The App provides an interactive tour of the displays at the Spirit of Anzac exhibition. Students can focus on a particular image and information pops up to explain the display. This isn't as immersive as some other Google Cardboard apps that I have reviewed, but given that it is being sent to schools for free and that the app is free it would be a useful and interesting way to engage students with the displays prior to a visit.

The exhibition is showing at:

• Orange (Indoor Tennis Club) 12 March - 17 March 2017
• Newcastle (Entertainment Centre) 29 March - 4 April 2017
• International Convention Centre Sydney 15 April - 27 April 2017

Explore The Spirit of Anzac - What to Expect

Access the Spirit of Anzac Google Cardboard User Guide 

Some other options of Google Cardboard/Virtual Reality apps that you might like to look at are:

War of Words VR

This VR experience uses the Seigfried Sassoon poem "The Kiss" as the basis  of the experience. It is an animated experience created by BBC Arts. It promotes the feature-length documentary War of Words - Soldier-poets of the Somme.

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Diggers Trench VR
This VR experience is only available with Oculus Rift - not Google Cardboard. However, I imagine that as Google Cardboard begins to be used more that this will be the type of experiences that we can expect more of. This is more story based. As a new recruit you experience life in the tranches and are able to influence some of the events that unfold in the story.
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​For Stage 4 History, you may like to refer to a resource I created a few years ago (as mentioned in a previous post). Click here to examine the Syllabus Bite on Ancient India. 

As you progress through the topic you might like to  use the glossary file below to help students develop knowledge of key terms. There is also a glossary quiz file, but you may like to break this up into a couple of smaller quizzes depending on the ability of your students.

Students must explore the beliefs, values and practices of ancient India. The handout below introduces a few key terms, provides a brief summary of beliefs, values and practices and outlines a short group work task.

The activity below allows students to examine the physical features of ancient India including mountain ranges, plains, deserts, wetlands, rivers and highlands. Students are required to complete a mapping activitiy to show the spatial distribution of these features.

A person of significance must be examined. Below is a short introduction to Ashoka including a few relevant key terms and a short cloze passage. For more detail on Ashoka examine my previous post Teaching Ashoka.

http://www.jeanniebaker.com/book/home/

​Introductory activities:
Front cover:
Does this place look like your neighbourhood or community?
Do any of these houses look like your house?
Do any of these backyards look like your backyard?
Does this look like a nice place to live? Why or why not?

The story begins with a pregnant woman and her husband moving into a home, and traces the steps of Tracy, their daughter's, life. The window frame and the wall around it provide clues to show that time is passing - a card celebrating the birth of a new baby, a mug with "I am 4" on it, a note about her 10th birthday, and on it goes. The documenting of time passing provides a opportunity to begin to explore the historical concept of change and continuity and develop skills in sequencing events. This would need to be accompanied with explicit teaching of days of the week and months, and also holidays, events celebrated by students and their families.

Activity: 
Students are provided with images representing Tracy's age and are asked to cut them out and glue them in the correct sequence.
Students bring in photos of their childhood with the ages written on them and sequence them to create a timeline.
The teacher uses photos of the class or school throughout the year to create a timeline as a wall display.
See this pinterest post: https://au.pinterest.com/pin/205547170466044607/

The geographical concept of place is explored in terms of their unique characteristics, the value we place on places, and human influences. We see the way Tracy and her family interact and influence their own backyard, and we get an idea about how they value their place by the activities and experiences they have there. We see how the community begins to value place as the neighbourhood changes into a thriving place for people to relax, interact and work.

Activity:
Students identify their favourite places around the school and at home. Why do they like these places the most?
How do different places make you feel? Are some places safe places?

The geographical concept of change is an obvious theme throughout this book. The backyard develops from an empty, barren space into a shady, green oasis. We see the neighbourhood develop from a run down, graffitied area into a green, friendly community. The smash repairs develop into a local park, the demolition of a large building opens up the view of a lake and parkland, old buildings are renovated and new buildings are constructed. We have glimpses of the development of the city, but much of this is hidden by the greening, leafy community.

Activity:
Students take photographs of a change occurring in their school or local environment (excursion) and label them. This could be repeated several times so that there is a visual record of the change. 
Student examine historical photos of their suburb and compare them with contemporary photos.

A study of the illustrations provides an opportunity to introduce the geographical concept of scale. There is enough visual interest and complexity to simply concentrate on the changes that occur within the family backyard. This could then be extended to looking at what can be seen on the street corner opposite and the main street. This enables discussion about a community, suburb or local scale. In the background of the illustration you can see the city skyline, this could be used to introduce the scale of the town or large city.

Activity:
Students are given a template with different sized circles. They use the template to draw images of their house, their street, their community, their city, their country and the world (starting from smallest to biggest).
This could then be repeated with images of themselves, their immediate family and their extended family.
See this pinterest post: https://au.pinterest.com/pin/451274825131466444/

While the story only examines a timespan of approximately 25 years, it does provide a chance to begin to explore the historical concept of changes and continuities in family life and the local community over time. The story comes full circle when the main character gets married and has her own child. We can begin to introduce the historical concept of empathetic understanding by asking why the yard of the family home looked so different when they first moved in to how it looked at the end of the story. Why did Tracy's parents live differently at that time in history to the way they live now?

Activity:
Students bring in artefacts, or treasured family objects (perhaps a photograph if it is really treasured) and recount family stories. They ask other students questions about their objects.

While the geographical concept of sustainability is not expected to be addressed in Stage 1, this story has a clear message encouraging communities to bring back native plants and animals, and to better understand and care for places.

​The recently released stage six draft modern history syllabus fails to clearly articulate a vision for the study of modern history in a globalised world. In its previous incarnation, the stage six syllabus at least paid lip service to areas of modern history which were not European in nature, i.e. India as one option. This final draft does not reflect the four options which were tabled to teachers who took the time to provide feedback to BOSTES previously. Teachers of this subject have been ignored with the release of the final draft.

The National Study and Peace and Conflict topic areas have been left relatively unscathed. However the inclusion of Iran into the national study topic area replaces India which is a lost opportunity. Similarly, the Peace and Conflict topic retains the main options, with the inclusion of Conflict in the Gulf 1991-2011, which replaces the UN as Peacekeeper. Essentially these two areas of study have escaped political influence.

One of the real, if not the most problematic areas, is the core topic. Instead of utilising one of the options tabled at the consultation process, BOSTES has obviously bowed to political pressure and ignored the recommendations of the majority of teachers. World War One was a topic which although staid, at least had the advantage of being politically neutral and allowed teachers to engage in different national studies with no disadvantage to its students. For example a teacher of the USSR topic can build on students’ knowledge of the World War One topic. However as it stands, the core topic is Nazi Germany 1933-39 and teachers have to cover 9 detailed dot points taking up 60% of course time. To further compound the problem, teachers then need to teach another dictator, e.g. Pol Pot for 30% of the course. This begs the question: why is Nazi Germany deemed the most important topic for the core? Compounding the obvious bias, is that instead of removing Nazi Germany from the National Study it keeps Nazi Germany, but focuses on 1914-33. Clearly any teacher with half a brain will teach the German National Study first, then the Core/Nazi topic and if you haven’t got your fix of Nazi German history, you could finish with the European Conflict option for the Peace and Conflict topic. Already roughly 70% of the state teaches the Nazi option for the National Study so BOSTES wants the rest of the state to follow suit. As one person at the BOSTES consultation meeting at Hurstville remarked “That’s the end of the Soviet Union in every sense”. The USSR and for that matter the other options have been "relegated to the dustbin of history," to quote Goebbels, I mean Trotsky. It’s already working!

Unlike the Ancient History course, BOSTES have removed the Personality topic from Modern History and replaced it with Change in The Modern World. I actually thought there has been a lot of change in the modern world in the twentieth century - that is why students love studying Modern History. BOSTES wants teachers to not only teach a personality, e.g. Gorbachev but link it to a time frame of nearly 70 years - The Changing World Order 1945-2011. This option has 19 dot points to cover, plus an evaluation of Gorbachev during the Cold War period. Furthermore, as a hat tip to the old UN as Peacekeeper topic, teachers have to assess the role and impact of the UN as international peacekeeper in relation to one trouble spot in the world, e.g. Somalia. Evidently the old inconsistencies of comparability between the ancient and modern course remain but are amplified, further alienating modern history teachers. If I was a student and had equal interest in modern and ancient history I would choose ancient for ease of content and variety.

I hope that someone more technically adept than myself will be able to create a parody of the modern syllabus using snippets from The Downfall movie on youtube. I won’t even start on the exam specifications.

Following the responses from similar, previous posts for Geography and Legal Studies, I have created a revision schedule for students in the lead up to HSC Trials for Ancient History. You will obviously need to modify it based on your options, but you can at least use it as a scaffold.

Have a look at the previous posts regarding the study planner based on other subjects for more details.

On the 100th anniversary of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the event that sparked World War I, a new video game Valiant Hearts: The Great War was released. The game is based on World War I and players can play as one of four characters: Karl, a deported German separated from his family; Anna, a Belgian student and battlefield nurse; Emile, who has been drafted into the French army and sent on a suicidal mission; and Freddie, an American motivated by personal vengeance. 

The game has been designed in the style of a graphic novel, and the design was intended to emotionally engage players in the personal stories of the characters. It uses real letters throughout as narrative for the game. It teaches players about facts of World War I and contains a detailed encyclopaedia that players can access throughout gameplay. While the game involves the player in the action of WWI, it does not involve the usual shoot and kill action, but rather involves more puzzle solving and storytelling.

For a closer look you can view the walkthrough from Giant Bomb below.

There have also been some other great links to resources circulated lately. You might like to check out:

Every day of WWI in a 6 minute time lapse film

37 days: Countdown to World War I

European Film Gateway 1914

Revealed: The first Australian to die in World War I 

Interactive WWI timeline

History Channel - World War I videos

PBS - The Great War Lesson Plans

You might also like to look at this very comprehensive list of resources:
World War One: Some Centennial Links, Readings, Contexts

Cold War history is predicated upon the difference between East and West. To that end the history focuses on Moscow and Washington. Rarely do historians focus upon the satellite countries of the Eastern Bloc and to a lesser extent the Western bloc. Czechoslovakia, now known as the Czech Republic, offers an interesting insight into the Cold War. In 1968, the Prague Spring occurred where the leaders of Czechoslovakia desired to have a say in the manner in which communism was to govern their country. Leonid Brezhnev the Premiere of the USSR brutally crushed the Prague Spring by invading the country with 500,000 troops and 4,500 tanks to crush any questioning of the manner in which Eastern Bloc countries were governed. This was referred to as the Brezhnev Doctrine by which the USSr was able to intervene in Eastern Bloc countries without ramifications from the USA and NATO.

Train stations and tunnels in Prague double as nuclear shelters. The stations and tunnels can be closed off with the use of lead doors to protect the population. The cavities for these blast doors are clearly visible to the trained eye at the base of the escalators at the entrance to each platform. 

Near the Flora railway station is a large bunker which now houses the Nuclear Bunker Museum. The entrance to the bunker resembles a graffitied, walled basketball court. To the general public it is not immediately obvious or accessible. To gain access the bunker needs to be unlocked by a tour guide. The shelter was designed to protect approx 2,500 people. The blast door to the shelter is nearly 1 metre thick and leads to a double helix staircase - one side for entry and one side for exiting. The staircases go down 16 metres to the bunker proper. 

Related article:
Soviet ghosts: An empire in decay

With the election of a new Federal Government this weekend, comes some uncertainty for educators, particularly historians. There are a range of issues for schools such as sources of school funding, funding equity, technology integration and interference in curriculum. For the HSIE teacher perhaps the most important of these is that Tony Abbot has indicated that he intends to rewrite the Australian Curriculum for history. 

Without getting into the political arguments of the left vs. right views, I'd like to explore the implications of such a rewrite. If you would like to explore the politics of the issue in more detail there is a great blog post from theconsciencevote. Instead I'd like to explore the practicalities of a rewrite. 

Resource development
Substantial funds have already been spent nationally on developing a range of resources for the Phase 1 subjects for the Australian Curriculum, including History. This includes government educational bodies, professional teachers' associations, non-government organisations and private companies. In addition teachers themselves have invested a great deal of time familiarising themselves with the new curriculum and creating resources. It would be an incredible waste of money, time and effort to have to throw out some of these resources due to a rewrite. 

Professional development
A great deal of time and money has been invested in the development of professional learning for teachers to aid the implementation of the History Curriculum nationally and the new NSW syllabus in this state. In addition schools will have paid for relief time for teachers to undertake the professional learning and will have also dedicated time in Staff Development Days. Again, much of this will be wasted if a major rewrite is on the cards. 

NSW re-write
In NSW the inefficiency of a rewrite will be compounded due the the process of the Board of Studies already re-writing the Australian Curriculum for implementation in NSW. If the government chooses to rewrite the Australian Curriculum it will then need to go back to the Board of Studies to create a "new" new NSW syllabus incorporating the Australian Curriculum. In addition this would then also serve to delay the rewriting of the Phase 2 subjects in NSW which could mean subjects like Geography, Business and Economics are delayed even further. These subject are already a long way off without further interruption. 

Teacher time
Teachers will be required to spend time familiarising themselves with changes, modifying resources (which they have only just written) and undertaking more professional development. This is a huge waste of time considering staff have already been through this process for the Australian Curriculum. I am constantly frustrated by the negative views of teachers in mainstream media, particularly around issues such as efficiency and effectiveness. The endless bureaucracy that governs education and the constant view of politicians that they know best, only serves to burden teachers with endless, time-consuming tasks with little benefit to students.

Competing stakeholders
What politicians of all persuasions fail to realise is that teachers are the ones who bare the brunt of the non-stop changes and additions to the formal and informal curriculum. Every time an issue arises in the media, call-back radio becomes inundated with calls about what needs to be added to the curriculum and mainstream media tells us all about the failures of education. A drunken yobbo urinates on a war memorial? Clearly when he was at school he didn't learn enough about our war heroes. The Cronulla riots? Schools don't teach students about the Australian way of life. What results is an ad hoc patchwork of initiatives and policies with little thought to how it all fits together. Or alternatively, we end up with a syllabus that has been so strongly determined by political agendas that it fails to take into consideration the interests and needs of students (did I hear someone say 9-10 Australian History and Geography?).

My advice to politicians of all persuasions is get out of the way of the educational experts. Let teachers get on with their jobs of engaging students, and keep your politics out of our classrooms.

For more reading:

Are the history wars really history? Abbott thinks not.
The Culture Wars are back.
Coalition government to review to review unions and ALP presence in history curriculum.
He's wrong, historians say as Tony Abbott reignites history wars. 
Rewriting History