Overview
Developed by University of Southern California Shoah Foundation – The Institute for Visual History and Education, IWitness is a classroom tool that provides teachers and students access to more than 1,500 life stories from survivors and witnesses to the Holocaust and other genocides. IWitness brings these stories to life via engaging videos, multimedia-learning activities, and digital resources. Topics are standards aligned, so teachers can easily integrate IWitness’s resources across numerous content areas.
Social-Emotional Learning
The personal narratives found on the IWitness website allow students to take a deeper dive into historical events so they can better understand the impact of those events on individuals, communities, and society, while relating them to their personal experiences. IWitness covers over 52 subject areas, most of which relate to social justice, including character education, civics and government, history, social studies, and world history.
Topics are divided into resource categories such as: Goestory, IWalks, Lessons, Mini Quests, Info Quests, and Video Activities.
Virtual Learning
IWitness allows teachers and students to watch, search, edit, and share videos, images, and other content within a secure, password-protected space. Teachers can watch testimony and learn about the life stories of men and women who were confronted with social justice issues. Students can build video projects using IWitness’s built-in online video editor and learn important digital media skills, including searching and ethical remixing. Teachers and students can search for video testimony and photos to add to classroom projects and presentations. IWitness’s built-in encyclopedia and glossary can be referenced to better understand the testimonies and history presented on the website.
Flipped and Flexible
IWitness is designed to be flexible, providing educators with a variety of ways to integrate video testimony into curriculum for both in-person and virtual learning. Flipped classroom strategies can be utilized to engage students and foster critical conversations that are facilitated by teachers. Teachers can develop their own activities specific to their subject areas and interests using the IWitness Activity Builder.
Source: IWitness
