Initially, I was very confused as to what Professor Jess meant when she said that we were going to use digital tools to look and examine the 1930’s and the Great Depression because, there wasn’t much of the “digital” aspect to technology at that time (at least to my knowledge). However, going through my readings I learned that by using interactive tools and using modern technology to look at that past in a new perspective, it opens up a new narrative that helps us understand and examine that time period in a new way. I also appreciate the different platforms we are using to discuss the events that occurred. We are talking about events during the Great Depression that maybe weren’t so talked about in high school, giving us a chance to fully comprehend the era. By giving us podcasts, videos, and articles to listen/read, it builds on that previous statement of helping us comprehend by giving us different methods of absorbing the information if one way helps us learn better than the other.
The project given to me was “The Knotted Line”, an interactive tool that helps examine and measure “freedom” and uses miniature paintings from movements throughout the United States between the 1940’s and now to explore the question “How is freedom measured?”. It also allows for people to insert their own experiences on if they ever felt as if they weren’t allowed to publicly gather with people like them.
To analyze it using Miriam Posner’s framework, “The Knotted Line” would be considered a gallery of primary sources that uses multimedia (i.e miniature paintings from the movements) to examine the different movements and the extent that freedom had in that particular era. By making it interactive and available to insert personal experiences, it allows the user to compare changes, if any, that have occurred in terms of the “freedom” movement through the late 20th and 21st century. It also allows the user to move along the timeline and view other people’s responses, so one could see other people’s experiences in addition to their own. However, the timeline itself seemed a bit difficult to use. The lines would just move as you move your cursor over it and you have keep clicking until you eventually find a piece of information hidden under the interactive lines.
Sources:
Posner, Miriam. “How Did They Make That?” Miriam Posners Blog, 1 Feb. 2014, http://miriamposner.com/blog/how-did-they-make-that/#network.
The Knotted Line, http://knottedline.com/tkl.html.
Hi Jocelyn, I was also pretty confused as to what this whole class was about on the first day, but after some better understanding I too am exited for the semester. It’s great that we’re using more modern forms of learning to better understand the great depression. In terms of the project you reviewed, I agree that the timeline was difficult to use, since it appears to loop and it uses pictures rather than actual dates to map out where you are in the timeline. It’s a strange concept for an interactive timeline, but pretty cool none the less.
I agree with your beginning statement. When I first signed onto the course, I had no idea how digital tools had anything to do with 1930’s history. But now it makes sense that we would be using digital tools in order to interact with and learn the history through various digital means.