NSW HSC Online Professional Development Node
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History, Economics and Social Science
Why use online teaching and learning in history, economics and social science?
The online environment provides teachers and students of history, economics and social sciences with a valuable tool for:
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Research
The sheer volume of information and resources available to students through the Internet and other sources has resulted in a reassessment of the skills of conducting research in an electronic age. The Internet provides access to a vast amount of information on many subjects and a valuable research tool for students. However searching for information electronically via the Internet raises significant questions regarding the validity of sources of information and teachers need to show their students how to evaluate the reliability and scholarship of the information they uncover.
One of the enormous advantages of the Internet is the access students now have to archives. Archives are designed for scholars, not necessarily students, and contain a vast amount of primary documents. History students can use these primary documents as scholars would to do the work of constructing historical interpretations themselves. Primary documents are not edited, sanitised versions of history and therefore provide students with many points of view of an event. -
Communication
Technology allows for improved communication between students and teacher, between and among students, and makes it possible for students in a variety of geographic locations to exchange ideas and work collaboratively. Online discussion groups, focused on a particular issue or a particular course, allow students to make contributions to an ongoing dialogue with scholars, students and interested parties.
One of the most significant values in the Internet for the social science student lies in its demonstration of how history is something that is ongoing and dynamic. Events prompt conversations from historians, subject matter experts, propagandists, and ordinary citizens: a striking example is the online discussions on CNN in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks. (http://www.cnn.com/COMMUNITY/transcripts/2001/archive/trade.center.html
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Websites
H-Net: Humanities and Social Sciences Online
Teaching History with Technology
Teaching History with Technology: A multimedia approach to the Norman Conquest
Teaching History with Technology: Using the Internet to explore the developing world
Pioneering women’s sufferage online
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Giving cannibalism a human face. Exploration
BBC: The Great War – 80 Years On
History/Social Studies Websites for K-12 Teachers
Exploratorium Cool Sites: History
Economics Resources for K-12 Teachers
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