Digital history

Although there are no longer any formal requirements within the Teacher Standards relating to the effective use of IT in teaching, nor any specific statements relating to students’ use of digital resources within the National Curriculum in England, technology has vastly enriched the teaching and learning of history in recent years. The resources here focus specifically on the ways in which learning history can be enhanced through the use of technology; whether this relates to the access and analysis of sources, to the processes of constructing different kinds of historical accounts (dramas, debates and documentaries as well as different kinds of written explanation and argument), or to the means by which young people can share their investigative tasks and the outcomes of what they have learned, giving them a ‘real’ audience for their work. 

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  • From anecdote to argument: using the word processor to connect knowledge and opinion through revelatory writing

    Article

    Jayne Prior and Peter John argue that it is time to build upon what has been learned about historical writing using ICT and to acknowledge both opportunities and dangers in some current and popular practice. Critical of some of the weaker uses of ‘cut and paste’ activities, where pupils are...

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  • Databases, spreadsheets, and historical enquiry at Key Stage 3

    Article

    Databases and spreadsheets used to terrify many history teachers and even where some skill was gained, these tools were approached in a spirit of professional worthiness rather than of intellectual excitement. Rob Alfano oozes intellectual excitement and it is pretty obvious that he communicates this to his pupils. His approaches...

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  • Using the Internet to teach about interpretations in Years 9 and 12

    Article

    Are you getting fed up of ICT experts and others telling you to watch out for ‘bias’ in websites? Have you sat open-mouthed through a training session or staff meeting where the need to teach pupils to be critical of what they find on the web is sagely discussed, as...

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  • How can I improve my use of ICT? Put history first!

    Article

    What is the difference between using lots of ICT and using it well? Dave Atkin draws upon work in his own department and with other Gloucestershire teachers in order to identify criteria for effective ICT use. These boil down to ‘putting history first' and getting maximum value out of the...

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  • Weighing a century with a website: teaching Year 9 to be critical

    Article

    Two years ago the history department at Hampstead School was one of two history departments chosen to model very effective use of IT in history for a BECTA research study. Two years on, what has the department been up to? All of the factors identified in that study -an ICT...

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  • Maps, ICT and History: A revolution in learning

    Article

    Lez Smart outlines exciting new developments in digitalisation of maps which could transform pupils' work on continuity and change, on diversity of society, on local history and much more. Above all, he shows how easy to use (and how cheap!) this new resource will be. Lez Smart explains the opportunities...

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  • History using information technology: past, present and future

    Article

    Alaric Dickinson gives an overview of recent developments in the teaching of history using ICT and relates these to different contexts. He examines the appeal of the History Using IT materials and places these in the context of earlier developments. He also considers the role of ICT in the context...

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