Welcome
No matter where you are, we're glad you're here!
You have arrived at the Explore Alaska! A Natural and Cultural History course blog. This course is offered though the ASDN and APU, and is supported in part by WGBH, NSF, and the AKHF.
Click Here to learn more about this unique online course; Otherwise, read on:
Making Connections
Click Here to learn more about this unique online course; Otherwise, read on:
Making Connections
History is about connections. The more we can question and understand Alaska history, the better we can question, understand and come to know ourselves.
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| Northwestern America Territory Ceded by Russia to U.S. 1880 ASL-G4370-1880.M4-MapCase |
Or consider the connections between climate change and human migration. Mining and immigration. World War II and statehood. Tourism and ocean transport. Subsistence lifestyle and the federal government.
How are any and all of these issues connected? And what are the reasons we should care?
You are about to embark on a learning experience that will provide an opportunity to learn about Alaska’s human and natural landscapes while using digital tools to acquire, synthesize, and share information.
It is recognized by the course authors that participants in this course represent diverse disciplines and areas of teaching certification, varied teaching and living situations, and have varied interests and reasons for taking this course. This presents both opportunities and challenges, and has influenced the course format and approach to the content.
First and foremost, this course provides an introduction, a survey, of Alaska. The intent of the authors is that teachers taking this course will acquire basic content knowledge and digital communication skills that will serve them well in their classrooms and communities.
It is recognized by the course authors that participants in this course represent diverse disciplines and areas of teaching certification, varied teaching and living situations, and have varied interests and reasons for taking this course. This presents both opportunities and challenges, and has influenced the course format and approach to the content.
First and foremost, this course provides an introduction, a survey, of Alaska. The intent of the authors is that teachers taking this course will acquire basic content knowledge and digital communication skills that will serve them well in their classrooms and communities.
An even greater goal of the authors is that this course becomes a point of entry for a long-term interest in and study of Alaska. The benefits for the participant are both personal and professional.
Why? Alaska needs citizens knowledgeable, interested, and active. Significant issues facing Alaska, from land management and natural resource use to creating sustainable economies to health /welfare issues all require the input of critical thinking citizens.
There are few settings where one vote makes a difference is more true than in Alaska. As such, individuals here carry a greater personal responsibility for knowing and acting in the best interests of the environment and of the society.
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| Oil Well Drilling Platform in Cook Inlet Alaska Purchase Centennial Oct. 18, 1967 AMRC-wws-4560-10 |
There are few settings where one vote makes a difference is more true than in Alaska. As such, individuals here carry a greater personal responsibility for knowing and acting in the best interests of the environment and of the society.
It's Not Just A Good Idea...
For all teachers, there is also a professional obligation to come to know about the home of their students. Home in this case is Alaska. Effective teachers strive to know and honor the cultural background of their students; background in the broadest and most inclusive context. Students and their parents of any culture, in any community, show greater respect and support for those teachers who understand and act on this obligation.Also, by becoming a student of Alaska's places and people, the teacher, as a participant in this course, is at the same time modeling what should be a goal for the students in his/her own classroom.
However, the mandate that teachers and students acquire knowledge about this great state is more than just another legislative hoop through which to jump. It is hoped and expected that the teacher-participant in this course is naturally motivated to pursue greater knowledge and understanding of the places and people where they live and learn.
It's The Law
Several years ago, the Alaska State Legislature and the Alaska Department of Education/Early Development enacted a requirement that Alaska students acquire fundamental knowledge about this unique place that we call home.  |
"Next Door to Nature" Pt. Barrow, AK 1968 AMRC-b85-27-904 |
Alongside the knowledge, skills and resources discovered and applied throughout this course, the authors hope each participant finds his/her own inspiration and passion for history.
As the well-known American historian David McCullough responded when asked, “Why study history?”, he said simply, “For the pleasure that it brings.” Indeed.
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| Alaska Native Family - early 1900's Southeast Alaska ASL-P300-056 |
Connections Theme
This is a survey course. So, how does one learn enough content in a survey course to walk away with a sense of the Alaska’s natural landscape and the history? How can the experience of this course become more that an accumulation of unrelated facts which serve only a limited purpose? The answer is to weave the data together into a construct which can be applied in and out the classroom and which leads to higher order thinking. No fact of history occurs in isolation, and understanding that the fact has a cause (reason) and an effect (result) provides the student of history with a way to examine historical influences over time and space. It allows for a chronological narrative and a way to identify patterns and forces in human behaviors that can guide future behaviors.
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| Eskimo Scouts Receive Awards from Gov. Egan early 1960's UAF-1985-120-47 |
Think cause/effect (reason-result) in each module, and gradually, links will emerge and the facts will begin to associate into an ever more meaningful whole. At that point, one can move beyond mere recall and begin to analyze the material. Understanding will begin.
Resources
The resources for this course are all available online and are free. Follow this link to the categorized list of resources accessed throughout this course; there is considerable overlap across categories. This list is certainly not exhaustive, but includes some of the most helpful and well regarded sites. The sites include both primary and secondary sources.
Among the most valuable sites are the Teachers’ Domain and the Alaska History and Culture Studies. Created by WBGH Public Television, TD is an enormous library of free digital resources designed especially for educators.
AH&CS is the product of a curriculum project launched in 2003 by the Alaska Humanities Forum with federal funding obtained by Senator Ted Stevens. Permission was obtained to include the site for this online course, making this valuable resource available to a wider audience of educators.
Among the most valuable sites are the Teachers’ Domain and the Alaska History and Culture Studies. Created by WBGH Public Television, TD is an enormous library of free digital resources designed especially for educators.
AH&CS is the product of a curriculum project launched in 2003 by the Alaska Humanities Forum with federal funding obtained by Senator Ted Stevens. Permission was obtained to include the site for this online course, making this valuable resource available to a wider audience of educators.
The course participant will independently find more online sources. Standard evaluation skills should be applied to determine the validity and accuracy of each site. As will be discovered, there are many, many websites about Alaska of varying quality. Course participants are reminded to critically analyze each source. Participants are encouraged to share any quality online source with others in their blog.
While the online resources list represents the best available within the digital domain, it is important to note that there are very significant Alaska resources that are not yet digitized. The student of Alaska's natural and human history should have this awareness, and for future learning, also seek access to resources available in various formats.
While the online resources list represents the best available within the digital domain, it is important to note that there are very significant Alaska resources that are not yet digitized. The student of Alaska's natural and human history should have this awareness, and for future learning, also seek access to resources available in various formats.
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Juneau Boat Harbor ASL-Juneau-Boat Harbors |
Curiosity Required
The course participant should carefully consider the essential questions for the course and the guiding questions provided in each module. The course authors ask the participants to think, ask questions, look for the links (causes and effects) that connect various elements of Alaska's rich history.
Participants are encouraged to be curious and to be passionate about the content, and to come to care for the numerous characters of Alaska history, as their stories will become part of the fabric of the each individual Alaska experience.
Participants are encouraged to be curious and to be passionate about the content, and to come to care for the numerous characters of Alaska history, as their stories will become part of the fabric of the each individual Alaska experience.
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| Anchorage, Crossroads of the Air - sign at Anchorage International Airport 1962 AMRC-b63-14-18 |
Digital Timeline
As a final project, course participants will create their own digital timeline demonstrating various connections between cause-effect relationships of two or more aspects of Alaska natural and cultural history - which are set in a time and place, are historically accurate, and reveal connections which contribute to a deeper level of understanding Click Here to read more about the Final Project.
Musings
To the participant: Here are a couple of visualizations that may help with what may feel, at times, like an overwhelming amount of content.
Think of Alaska history as a zigsaw puzzle with hundreds of pieces (or thousands!). Each piece is a distinct piece of information, but in the box there is just a jumble of pieces. In this course you will begin to assemble the puzzle.
First, consider the border pieces. Those you will find in Module II as you learn the natural history – the “place” and the forces that have shaped the Alaska environment. Make sense? Everything in human history occurs in a time and place. Then you will start to fill in the puzzle with pieces that at times don’t seem to connect to anything, but gradually you will find matching pieces and the attachments, the linkages, will begin.
By the end of the course, will the puzzle be complete? No, there is much more to learn, and history is ever evolving. But, if you keep in mind the theme of cause/effect and interconnectedness, the pieces, as you pick them up, will become easier and easier to place. Not only that, but your puzzle will be unique, representing your interpretations and understandings.
If the puzzle idea doesn’t work for you, try this. Alaska history is a “fabric” made up of warp threads and weft threads. Each thread represents a fact, or an understanding. Your learning of Alaska history is the weaving of the fabric. As each thread is woven under and over, connections are made and understanding grows. The threads are multi-colored and the fabric is patterned which may represent different groups, cycles, historical periods. As the fabric grows, it becomes stronger and more dense. At the end of the course, there will still be holes in the fabric; the holes represent knowledge yet to be learned and events yet to occur.
What's Next?
Now that you have an overview of this course, you may want to explore its calendar, structure, syllabus and technology requirements in more detail. You'll find links to helpful information under the Course Protocols menu in the upper right corner of this blog. Welcome aboard! Let's go Explore Alaska!
