Learning card

Instastory… imagine the history

Description

This activity will introduce to students organized in groups to other possible historical scenarios through the use of Instagram polls. The aim is to understand why history is shaped the way it is.

Tag
  • Graphic
  • Instagram
  • Photo
  • Social Media
Skills

PRODUCTION

  • To create and modify photographic productions

SOCIAL MANAGEMENT

  • To collaborate
  • To participate in social media

MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY

  • To recognize and describe
  • To take action and apply

IDEOLOGY AND ETHICS

  • To recognize and describe
  • To compare
  • To evaluate and reflect
  • To take action and apply
Learning areas
  • Social Sciences
Card language
  • English
  • Spanish
  • Italian

Structure

Sessions
2 (variable)
Duration
60’ (variable)
Number of participants
10-30 participants
Age
  • 10-13
  • 14-16
Materials
  • Computer or smartphone
  • Instagram polls

Process

Key questions
  • Which are the historical moments in which pivotal decisions are made?
  • Which were the reasons behind the choices and which were the alternatives?
  • How could have historical facts evolved if a different choice had been made?
Development

Students are divided into groups of 3-4 and are invited to focus on a specific historical moment in which an important historical decision was made (e.g. when, in Italy, the King Vittorio Emanuele in 1924 decided to include Mussolini in the Parliament in order to prevent, according to his opinion, a civil war (30’).

In the class create a map of crucial historical moments and draw it on a paper on the wall (30’).

Students are asked to find and select documents and other sources that offer different perspectives and information regarding the historical issue (This activity is carried out at home).

The activity finishes with an exhibition of the Instagram polls and a final discussion about their results in class. Documents and sources collected are printed and added to the map, as well as the final decisions of the polls. The teacher highlights eventual different choices which have been made through the polls, with respect to the “real history” and asks students to discuss these alternative historical scenarios, also based on the materials and documents they found (60’)

Evaluation

Three items can be evaluated:

  • Quality of sources collected by each group for documenting the historical period;
  • Quality of argumentation in creating a different historical perspective for the poll (is it realistic according to the historical conditions?)
  • Quality of the Instagram poll (creativity, use of the language to frame the question, use of the image)
References for professors
Author

Gabriella Taddeo, INDIRE (Italy), g.taddeo@indire.it
Simona Tirocchi, Università degli studi di Torino (Italy), simona.tirocchi@unito.it

  • Graphic
  • Instagram
  • Photo
  • Social Media