As history teachers, we strive for a few key outcomes. We want our students to learn the history of world civilizations and appreciate their culture and heritage. We seek to help students develop critical thinking skills, locate and evaluate sources, construct arguments and form new connections and ideas. Once developed, we strive to have students communicate their understanding and viewpoints.
While the goals of the history classroom have remained, for the most part, consistent over time, what has changed dramatically in recent years is our ability to access an abundance of resources and tools that can make the process of learning and the expression of that learning come alive for the students in our classrooms.
In this article, we will highlight ways that teachers can leverage technology to advance these goals. From online discussion forums to virtual tours around the world, there are countless ways that we can amplify history teaching with technology.
Texts and Sources in the Modern History Classroom
The history teacher who wants to move their class forward and incorporate sources and research can do so by rethinking the place of the textbook in their classroom. It has never been easier to find online sources for historical research. As a result, the modern history classroom need not rely upon any one single textbook to drive the course of study.
In fact, one way to begin the discussion of historical narrative is to use tools like Google Books, where teachers can access and compare historical versions of history textbooks to see how historical narratives have varied by era.