Teaching History Online
Number 109: 26th October, 2003
1. Interpretations and History Teaching
2. Railways
3. National Curriculum in Action
9. Britain BC
Introduction
Spartacus Educational publishes Teaching History Online every week. The newsletter includes news, reviews of websites and articles on using ICT in the history classroom. Members of the mailing list are invited to submit information for inclusion in future editions of Teaching History Online. In this way we hope to create a community of people involved in using the Internet to teach history. Currently there are 32,000 subscribers to the newsletter.
John Simkin
Interpretations and History Teaching: Richard Drew points out that his old PGCE lecturer told him that in his experience interpretations was the worst taught, and least taught historical skill. In this seminar Richard Drew covers three issues: (i) What interpretations are and are not; (ii) Effective strategies for teaching interpretations and (iii) Effective strategies for assessing pupils understanding of interpretations. If you have views on this subject, register with the History Forum and join the debate.
Railways: A comprehensive encyclopedia of railways in Britain. Each entry contains a narrative, illustrations and primary sources. The text within each entry is hypertexted to other relevant pages in the encyclopedia. In this way it is possible to research individual people and events in great detail. The sources are also hypertexted so the student is able to find out about the writer, artist, newspaper, organization, etc., that produced the material. So far there are sections on Railway & Bridge Engineers, Railway Entrepreneurs, Locomotives, Railway Companies, Liverpool & Manchester Railway, Railway Art, Railway Towns and Cities, Historical Developments, Railway Experiences and Railway Stations.
National Curriculum in Action: This QCA website uses pupils' work to exemplify the national curriculum programmes of study for history in key stages 1 to 3. There are currently over 60 examples of pupils' work with more due to be added this term. If you are interested in providing the QCA with further examples of pupils' work that illustrate good primary or secondary history, please contact please contact Jerome Freeman (freemanj@qca.org.uk).
Scotland on Film: This BBC website provides a collection of clips from film, television and radio on 20th Century Scottish life. You can also leave your own memories and share your thoughts of life in Scotland on the forum. Subjects covered include Home Front & Wartime, Rural Life, Food & Drink, Home Life, Childhood & Schooldays, Work, Living & Loving, Health and Leisure. This year Scotland on Film has won the prestigious New Media Award from the International Federation of Television Archives for the digital archive on the site.
Images of Black Victorians: There were Black people in Britain in Roman times, and there has been a continuous Black presence here since 1555. The eighteenth century saw a great expansion in Britain's Black population. After the War of the Spanish Succession in 1713, British slavers dominated the infamous Atlantic slave trade. Some slaves were landed and sold at London, Liverpool or Bristol, but many Black people were brought as domestic servants by returning sea-captains, colonial administrators and plantation owners. For the English aristocracy and the newly rich, a Black page or handmaiden was an asset to be shown off as evidence of exotic wealth, so in the 18th century Black people were ironically more evident in the art and writing of the time than they were to be in the early Victorian period. This website provides an interesting collection of Black Victorian images.
Jack the Ripper Casebook: Jack the Ripper is the popular name given to a serial killer who killed a number of prostitutes in the East End of London in 1888. The name originates from a letter written by someone who claimed to be the killer published at the time of the murders. The killings took place within a mile area and involved the districts of Whitechapel, Spitalfields, Aldgate, and the City of London proper. This website provides a great deal of information on the subject under the headings: Victims, Suspects, Witnesses, Ripper Letters, Police Officials, Official Documents, Press Reports and Victorian London.
Athenian Agora: The American School of Classical Studies has been excavating in the area of the Athenian Agora since 1931, bringing to light the history of the area over a period of 5000 years. Finds range from scattered pieces of pottery of the late Neolithic period (ca. 3000 BC) to the contents of 19th and early 20th century basements. The Agora of the 5th and 4th centuries BC has been the main focus of attention. Public documents inscribed on stone, weight and measure standards, and jurors' identification tickets and ballots reflect the administrative nature of the site, while traces of private dwellings in the area immediately bordering the open square, with their household pottery and other small finds, throw light on the everyday lives of Athenian citizens. This website has been designed to provide you with more information on the Athenian Agora.
History Web Trumps: Select from Kings and Queens of England or Presidents of the United States and play this classic 70's card game against the computer. You need a JavaScript enabled browser to play this game. The aim of the game is for you to win all the Web Trumps cards from your opponent (the computer). The rules are very straight-forward. The Web Trumps cards are dealt out between you (left) and the computer (right). You must look at the categories on the card, and select one that you believe has a higher value than that on the computer's card. When you select the category it will stay red, and the computer's card will be turned over. This will also have the same category highlighted in red. Your value must beat the computer's (a draw is not good enough!).
Book Section
Britain BC: In this book Francis Pryor contests the established idea that the Romans brought civilisation and culture to the Britons. Aided by aerial photography, coastal erosion and advances in scientific techniques such as wood analysis and radiocarbon dating, archaeologists have discovered new evidence to reveal that the Roman occupation actually quashed an already thriving society. Far from being bog-dwelling barbarians, the Ancient Britons had their own laws, crafts, arts farms entire trade systems, religion, priesthood and royalty long before the Romans arrived. (Francis Power, Britain BC, HarperCollins, ISBN 0 00 712692 1)
