Reply #2: Interesting stuff for sure [View All]

[MadHound]

And of great value to any Civil War historian. However learning the Civil War solely from this would leave students lacking in a number of critical areas. It's a great research tool, but I wouldn't recommend it for the primary purpose of teaching the Civil War.

Nor am I a fan of learning online. Having experienced both brick and mortar classes and online classes, I find that I get more value out of the brick and mortar classes. I really hope that online learning isn't the wave of the future. Not only will we be shortchanging our students, but we'll also put an entire group of people, teachers, professors out of business.

Plus, what happens in twenty years when the technology changes, we lose a bunch of information. We're already losing critical history now due to the digital transformation. There are books that are no longer available, music that didn't make the jump to CD, records that have vanished, movies that are gone. Digitalization has served to cull out a lot of "unacceptable" information, which is now lost forever unless one's lucky to run across it in some musty library backroom or antique store.

Besides, the Civil War effected this entire country, from coast to coast. Rather than starting at what happened in VA or PA, go out and find out what happened in your own local area.

A great research tool, but it's not going to replace a good history teacher.