related to the topic being studied. It can be from the textbook, from any other book, or even from a magazine or newspaper. ‘Recent research suggests that the Mughal emperor Akbar was dyslexic’, is just one possible example that could lead to an interesting discussion on Akbar, as well as an awareness of dyslexia. ‘War is inevitable’ is a controversial statement that through discussion, could lead to an understanding of social, economic, and other factors that contribute to a war.

Pictures and photographs: Pictures, maps, and drawings from magazines or newspapers can be cut out, pasted on cards, and mounted on the wall, or passed around in class. They can be a focus for discussion, or can just add interest to a topic being taught. For instance, if the Delhi sultanate is being taught, photographs of their monuments can be used. If it is Ashoka Maurya, pictures of animal capitals, pillars, and rock edicts, can be used, along with a large map of all his monuments.

Television: Television can be considered part of traditional media, though the number of channels has increased greatly in recent years. There are innumerable programmes on historical events of the past and present, and these can be recorded and replayed in class. Students can also be encouraged to record programmes that they think are relevant or interesting, and to share them with others.

Movies/films: Fictionalised versions of events or films made based on historical events, also help students get interested in the past.

New media
The world wide web is a huge and vast source that can be used in teaching history.

Useful information
Apart from written information, there are photographs, videos, open courses and lectures, and music that can be sourced from the web and used effectively to make history more interesting. Even documentaries are available. For instance, several visuals of both the world wars can be viewed. There are also alternative views of history, presented on several sites, which provide a different perspective of the past. Among these is the site dedicated to Howard Zinn, (www.howardzinn.org) which deals primarily with the USA, but also has other useful teaching material.

Monuments and buildings can be made interesting through changing views of the buildings from different angles and points. These are available at several sites and one can actually ‘walk through’ a number of monuments.

Some of the authentic sites that can be used for history include www.history.com or www.bbc.com. There are many more including National Geographic and Discovery channels. A good site for the Harappan civilization is www.harappa.com. This site provides a walk through some of the mounds and a slide tour of the civilization, apart from numerous learned articles. Walkthroughs of several Indian monuments are also available on asi.nic.in [the website of the Archaeological Survey of India], as well as on youtube. The website of the Indira Gandhi National Centre of Arts, ignca.nic.in, has several images of Indian monuments.

There are also numerous images for later periods of Indian history.

Youtube is altogether a rich source with visuals of all kinds.

For images from across the world, www.metmuseum.org is one of the authentic sites, as well as www.britishmuseum.org.

History Today is among the history journals available through the Internet, while History News Network has a free weekly newsletter, which provides updates on world history.

Games
Games are a sure way to generate interest in the past. Games can be of different kinds, including simple quizzes. Even a quiz can be made more interesting by adding pictures of people or monuments to identify. Forming two teams and asking each to assemble a jigsaw puzzle, is another interesting exercise. The puzzle can be made by pasting a picture on thin cardboard, and cutting it into different shapes.

Even more interesting are video games and role-play games. A few examples are provided here.

Assassin’s Creed is a set of history-based games of different periods and times. The games are set mainly in medieval Europe and though they are historical fiction, they can get a young person interested in this period. Among other video games, Pharoah is a city building game, set in ancient Egypt. There are several Egypt based games, as well as others that relate to different parts of the world.

While using these games, one has to explain the historical and fictional aspects in them.

Music
Music of all kinds is available on the web. Music can be directly related to historical events. Several songs were composed and sung during wars or struggles for independence. A few examples are given here, though there are many more. The great musician Tchaikovsky composed 1812 on Napoleon’s disastrous advance into Russia. The Battle Hymn for the Republic is associated with the American Civil War. A long list of songs can be found for the world wars, among them being All of No Man’s Land is Ours, and For Your Country and My Country. Pipes of Peace, composed by Paul McCartney in 1980, includes a video and deals with the Christmas Truce of 1914. For India, one can look at how Vande Mataram was used, during the freedom struggle.

Background music can be used to create the atmosphere of the period being studied.

Looking for authentic sources – the role of the teacher
At the same time, one has to be extremely careful in selecting material sourced through the Internet. In most cases, there is no editor checking whether something is true or false, and often people deliberately post matter which is false. Even if a hundred or a thousand people say something is true, it need not be so. The role of the teacher is important here in guiding the students. In looking for authentic sources, the teacher needs to constantly update her knowledge. One example of a deliberate falsehood is a passage praising India, said to be written by Lord Macaulay in 1835, which has actually been invented and is totally fake. Another hoax is that of Jana Gana Mana being selected by UNESCO as the best national anthem. This is again totally false. There are numerous other such fake matter.

While using the web or for that matter any media, therefore, one must learn to think for oneself, to be analytical, and to estimate if something is true or false.

The author is a full-time writer with eight published books on history and religion. Her books for young people include the best-selling two-volume Puffin History of India and the Puffin History of the World. She lives in Dehradun. She can be reached at roshendalal@yahoo.co.in.