21: Nineties / Beginning of Now

21: Nineties / Beginning of Now

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Bill Gates' 1993 prediction for the future of computers | BBC Global
Bill Gates' 1993 prediction for the future of computers | BBC Global
Five minutes of Microsoft employees talking about computers in 1993, great primary source . These are some of the first people that used email at work. Interesting to think that they never said anything about being overloaded with too much information
Bill Gates' 1993 prediction for the future of computers | BBC Global
Sept 11 Eye Witnesses Reactions As It Happened
Sept 11 Eye Witnesses Reactions As It Happened
The first ten minutes of this video provides insight into what it must have been like to stand with a random group of strangers several blocks from the World Trade Center during the attack.
Sept 11 Eye Witnesses Reactions As It Happened
Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson Blame 9/11 on Organizations Like People For the American Way - YouTube
Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson Blame 9/11 on Organizations Like People For the American Way - YouTube
Television broadcast after 9/11 attacks - two fundamentalists claim the attacks are a reflection of the wrath of God for the ACLU's attempt to "secularize" America. This video confronts students with domestic fundamentalism and therefore provides a comparison point with fundamentalist around the world.
Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson Blame 9/11 on Organizations Like People For the American Way - YouTube
Computational Propaganda Worldwide: Executive Summary
Computational Propaganda Worldwide: Executive Summary
12 page article for Civics and History teachers to scan quickly and get a sense of the current world of propaganda. When teaching students about posters and slogans from World War I and II, we have to let students know the infinitely more powerful tools of propaganda today
Computational Propaganda Worldwide: Executive Summary
The Anatomy of a Search Engine
The Anatomy of a Search Engine
This is Sergey Brin and Lawrence Page's Computer Science project from college, a description of an internet search engine they called "Google"
The Anatomy of a Search Engine
The Kids' Guide to the Internet 1997 - Video
The Kids' Guide to the Internet 1997 - Video

This 30 minute video was produced in 1997. Even though its overloaded with the saccharin-sweetness of a "perfect" nuclear family, it does provide and insight into the early internet and how people envisioned its role in their lives. The teenage boys innocently admits that he'd rather be "on the internet" than do anything else. Ten years later public service ads would be asking kids to get outside at least one hour a day.

It's unlikely that the whole video should ever be used, though selected portions could be used in a primary document exercise that develops the skills without having to dive into 17th and 18th century language in an unfamiliar historical context.  Certainly short segments can be used in digital literacy or computer applications courses.

The Kids' Guide to the Internet 1997 - Video
"How To Lose The Cold War" Richard Nixon 1992
"How To Lose The Cold War" Richard Nixon 1992
Seldom does one come across a prediction so accurate as this one. Nixon warns that if the United States does not throw significant aid into Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russians will turn back to an authoritarian nationalist dictator that will work to expand the borders of Russia. Much of this is exactly what happened
"How To Lose The Cold War" Richard Nixon 1992
Not a New Revolution | American Experience | Official Site | PBS
Not a New Revolution | American Experience | Official Site | PBS
Short essay that could be used as homework assignment or follow-up reading after a lesson on the Oklahoma City bombing, It places the bombing in context of anti-government fervor that stretches back to the start of the country
Not a New Revolution | American Experience | Official Site | PBS
Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum
Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum
Useful for teachers to see how we choose to remember the past. You won't find any lessons or resources exploring the causes of the bombing
Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum
The Flamethrowers | CBC Podcasts | CBC Listen
The Flamethrowers | CBC Podcasts | CBC Listen
“The Flamethrowers” captures the punch-you-in-the-mouth energy and sound of right-wing talk radio. Host Justin Ling takes us from the fringe preachers and conspiracy peddlers of the 1920s to the political firestorm that rages today. With humour and candour, Ling examines the appeal of broadcasters like Rush Limbaugh, who found a sleeping audience, radicalized it, and became an accidental kingmaker — culminating in the election of Donald Trump.
The Flamethrowers | CBC Podcasts | CBC Listen
Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City Bombing - Bill of Rights Institute
Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City Bombing - Bill of Rights Institute
Notice the subtle inferences that McVeigh did not work alone and that "the government" is a fault for Waco. Notice how the reference about Wounded Knee calls Native Americans "civilians" when they were not considered citizens at the time. The entire article ignores slavery
Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City Bombing - Bill of Rights Institute