Teaching the European Union Using New Technology
I. Introduction
The European Union is a developing and evolving supernatorial entity nascent in Europe. Accordingly, there is an excess of scholarly work following the growth, changes and current state of the Union. For our purposes, the Internet provides an ideal means of providing teaching resources to educators. The most useful means of gathering and disseminating information about the European Union is the Internet. Everything from primary source materials to power point presentations are available to teachers via the Internet. The following appears to be the most important resources currently obtainable by high school teachers on teaching the European Union.
EUROPA is the primary WWW-server of the EU. It offers a wealth of information on the European Union's institutions, goals and policies.
The is the European Union in the US homepage. It provides press releases, speeches, EURECOM: Economic and Financial News , EUROPE Magazine , EU-US relations, information on EU policies and legislation and Delegation programs. This is the parent site to:
http://www.eurunion.org/infores/teaching/secondary.htm#online
This page is a work in progress based on suggestions made by educators at the 1999 Annual Conference of the National Council for the Social Studies. More items will be added over time.
The EU and You is a website developed by the International Area Studies program at Drexel University for Philadelphia area high schools.
The European Policy Centre an interface between government, business and civil society and provides reports on European affairs
University of Pittsburgh CES site to help instructors in constructing competent courses on EU studies. Includes maps, syllabi, search engines, teaching resources, etc.
.
The mountain of published material on the EU gets bigger every day. Little of this material, however, is specifically designed for the secondary level.
Stanford Spice - Unity in Diversity-The European Union: An Evolving Community (slightly dated but still useful)
The Social Studies Program of the Goethe Institute has developed several excellent instructional kits on Germany. Germany in Europe: Enduring Issues includes material on the European Union. Each kit contains lesson plans which include instructional objectives, teacher resources, student handouts and worksheets (including maps, statistical
information, readings and other data), as well as color transparencies to facilitate instruction.
Lesson Plans by Online News Organizations or Learning Companies Less News Organizations and Learning Companies
Sitesforteachers.com |
The Foreign Policy Association has an educator's corner which provides lesson guides for different topics within the regions of the world several on the EU. Includes web posting and global forums.
• http://www.eurunion.org/publicat/freepub.htm
These informative pamphlets and other published materials are available without charge and include overviews of the EU institutions and major policy sectors.
B. Simulations
http://www.eurunion.org/infores/teaching/secondary.htm#simulations
2.) Primary Source Materials
a) Speeches
http://www.eurunion.org/news/speeches/speeches.htm
b) EU Laws, Policies and Treaties
3.) Power Point Presentations
• Overview of EU-U.S. Relations (includes speaking notes)
4.) Video / Audio
On-Line Video and Audio Materials
A. Videos
The European Commission Delegation in Washington, DC, sponsors the production and free distribution of educational videos about the EU. A list of videos is available on the Delegation's Internet website at http://www.eurunion.org/delegati/ppa/video.htm .
Mulimedia Resources from UNC
http://www.unc.edu/depts/europe/msie.htmlB. Audio
5.) News Resources
Journals
Current History ( http://www.currenthistory.com ). Available at most libraries and many bookstores, each bi-monthly issue focuses on a different geographic region, including Europe. Short, focused, informative articles by noted scholars provide useful material for use in individual teaching units. For an additional $10, subscibers may access articles and archives online as pdf files.
Foreign Affairs ( http://www.foreignaffairs.org ) and Foreign Policy ( http://www.foreignpolicy.com ). Both journals regularly feature articles on Europe and the transatlantic relationship. Articles are usually written by policy analysts or policy makers, so they are direct and without theoretical baggage.
Magazines
Europe ( http://www.eurunion.org/magazine/index.htm ). Produced by the Delegation of the European Commission, Washington, DC. Useful feature articles on EU issues and interviews with EU policymakers. Also contains lighter articles on culture and travel. For samples, phone (202) 862-9555 or fax (202) 429-1766; for subscriptions, phone 1-800-627-7961.
The Economist ( http://www.economist.com ). Provides good coverage of many EU-related issues and occasionally has lengthy sections on special EU-related topics.
Business Week ( http://www.businessweek.com ). Concise coverage of European economic issues.
NEWSLINK-magazines
http://ajr.newslink.org/mag.html - A guide to European magazines
Newspapers
The Financial Times of London ( http://www.ft.com ) is usually considered the best English language newspaper for EU issues and is free with registration online.
European Voice ( http://www.european-voice.com ) is produced by the Economist Group.
Among U.S. newspapers, The New York Times ( http://www.nytimes.com/ ) , and Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com ) offer coverage of European events, with frequent feature articles on EU issues.
NEWSLINK-newspapers
http://ajr.newslink.org/nonuse.html - Guide to European newspapers.
6.) Internet Resources of Special Interest
http://www.eurunion.org/infores/euindex.htm
This index is a guide to information on the website of the European Commission Delegation in Washington, as well as on all of the websites of the European Union's institutions and specialized agencies in Europe.
Intercultural E-Mail Classroom Connections
IECC is a free teaching.com service to help teachers link with partners in other cultures and countries for email classroom pen-pal and other project exchanges.
European Multimedia is "a collection of images of people, places and events related to the European Union and its member states," prepared by the West European Studies Department, University of Indiana. Slightly dated but useful.