Thomas Vasconcelos

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Teaching Resource: Hardcore History (podcast) by Dan Carlin

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Type: “Material for supplemental lessons or units that can be used at the very beginning or very end of the year, or on days where you might need a change (e.g. the last day before spring break)”

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              This resource is a set of podcast audio files by Dan Carlin. These “Hardcore History” podcasts can be found on Carlin’s website (Citation and link below). Various Hardcore History podcast files can also be found on YouTube. New podcast files are regularly added to the online library suite. From “Death Throes of the Republic” – chronicling the fall of the Roman Empire – to the “Wrath of the Khans” collection – recounting the Mongol invasion of the great civilizations of the Old World - Carlin is a captivating storyteller, who uniquely presents world history lessons to anyone with access to the internet (his podcasts can also be downloaded and played without internet access).

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              The “Hardcore History” podcast series should be reserved for High School students, as they contain descriptions of war and violence. As a teacher, I would reserve the use of these podcasts for the end of the semester or before vacation. These audio files can be played in the classroom, and because there is no visual component, students are free to work on other assignments or work/socialize in groups while the audio is playing. They are especially appropriate for occasions when students are working on end-of-the-semester work. Students who have completed all of their work/assignments can either listen to the podcast or work on other assignments while the audio is being played in the background. Students could be encouraged to work/collaborate with other students during this time period time – even if the interaction with others involves talking/socializing (and not necessarily to work on a school-assigned project/work). These audio files are developmentally supportive, as they are an excellent source for reviewing major events in world history which have been previously studied in class. Students could also be assigned classwork based on the audio files, or students can use the files as an entertaining review source, especially with the direction of the teacher.

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               There are several limitations to using these “Hardcore History” podcasts in the classroom. Students may not pay attention to the audio due to classroom distractions – social interactions could become very loud and the classroom could become too boisterous. There are also no questions or worksheets associated with the files, so teachers will have to create their own, if they want to couple the files with additional work/activities. Having said this, this particular teaching resource is meant as a supplement and not meant to be used as a primary method of teaching. Instead, this resource can be effectively used during periods of time where students may be on differing levels classroom work completion and as a time period for social interaction (hence – to be used immediately before a period of school vacation).

 

             In addition to simply playing the podcasts in the background, while students engage with other activities, these podcasts could be used as a scaffolding device. Students can eventually create their very own podcasts – styled in a similar fashion to the Dan Carlin podcasts. These student-created podcasts would be a great way for the students to review the classroom material. Students take ownership of the material during the creation of the audio clips, and these audio clips can be played back in the future for the purpose of preparing for a class/subject/unit review. Students would have access to their own audio clips, as well as the audio clips of their fellow classmates (uploaded to a class site and/or a site like YouTube).

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              In order to structure the audio clips and ensure that all of the important information is covered, some type of rubric would be created to guide the students and this rubric would also serve the purpose of having a more uniform set of audio clips within the class-generated podcast library suite. The following structure could be used by the students to assist in organizing their ideas:

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A: Author/Actors – Who are the main figures of this time period or who is the author of the historical text that is being analyzed?

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P: Place and Time – Where and when did this period of history take place?

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A: Affect – What are some of the aftereffects for people who lived after the historical period of time?

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R: Reason. What proceedings led to the major events of this time/period/subject/text?

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T: The main ideas/events which take place during this historical period or historical text.

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Y: Yeah, so what? Why is this part of history important? What is there to be learned from analyzing it?

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              Lev Vygotsky developed a socio-cultural theory of cognitive development. Vygotsky theorized that adolescents learn actively and through hands on experiences. Parents, caregivers, peers, cultural beliefs, attitudes, and language are all responsible for the development of a higher order function of learning. The “Hardcore History” podcasts allow students to use/interrelate with language (from Dan Carlin) and from fellow peers and instructors. According to Vygotsky, this example of interaction is what guides children in their own cognitive performance/development. A child internalizes the information that they get from the interaction with others. Individuals are influenced by those around us and the culture around us. Vygotsky theorized that a “zone of proximal development” involves working with more knowledgeable societal figures in order to learn. The aforementioned podcast activity gives students the independence to work as they see fit, with the emphasis on interacting with themselves and the actual stimulating language from the podcast audio itself. Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory advances the idea that language is an accelerator to thinking and understanding (private/internal speech can accelerate mental development as well). Language develops from social interactions for communication purposes. Vygotsky posits that the ability to think for ourselves and developing the ability of executing skills emanates from this importance of language.

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-Thomas Vasconcelos

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Carlin, D. (2016). Dan Carlin – Hardcore History Library. Retrieved from

 http://www.dancarlin.com/hardcore-history-series/