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Secondary History - ICT materials with History content

Module 3	Contents
	Introduction CD-ROM Some History CD-ROMs Courseware An introduction to History sites on the Internet Activity 3.1 Forward to Module 4 Back to Secondary History Map Back to T@LENT Web Site Map

In this section we are going to look at ICT resources that have been created with history content. They are perhaps a useful starting point for developing the use of ICT in the History classroom as they are ready-made activities with work files, worksheets and advice on managing the activity. Analysing how someone else has tried to solve the problem of teaching History with ICT is also useful in identifying what problems might occur to you when you start designing your own material.

These resources will fall into three categories:

1. History CD-ROMs
2. Courseware
3. Internet sites with support material for classroom

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CD-ROM

There are certain advantages to using CD-ROMs and these include:

• Robust and familiar technology
• Flexible environment - can be used standalone in the classroom or the library as well as on a school network
• Useful for focussed activities - the teacher is in control of the information the pupils are accessing
• Useful for introducing ICT 'Finding things out' skills which could be transferred to the Internet later on
• Most CD-ROMs allow you to copy and paste or download text and pictures on the CD, a useful resource for supporting project work

• Expensive resource if used for a single lesson or topic. It would be better to choose a CD-ROM which could be used across study units and year groups
• Not all CD-ROMs are cross-platform, in other words they will only work on a PC and not on a Mac or Acorn machine
• CD-ROMs with sound files may be disruptive in the classroom, unless you use headphones, in which case students will not be able to work in pairs (unless you use a splitter)

Point to watch:

• Check that the price of the CD includes a licence to use it across a network, otherwise you may end up breaking the law

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Some History CD-ROMs

Granada Learning (www.granadalearning.co.uk)

How We Used To Live: 1936 - 1953

• Suitable for Key Stage 2 and 3, this historical disc focuses on aspects of British Society during 1936-1953.
• Available for both PC and Acorn platforms.

How We Used To Live: Early Victorians

How We Used To Live: Late Victorians

• These two separate CD-ROMs spans the Victorian era providing information, pictures and videos. Although produced for both Key Stage 2 and 3, their style and content of is certainly relevant to most older students.
• Available for both PC and Acorn platforms.

The Troubled Century

• A historical resource that allows Key Stage 4 and A Level students to explore the impact of some of the important events and people that shaped the twentieth century. Available for PC only.

The World War 1 Archive

• This CD-ROM is an database of historical source material including photographs, original documents and illustrations from amongst others the renowned Liddle Collection, housed at the University of Leeds. Many archive items, including interviews, letters and newspaper clippings, have been supplied by war veterans and their families. All the materials can be downloaded for students' own use.
  
• The archive is divided into three sections:
  • Chronology of War follows the events of the conflict from origin to conclusion.
  • Aspects of War investigates topics such as Women at War, Propaganda and Weapons.
  • Personal Perspectives provides an insight into the people and societies involved in the dramatic conflict. The section can be accessed by an alphabetical index or by media type.
• The CD-ROM includes a research facility which enables users to assemble their own multimedia scrapbook. It also has a web link to the Granada Learning WW1 website, containing extra resources and material. The website also contains links to other WW1 sites around the world, encouraging a global perspective on events.
• Available for both PC and Acorn platforms.

World War II Global Conflict

• This resource covers the origins and effects of the conflict in Europe and the Far East. Drawing on the US National Archives, the CD-ROM a collection of wartime photographs, documents, video and audio recordings seen on disc.
• There are five short videos on different aspects of the war in the east and west which can be played or accessed from a timeline. There is also a series of themed text and picture slides on key events, themes and personnel. Users can select from these slides to create their own story. All photos and text can be downloaded to a word processor, PowerPoint or a multimedia authoring package so supporting student project work. A very flexible resource useful to staff and students alike and possibly one of the better History CD-ROMs.
• Available for both PC and Acorn platforms.

World War II Sources and Analysis

• A historical reference resource that provides Key Stage 3 and 4 students with a wealth of documents that reflect the Second World War. Similar in content and construction to the World War 1 CD-ROM
• Available for both PC and Acorn platforms.

Anglia Multimedia (www.anglia.co.uk)

These are all available in PC/Mac and Acorn versions

Exploring Castles

• Produced in conjunction with English Heritage, this is a guide to castles of the British Isles. With information sections on the development and use of castles, how they were built, castle life and an extensive database of castles in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and Eire, it covers all aspects of this subject. It includes source-based material and a host of interactive activities that use the computer support students and teachers.

Industrial revolution

• Four major units covering Agriculture, Transport, Industry and People along with in-depth case studies on transport, health and the development of towns. Industrial Revolution allows students to study the political, social and economic aspects of the revolution through the eyes of modern historians and eye witness accounts. It includes source material provided in data file, worksheet and map format, allowing curriculum-focussed research to be undertaken by students.

Nelson and his Navy

• This CD-ROM has eighteen different sections covering everything from shipbuilding of the period and life on board a naval vessel, to the Napoleonic Wars and the Battle of Trafalgar. Designed to meet the needs of History Study Unit 3 (Britain 1750- circa 1900) by focussing on a study of an aspect of this period in depth. The disc includes interactive documentaries, on-screen biographies and a wealth of resources.

The Royal British Legion (www.britishlegion.org.uk)

• In conjunction with the History Channel, the RBL have produced a free CD-ROM on World Wars I and II, with notes for teachers on how the CD-ROM could be used in the classroom. The CD-ROM has sections on:
  • The First World War
  • The Second World War
  • The Role of Women in Wartime
  • Conflict since 1945
  • The Cold War
• This CD contains much video and photographic evidence (provided by the History Channel and the Imperial War Museum). Some of the sections have extensive content, others are relatively slim. Nevertheless an excellent resource on these topics.

Mentor by Appian Way

• This CD-ROM is compatible for both PC and Acorn machines.
• It contains topic files on five key history topics:
  • Medieval Realms
  • Industrial Revolution
  • First World War
  • Second World War
  • The Third Reich
• Each topic file contains hundreds of pages of information and historical sources, supported by questions and tasks. Popular with many history teachers because it is easy to use and the format of the information is familiar.

AVP Picturebase

• Available in PC and Acorn format.
• The format of the CD-ROM is a series of slides, containing picture and text arranged around key themes in the study of Victorian Britain including:
• Agriculture, Industry, Transport, Public Welfare, The Growth of Towns, Domestic Life, Trade and the Growth of the British Empire, Scientific and Cultural Achievements

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Courseware

No one courseware pack can be all things to all study units, so be prepared to compromise and adapt some of the activities to suit you own particular requirements. Remember as well that most courseware contains work files and worksheets but not the software to run it. So before you purchase, check you have the relevant software.

• The British Educational Communications Technology Agency, under the guidance of Dave Hassell, have produced a series of 4 booklets, three of them with work files on disk, covering all the study units and using a wide range of generic software. The booklets cover the following areas:
  • Word processing for History
  • Finding patterns in the past using spreadsheets and databases
  • Defining effectiveness in the use of ICT
  • Using multimedia and the Internet (available from Autumn 2000)
• All the work files come in PC. Mac and Acorn format for the full range of software found on each of those machines. Many of the activities are immediately relevant, some you might want to alter to suit you own purposes, all of them you can add your own extension exercises. The spreadsheet and database booklet will save you hours of preparation. All in all these booklets are an essential component of any History department's teaching and learning resources.

Heinemann (www.heinemann.co.uk)

• Heinemann have produced a KS3 courseware package for History using ICT, priced £49 and available on a month's inspection.
• The activities, all on a CD-ROM, are:
  
  

  1066-1500	Domesday Book
  	Medieval life
  	Robin Hood
  	the mystery of Edward V
  1500-1750	The Plague
  	Adel parish registers
  1750-2000	Factory conditions
  	1850 census
  	Twentieth Century
  	First World War (Ypres and the Somme)
  	Russian Revolution
  	Russian Revolution (Who killed the Tsar?)
  	Rise of Hitler
  	Persecution of the Jews
  	Causes of the Second World War
  	The Cold War
  	Extension activities

  
  
• The CD-ROM contains worksheets for all the activities as well as the necessary work files, but not the software to run them. For example the 1851 census data is in an Excel file. Explanations of the necessary software skills are given within the worksheets as text without illustrations. Sometimes those explanations are over-elaborate. There is an accompanying booklet explaining the contents of the CD-ROM, with an excellent section linking the activities to relevant sections of the ICT attainment targets. Installation of the CD-ROM is quick and easy and clearly explained.

Stanley Thorne

• This book does not include any prepared files but it does contain lots of advice, information and potential applications of ICT. There are good sections on curriculum mapping of ICT generic and specific software across the whole range of study units, as well as similar sections on specific software, with exemplar activities, mapped to relevant History and ICT skills.
• The exemplar activities include many good suggestions although some require specific CD-ROM to support them. There is one section which focuses on the use of Internet Odyssey (a Granada Learning product) which is a good piece of software but which might be of limited relevance to many schools, especially those that have not bought the CD. The section on desktop publishing has insufficient support for the inexperienced user.
• This book would be of particular use to a History section considering the planning and development their departmental policy on ICT and its integration into the curriculum.

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An introduction to History sites on the Internet

1. The content is based on a particular study unit, usually focusing on one particular aspect of that unit
2. The site contains a teachers' section with advice on how to manage the use of the site and downloadable worksheets to support the use of the site in the classroom.
3. All of the sites have been officially approved by Becta as relevant sites that support the National Grid for Learning.
4. This list is merely a sample of what is available.

• There are two sections to the Public Record Offices websites. The first (www.pro.gov.uk) has an Education section that contains many cheerful and accessible activities based on PRO resources for both KS3 and 4. Try the section on the Domesday Book. The second site (learningcurve.pro.gov.uk) is a a lot whizzier and meatier, its Exhibitions section having at present three major topics:
  1. Power, Politics and Protest in Nineteenth Century Britain
  2. Twentieth Century Heroes and Villains
  3. The Great War 1914 - 18

  Each is a substantial unit with much support material.

Sainsbury's Virtual Museum

• Find it at www.j-sainsbury.co.uk/museum/museum.htm. Nominated for an award as Educational website of the year in 2000 (and pipped at the post by the BBC) this site, produced by the Sainsbury company archivists, contains much fascinating material about life and work in the Victorian era. The Teachers' Zone KS3 section has downloadable worksheets which focus on the 'Knowledge, skills and understanding' section of the History National Curriculum.

School History (www.schoolhistory.co.uk)

• An excellent personal site maintained by Mr Field which concentrates on KS3. The site is arranged by year, with downloadable worksheets as well as links to supporting sites. Try the section on Castles.

• This site is dedicated to the history of the greater London area, with a particular focus on KS2 and KS3 study units. The first section is on London in the Second World War and features many primary sources (photos, pictures, diaries etc.) from the Imperial War Museum. The second section is on Victorian London and contains 'snapshot' studies from the 12 inner London boroughs, including 1891 census data.

• This site contains COMPASS, an on-line database of artefacts (photos and text only). When the site loads, go into the EXPLORE section to find COMPASS.

Charles Booth poverty maps and notebooks (booth.lse.ac.uk)

• Charles Booth surveyed the whole of London in the 1890s, exploring levels of wealth and poverty of the Imperial capital in its heyday. This site contains digitised images of his notebooks as well as the map of London he produced from his findings. The site includes an excellent search engine to help you locate the street you want. The detail is unbelievable, providing a real snapshot of life in Victorian London. Booth's observers were always accompanied by a policeman whose recorded comments give an interesting insight into Victorian attitudes towards class, ethnicity and gender.

Other History web sites (Module 7)

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Activity 

Task 3.1 Choose one of the Internet sites listed above. Download a worksheet from the site and work through it whilst on the site. Write a critique of the site and the worksheets and email it to your tutor. You should focus on: How the site supports real History teaching and learning (or not!) How you might plan to introduce each site and organise their use in the classroom (is any advice given to you on the site?) Whether or not any special needs of students are met when using the site.