by Gilbert Pleuger, Editor of new perspective.Comments on incorporation of
topic articles for work assignments
Version 3.06 (June 2007) This page is on a separate screen. Click on the X in the top right corner to exit.Please also visit our eLearning pages, exclusive to the Study Centre
Suggested approaches
Worksheets for unit topics of particular importance, difficulty or interest
For several topics the site has more than one article. Articles by different authors embody different emphases, judgements and conclusions. It is an ideal vehicle to engender the debate and discussion that is at the heart of the History enterprise.
The signpost approach
Inform students that there are, say, 25 articles on twentieth-century Russian History in the Study Centre, a related topic guide and relevant concepts’ definitions as well as study/exam advice and give them free rein to explore and use the site according to their ability.
The unit guide approach
A step up from the signpost approach is a teacher guide to a unit in which the tasks to be undertaken are outlined, books (their chapters and pages) listed and the file names of articles, concepts, topic guides, and study advice specified.
The electronic unit guide approach
A refinement for unit guides is their placement on the school/college computer network/Intranet, with links to history-ontheweb resources in place in an appropriate position. Such a device is close a Grade Buster’s guides, in this instance it is a guide that you have created for your students, using the texts and resources in your department but with in place embedded links to Internet resources.
Fashioning unit guides to the capacities of your students
Once you have unit guides on the computer, whether electronic or not, you are in a position to tailor the guides according to the abilities of groups, or even individuals
Creating your own resource/link banks for study units
As time allows, incrementally create a resource/link bank for study units using the unit guide or electronic unit guide approaches. Computer based, they can be added to, amended and refined for successive years.
To gain the most from this site, the first requirement is familiarisation with the content.
Teachers will want to draw s
tudents’ attention to reading and noting new perspective articles.Students will gain from reading the study skills section:
Advanced History students’ study guideFamiliarisation
Familiarisation can be gained in different ways.
Follow these links (they will be on subsidiary screens to facilitate easy return to this guide: to return to the comments click on the X in the top right corner)
Start orientation by Quick site tour and AS/A2 resources site map.
Next, an appreciation of the extent of content and the the number of articles on their study unit will be gained from the index of articles on this site by Study Centre topic area and by volume.
Then a brief look at the contents of the following will indicate the relevance of these sections to their study needs.
Topic guides for AS/A2 Modern History
Core concepts, terms and ideologies
Exam and study advice for AS/A2 Modern History
The world of sources and contexts
A tour will indicate that there are over 220 articles, topic guides, concepts articles, a History study guide, articles on sources, exam and study advice and selected links to other History sites.
RETURN TO HOME/Index PAGE - www.history-ontheweb.co.uk AND www.ehistory.org.uk ______________________________________________________________
For a more thorough exploration and discussion of the above read below
Introduction
The first requirement for effective use of this resource is familiarisation with the content, in the same way as a book is scanned by reference to the contents page. Familiarisation can be gained in different ways. One way is to click on the main sections accessed from the home/index page and briefly appraise the contents of each section. Other ways are to skip through the brief site tour or to view the site map. Note that these latter two approaches give only an overview. With respect to unit study, a tour will indicate that there are a huge number of articles (160 after August 2004), topic guides, concepts articles, a History study guide, articles on sources (mostly forthcoming), exam and study advice and selected links to other History sites.
The greatest benefits, and pitfalls, of the world wide web
Compactness of storage of resources, and therefore economy of space, is one of the Internet’s strengths. In the desk area of one computer’s footprint a person can have access to the equivalent of a thousand books. Moving from one source to another requires no travel to a library or trudging down isles of bookshelves but merely a new Internet address. Not only that, links to related sources can be left on any page so that not even a new address, only a click, moves the user to other sources. For a teacher with a class in a computer room, the whole class can access the same pages or same work assignment simultaneously and yet work at their own pace. There are, however, pitfalls in the use of the Internet. One of the greatest is what this writer, using a term from the art world, calls provenance, that is origin, genuineness and reliability. Just as an unsophisticated society is vulnerable to the printed word in the (popular) press, so care needs to be taken with Internet page content. Discriminatory skills taught in the classroom need to be employed. Is the author of web copy known? If known, is she/he in a position, by way of study and expertise, to write reliable copy? Can the reason for the publication of copy on the web be identified? Even if the writer is well qualified to write good copy, is there evidence of bias and prejudice? As far as work with specifications is concerned, there is also the problem of pitch: content may be reliable but either too demanding (in details, expression and vocabulary) or too reductionist and simplistic for study for a unit. Lastly, it should be remembered that searching for content on the world wide web takes time. Teachers know about the pressures on their time: does the reward for time spent seeking helpful sources give a fair return?
The particular strengths of history-ontheweb
The history-ontheweb site addresses these issues. The provenance of content, mostly written by university specialists, is evident from the academic position of the authors and specified at the start of articles as well as by the biographical details, including the author’s publications, at their end. The pitch has been tuned for use at the advanced level and help added with the ‘words and concepts to note’ feature. Further, the articles’ utility, supported by topic guides, concept definitions and study advice, is enhanced by a careful structure that incorporates a summary, questions to consider, subheadings, further reading and, sometimes, links to related articles on the site. In short, each article is a double lesson work assignment. Lastly, the focus of content, because the articles were commissioned by a specification-aware editor, is securely on the provision of resources to meet the needs of GCSE and A-Level teachers, higher-grade GCSE students and all those who study at AS and A-Level.
Teenagers and the Internet
Teenagers were born to the new technology. They are comfortable with keyboards, computers and the Net. They love to surf. Alert, contemporary-minded, teachers use their teenage students’ capacity and enthusiasm to add energy, zest and involvement to study tasks and to achieve grade enhancement.
Use of this web resource with your students
Worksheets for topics of particular importance, difficulty or interest within a unit
For some topics history-ontheweb has more than one article. Articles by different authors embody different emphases, judgements and conclusions. It is, therefore, an ideal vehicle to engender the debate and discussion that is at the heart of the History enterprise, taking students away from solely (and, arguably mindless, fact gathering) and thereby adding a reflective, and thus interesting and energising, aspect to their unit study.
The signpost approach
If studying, as an example, Edexcel AS Unit 2 10b (The Triumph of Bolshevism?), and assuming that your school/college have a Licence, you can inform them that there are 25 articles on twentieth-century Russian History in the Study Centre on the site and a related topic guide. Mention can also be made that there are and concepts’ definitions (communism, socialism, revolution etc) and study/exam advice and give them free rein to explore and use the site according to their ability, judgement and enthusiasm. Giving initiative to your students, after the initial signposting, will give them the opportunity to develop their ability for independent study, an ongoing objective that is nearer completion at student graduation in higher education.
The unit guide approach
A step up from the signpost approach, you can produce a guide to a unit in which the tasks to be undertaken are outlined, books (and their particular chapters and pages) listed and the file names of articles (and concepts, topic guides, study advice etc on history-ontheweb) itemised. A refinement to this procedure is the mention of particular paragraphs or subheaded sections of articles. Such a hard copy (on paper) guide, portable as it is, will require a student to type the links when using a computer.
The electronic unit guide approach
A refinement for unit guides is their placement on the school/college computer network/Intranet, with links to history-ontheweb resources in place in an appropriate position, for students to work through the unit specifications. Such a device is close to the Grade Buster’s guides’ notion, in this instance it is a guide that you have created for your students, using the texts and resources in your department but with links to Internet resources, including of course the history-ontheweb resources, in place for direct and immediate access. You will, thereby, use more completely the singular strength of the world wide web.
Fashioning unit guides to the capacities of your students
Some A-Level classes have students with a wide range of ability. Teachers regularly have to find ways to engage and stretch the more able while not losing the involvement of the less able and the latter can become dispirited if they are frequently ‘out of their depth’. Once you have unit guides on the computer, whether electronic or not, you are in a position to tailor the guides according to the abilities of groups, or even individuals, within the set by the simple use of the cut, paste and save with a different file name facilities.
Creating your own Resource/Link banks for study units
There are few teachers who will teach more than six AS and A2 units and one GCSE specification. Now that the new A Level has settled and continuity established, year on year, with specifications, teachers are in a position to invest the time to create a resource/link bank, incrementally as they have the time, for study units using the unit guide or electronic unit guide approaches mentioned here. Computer based, they can be added to, amended and refined for successive years. That offers a fine mix of economy of effort and quality of output!
The Times They Are A-Changin’
When icon of a former age, Bob Dylan, wrote this song he had in mind the social injustices created by capitalist economics. Teachers have endured two decades of change as one government initiative has followed another with accompanying bureaucracy-created paperwork, each change requiring adjustment and extra work. From the later nineties, but in this instance in relation to the burgeoning world of IT, changing times is a sentiment that has resonance with the possibilities of the world wide web, a spin off from the Cold War, but it is a change that can empower teachers and their students. It is only a matter of time before all secondary History staff are aware of the new world: those who embrace modern times sooner have an advantage as also the students whom they teach.
Index of articles on this site by Study Centre topic area and by volume
RETURN TO HOME/Index PAGE - www.history-ontheweb.co.uk AND www.ehistory.org.uk