On average, people aged 18 – 34 spend a lot of their time online, browsing on social media and connecting with others. From social media channels to breaking news, our smart devices offer seamless access to any information around the world at our fingertips.
This level of connectivity can be a great tool for education and forming a connection to the past. To bridge the gap between two people and their unique experiences, you’ll want to meet them where they are likely to hear you. To foster an appreciation of history to the next generation, use social media to your advantage. It offers an exciting way to tell stories from the past in small, easy to digest bites.
In this Common Sense Media report, a 2019 survey found that 64% of teens prefer a visual medium for learning about news or major events. In fact, you can go on apps like Tik Tok and come across a video of someone sharing information about a specific event in history. Often times, they include imagery and digitized artifacts to add a visual element to their content. Whether the information is being communicated through a sixty-second video or through a thread on Twitter, it's the kind of content that can gain a lot of traction and even start debates in the comment sections.
What sets Gen Z youth apart from previous generations is their preferred learning style. These “digital natives”—individuals born during the age of digital technology—are adept at navigating the internet. Content like short videos, memes, or even threads in forums allow them to explore complex ideas or historical events. Today’s students are more likely to be open to learning new things. Instead of sticking to the curriculum, they’d prefer to go online and discover more about what’s being taught to them through different content. With the help of Search Engine Optimization, hashtags, or social media algorithms, they can find exactly what they are looking for with ease. Digitizing historical artifacts and making it readily available online is a great way to appeal to them.
In addition to increasing accessibility, creating a digital library is a great way to foster a diverse learning environment. Since millennial teachers are also digital natives, they can effectively integrate technology into their lessons. Since before the pandemic, having access to digital libraries has been a great asset for lesson planning for both K-12 and college/university educators. Additionally, digitizing records is simpler than ever with microfilm scanning capabilities. From assigned readings to exercises out of a textbook, microfilm scanning allows educators to reach their students from beyond the classroom. History educators can provide digital replicas of any artifact while also providing new ways for the students to interact with it. For instance, if students have an assignment about a certain historical document, a digital replica will allow them to interact with it as a PDF. You can’t annotate the actual Magna Carta of 1215, but you could if you were to have an HD digital scan of it.
The applications for digitized records are nearly endless, as history has so many stories waiting to be told. Social media is a natural fit for content that weaves a narrative in a creative way. With consideration of messaging and standard search engine optimization tactics, your posts will get to their intended audience. Inspiring the younger generation with short, captivating social media posts can be easy and fun.
History teachers and historians with lots of information to share can leverage this tool. It will help them to validate and provide context for their stories with quick and easy access to artifacts online. This digitalized historical information can be accessed on the mobile devices which are found with virtually every teen today.
Lastly, when teens discover that social media provides seamless access to relevant and accurate information in a fun, understandable format – they are much more likely to continue to engage with it. Access to these archives, historical materials, artifacts, and more, can be a great way to encourage organic learning while online.
Taking advantage of these opportunities requires the right tools for the job. Historical artifacts are treasures that aren’t always close by. A state of the art tool like the ScanPro 2500 is one of the best products to digitalize history. These digital files make the past more tangible for all, especially for the generations who were born much later in the digital age. The ScanPro is equipped with sturdy yet compact hardware, updated software and excellent image quality. You’ll find every essential tool needed to digitally recreate history for generations to come.
The possibilities are endless when you deploy the ScanPro 2500, so you should discover its many wonders. Learn more about what the ScanPro can do for you at https://e-imagedata.com/.