The Renaissance and beyond...

I would like to have my students choose historical figures of the Renaissance period, the Scientific Revolution, Voyages of Discovery, or from the Imperial Conquest period and do a comparison with a major figure from the modern era.

In order to do this I would like to have the students partner up and research a historical figure from one of the above mention eras as well as a person from a more modern historical era.

The students would gather information that addresses economics, science, and culture and plan a cross-era interview. The students would have to develop a series of questions. They would take turns asking and answering each others questions from the perspective of their chosen historical figure. This activity would be recorded and then the students would get to edit and publish those recordings for their class. Each recording would be posted in their online Edmodo class. Students from their class period would then view the submissions online and submit a score from a provided rubric and respond to the video with questions. Once all the groups have submitted videos and had a chance to respond to other submissions, each class period would select 1 or 2 videos to be a part of a comilation DVD that the instructor would keep for future reference.

The students will be able to see the reasons behind the Renaissance and how it changed the world as well as being able to see how it continues to change the world. The hands on learning approach with digital age group of students will allow them to showcase their technology skills.