History may deal with things of the past, but, as adjunct professor of history Nicole Benbow knows, this does not mean the ways we learn it have to stay there.
鈥淗igher education is changing,鈥 she says. 鈥淒oing different types of projects gives students a variety of skills they can use after completing their degrees.鈥
This past year, Benbow spent a lot of time talking with the students in her Post-Confederation Canadian History course about the new opportunities that come with researching and learning history in the digital age.
鈥淭here are so many tools available to present and analyze things differently. Books and journal articles are great, but we can also do things like analyze and manipulate maps and consult video sources.鈥
In keeping with this idea, the class spent the semester creating web-based projects that explored the context and current state of issues surrounding Indigenous people in Canada. It鈥檚 a topic Benbow felt was particularly imperative to delve into from a faith-based perspective.
鈥淎s Christians, we鈥檙e tasked with sharing truth and caring for people who鈥檝e been marginalized.鈥
鈥淎s Christians, we鈥檙e tasked with sharing truth and caring for people who鈥檝e been marginalized. Doing this in a way that鈥檚 accessible for non-Christians and non-scholars should be one of our tasks.鈥
Student Kenton Slaa and his group chose to do their project on the Indian Act. For him, Benbow鈥檚 point about increased accessibility definitely rang true.
鈥淩ather than finding sources and citing them, we could direct viewers to those sources through links,鈥 he says. 鈥淲e were also able to add photos and primary source documents, which offered something more authentic and heartfelt than if we tried to describe them on paper.鈥
As a future teacher, Slaa looks forward to using the knowledge he鈥檚 gained in the classroom.
鈥淯sing digital options as a springboard to collaborate on resources and compile research is a super helpful tool to explore.鈥
Caden Brett, Slaa鈥檚 groupmate, believes that adopting digital methods will help a wider audience view history through a redemptive lens.
鈥淲e need to use our faith to learn from the faults of the past and seek to create a better future for everybody,鈥 he says. 鈥淎dopting these approaches to historical research opens up new possibilities for expressing our history from a Christian perspective. God has given us digital tools, and I feel they are a fantastic way to further his Kingdom.鈥
Students Sydney White and Ashley White, who did their project on the Sixties Scoop, found that working in the digital sphere helped them tell a relational story rather than merely presenting a summary of facts.
鈥淎 paper can get lost within a bigger library written on the subject,鈥 says Sydney White. 鈥淯sing a digital platform, we were able to include things like interviews, timelines, maps and survivor stories to help engage our audience.鈥
鈥淎s a history major, I find it important to know where we came from so that we can better deal with the patterns occurring in the present.鈥
鈥淧eople are also just not going to spend time reading academic papers,鈥 adds Ashley White. 鈥淎 website is aesthetically pleasing, easier to find and navigate and a more fun way to access information.鈥
On a personal level, the students鈥 work showed them how essential it is to gain an understanding of the past while attempting to change the future.
鈥淲hen it came to interacting with a group of people we didn鈥檛 understand, the thinking in Canada was very present-set,鈥 says Sydney White. 鈥淎s a history major, I find it important to know where we came from so that we can better deal with the patterns occurring in the present.鈥
Given the majority of positive feedback from this year鈥檚 class, Benbow plans to keep adding innovative learning methods to her teaching repertoire. She looks forward to seeing how this will contribute to her students鈥 post-Redeemer goals and the university鈥檚 overall mission.
鈥淸Redeemer] is trying to do good scholarship in a way that鈥檚 redemptive,鈥 she says. 鈥淧resenting these issues clearly and with empathy is an opportunity to contribute to reconciliation and improve relations between different groups in the future.鈥