Thread by @larrycebula

1/ In response to some recent request, a quick thread about how I teach with my smartphone app and website for local history, @SpokaneHistoric.

2/ First of all. I did not invent Spokane Historical, it runs on @Curatescape, developed by @urbanhumanist and @ebellempire at Cleveland State University. Thanks, friends!

3/ The best how-to guide for creating content was written by @aaronbcowan for his Curatescape project, ButlerHistorical.org. You can read it here: curatescape.org/wp-content/upl…

4/ Ooops, the writing guide is here. This thing is gold, don't reinvent the wheel, just give your students this link: curatescape.org/wp-content/upl…

5/ Step One in teaching is to help students find the stories they want to tell. The more leeway you give them the more imaginative and passionate the stories will be. Some students will draw a blank, though, so I always have a running Google doc of story ideas in my community.

6/ Even the best history students often have trouble with public history writing--telling large stories w/ few words. They need examples & to talk about them. I wrote one Spokane Historical story myself to illustrate doing "big picture" local history: spokanehistorical.org/items/show/600

7/ Though honestly that story is too long. I also assign other Curatescape sites and ask teams of students to find the best stories, break down the elements, and share with the class. Here is a list of Curatescape sites: curatescape.org/projects/

8/ BTW, my #publichistory classes nearly always include writing a few Spokane Historical stories. The number varies with the class and community partner, but it usually 2-4. Students love getting published work out of a class and would rebel if I dropped the assignment.

9/ Students write drafts of their stories and peer edit. First drafts are always too academic and too long. I always end up showing this short clip from a River Runs Through It. "Write it again, half as long," becomes the class motto.

10/ We do similar class exercises for caption writing, and also for audio and video if students want to go there.

11/ A nice thing about Curatescape/Omeka is the existence of different kinds of users with different permission levels. My students can add and edit their own content and see what it would look like live, but they cannot publish their stories.

12/ Oh, students are going to google their topics and they can come back with some real shiite (local history is the worse) so I create a Google doc of useful digital resources: goo.gl/hNKt8

13/ A Curatescape assignment does not have to dominate the class. In my undergrad intro to #publichistory class last quarter, students wrote reaction papers, designed and installed a museum exhibit, and each wrote two Spokane Historical stories.

14/ The exhibit and Spokane Historica assignments paired beautifully. Student teams only had 100 words for their exhibit text panels, they used Spokane Historical to tell larger stories from the same research. Here is one: spokanehistorical.org/items/show/817

15/ Finally, I distribute this checklist in class for the students to use to make sure that everything is complete. I remind them that I use the same list to grade their stories. docs.google.com/document/d/1M-…

16/ Grading is fast. Editing? Not so much.

The downside is that when you finish grading you still have work to do. Even the best student work will need one more polish before it goes live. Some needs wholesale rewriting.

17/ I can usually get about half of any class's stories up in a week or two. I have learned to be pretty brutal with simply deleting stories that need a complete rewrite. I am very lucky that my department supports a paid grad assistant to serve as an associate editor to help.

18/ Past and current associate editors inlude @preselectlee, @ZacharyWnek. @caffeinejunky, @C_L_Byers, @FrankOesterheld. @julzyrussell, @thelocalhistory, @wwyngaert, and Alex Mikinaak. Thanks, friends.

19/ With their help, and with great @EWUEagles students. Spokane Historical has grown to over 600 stories. It is by miles the largest online interpretive resource for the history of the city and region. Check it out: spokanehistorical.org

20/ Spokane Historical is the best project I have ever done. It is a wonderful teaching platform and a lasting historical resource. It helps my students get jobs--google their names and you find professional work. I was promoted to full professor with it as my scholarship.

21/ The @Curatescape software is free at Github and you can have it up in an hour at a $50 @ReclaimHosting site. Particularly if you teach public history, this is a great project to take on.

/finis

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