ABSTRACT
Context: TE Elementary, TE Secondary, Multicultural Education, 7-12, University NCSS Standards: II (Time, Continuity, and Change), III (People, Places, and Environments),
VIII (Science, Technology, and Society) INTASC Standards: 1 (Subject Matter Expertise), 6 (Communication Skills), 7 (Instructional
Planning), 9 (Refl ection and Professional Development) Topics: technology/internet, media literacy, history, oral history, critical thinking, community-
based learning, historical fi gures, pictures/photographs, multiple perspectives, marginalization
Th e project described here addresses Doolittle’s (2001) call for teacher educators to “disengage from the unidirectional telling of historical stories and begin to entrust teacher candidates with a discussion of the development of history” (p. 32). Th is project, implemented in a secondary social studies methods course, used digital video and audio and allowed teacher candidates to develop their own historical research through a form of digital storytelling. Th e teacher candidates were given an opportunity to develop their own interpretation of community voices while chronicling the history of an Alabama landmark or a historical event. Th e intent of the Voices of Community project is twofold: (1) to stimulate the teacher candidates to recognize historical people, events, and places of our state which are fundamental to citizenship, and (2) to provide teacher candidates with the ability to use a technology tool that develops meaningful social studies knowledge. Digital technologies and resources can “shift the locus of history and social studies instruction from a teacher-centered transmission model to a model that encourages student’s inquiry” (Lee, 2002, p. 30).
