Children of the Lodz Ghetto is an online collaborative
history lab where learners perform authentic historical research using
primary documents, historical databases, expert/peer feedback, and
hypothesis building.  Participants become “citizen historians”
assembling and sharing the stories of children during the Holocaust
while learning history, historical methods, and critical thinking
skills.

Based on a unique record of over 14,000 children from the Holocaust,
Children of the Lodz Ghetto invites learners to take an active role in
our understanding of the past. As "citizen historians," participants
investigate children from the Lodz ghetto via an on-line research lab
that structures the search, provides access to primary and secondary
historical sources, and allows direct feedback from experts and peers. 
This project creates an authentic research and learning environment
that asks learners to struggle together with the challenge of
uncovering what is still unknown - what happened to these children.
Yet, the project also ties individual research to the larger questions
of how the Holocaust occurred.  Working within this online environment,
participants improve critical thinking skills and gain a more complex
understanding of historical events.

This research portal is still in development, but it is open to beta
testing by middle school, high school, and college students.

The March 25 videoconference is for teachers who are interested in
learning how to introduce their students to the project, how to
navigate the site, and how to integrate the research into existing
courses.  This program is for teachers who want to teach their students
about history experientially – by doing authentic historical research
using online data digitized from historical documents in the United
States Holocaust Memorial Museum and other archives.

Videoconference Outline:

3:30 – Introductions

3:40 – 4:00 – Overview of the project and the Website

4:00 – 4:30 – Guided exploration and case study research by participants

4:30 – 5:00 – Q & A and discussion of how to integrate into existing curricula

Preparing for the Videoconference:

Because time is very limited during the videoconference, it is
strongly recommended that before the videoconference, all participants
visit the Children of the Lodz Ghetto: A Memorial Research Project
website at http://online.ushmm.org/lodzchildren and register to create
a researcher profile for themselves.  This will enable everyone to jump
into shared case study research immediately during the videoconference
program.  Participants should feel free to explore the site and
practice their own research before attending the videoconference, as
well.