The Civil War: An Online Unit

For my final project, I decided to do an online unit for middle school students on the Civil War (Appendix). My reasoning was twofold: I am very interested in online learning and the possibilities that it holds for students, and I saw a need for additional information on this particular subject matter in the middle school where I currently teach. In the social studies department at this particular school lecture and textbook readings are the predominate form of instruction. Because the Civil War is such an interesting topic and there is plenty of information available that includes music, poetry, diary entries, virtual tours, and photographs, just to name a few, it seemed as though students interest would be piqued. As Tally suggests (2000) students interest increases when they can get emotionally involved. The Internet gives them the opportunity to get information in a variety of formats instead of just a textbook. Middle school students participating in this class will have the opportunity to use the computer for the class to search for information, correspond with other students about the class, and work at their own pace. One amusing thought by Kearsley (1997) about online education is that it can succeed in spite of an ineffective teacher