The use of film offers history educators a different way of presenting information to students then the typical lecture provides. While not meant as a replacement to the typical history lecture, the additional use of film allows the history educator to engage with different types of learners and ensure that a larger portion of their audience is engaged with the material being presented by the history educator. A typical history lecture with an educator standing in front of a group talking only really engages those that are auditory learners, who can learn history from the lecture format. However, the lecture does not engage those that are visual learners. This can instead be accomplished through the use of films. By using both lectures and films in their teaching, history educators can ensure that they are engaging both auditory and visual learners. An example of a topic that this method of teaching could be used for is discussing the role of African-American soldiers in the Civil War. The history educator could give a lecture and then have their students watch the 1989 film Glory, that tells the story of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment.
The one thing that is crucial for history educators to address with their audiences is the historical accuracy of an film they will use. There are some films that are more historically accurate than others. It is important for a history educator to inform students of the historical inaccuracies in film. This can be done by having students compare the way a historical event is depicted in a film with the primary sources written about the particular event. This activity can help students discover the ways that the historical narrative can be changed for a specific purpose and can lead to a discussion about the way that historical narratives are constructed and historical events are remembered.
Another way that media can be used in history education is through scholarly digital storytelling. In this method of teaching, the history educator could have students create a video documentary about a historical topic that is of interest to them or relates to the subject matter being taught in a history class. The students would be responsible for choosing the topic, conducting the historical research, writing the script for their story, filming and editing their story, and presenting their story online. While the student would be able to receive help from the history educator, the major decisions in creating their digital story would be theres to make. This type of project would teach students what it is like to be a historian and the type of work that historians do and the decisions they make. By completing this project, students would have to use the skills of historical thinking that are crucial to the history profession.
