Implementation of Jobs From the Dusty Pages of History to Modern Times (SOI-FI-225)

The implementation context 

I used this learning scenario with 17-year-old students. Their last compulsory ESL course is on education and employment. The group had 31 students and none of them had previously visited the Europeana site. This learning scenario was implemented in spring 2020 with students studying from home, so some changes were made because of that.

The narrative 

I implemented the learning scenario with small changes to allow for distance learning as it was implemented during the Corona period. The instructions were given during a session in Meet. Students formed groups of 3-4 and worked on the survey and texts in those groups. For this, one person per group created a Meet session and pasted the link in the table so other group members and the teacher could join. They formed the groups in a shared Google Doc (prepared by the teachers) which had a table that allowed for 10 groups maximum. The table also indicated which text each group would read.
The research was done over the weekend and every group made a Google Slide. They then presented their slideshow to the rest of the class in a Meet session.
We did not have enough time for the suggested assessment, so I just had each student write a self-evaluation on 1) the content of their slide show, 2) the team work (what was challenging, what went well), 3) what they found the most interesting presentation by another team (why it was interesting).



A small group Meet with 4 students and the teacher. As you can see from the tabs, the teacher had several Meets open.

Learning outcomes 

Students of this age are always interested in social sciences, and 17-year-olds in particular are very interested in employment, as it is a current subject to them. Learning about how technology has affected jobs also helped them realise that this is just one side of the coin, the other side being that new jobs come into existence as well. Aside from that, any learning scenario that makes students talk and write in English while doing something interesting and creative is a positive, as this enhances learning. Working in teams must be practiced as it is not always self-evident but still important for almost any job.

Teaching outcomes 

Teaching with Europana is a bit daunting at first. There is so much material, and possible teaching implementations might not be immediately evident. I would suggest you start by browsing through the existing learning scenarios or stories of implementation, and especially using the school levels/topics/language-searches. This will quickly give you ideas of what you can do in your subject with your students. Using authentic material always makes learning more interesting, and Europeana provides the perfect database for this! 

Did you find this story of implementation interesting? Why don’t you read about the related learning scenario?

Jobs… From the Dusty Pages of History to Modern Times created by Gül Doğan

Did you find this story of implementation interesting? You might also like:

• Jobs in the Past implemented by Marcin Jablonski
• Gender Inequality in Workplaces implemented by M.Isabel Vila Figueroa
• Time Travel Agency implemented by Tapani Saarinen

Do you want to discover more stories of implementation? Click here.

CC BY 4.0: the featured image used to illustrate this article has been found on Europeana and has been provided by the Wellcome Collection.