Teaching History Online
Number 113: 23rd November, 2003
1. Maximising the Outcomes from Revision
4. African-Americans and the Old West
5. Virtual American Biographies
9. The Bounty
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 32,150 subscribers to the newsletter.
John Simkin
Maximising the Outcomes from Revision: Limited hours, cancelled lessons, student absence and unexpected events all contribute to the pressure felt at the end of an exam course to get completed. Therefore it is essential that the precious time available at the end of a course for revision is utilised to its maximum potential. This is the focus of this seminar by Stephen Drew. It is hoped that teachers will take away ideas and techniques from this seminar that can facilitate the holy grail of totally effective revision. If you have views on this subject, register with the History Forum and join the debate.
The People's War: A growing collection of personal accounts of the Second World War is included on this BBC website. This includes How a Russian Family Survived a German Labour Camp (Svetlana Ponkratova), Burma, 1945 (Bill Hopkins), Memories of a Black British Serviceman (Allan Wilmot), From Captivity to Freedom (Les Birch), The Royal Navy on Omaha Beach (Kevan Elsby), Germans in Blackpool (Harry Gallagher), Growing up in Wartime Essex (Christine Hacklett) and Boyhood at War (James Cameron).
America's Western Frontier: Bennie J. McRae, the creator of this website, quotes Art T. Burton, author of Black, Red and Deadly: "Regrettably, many of the accomplishments and sagas of African Americans, Native Americans, Mexican Americans and Asian Americans have never been told in book form. There is a need for the total history of the American West to be told so there will be a more complete picture. Members of these groups played a crucial role in the development of our nation, and the West is no exception". This website attempts to redress the balance and provides a large number of links to resources on this subject.
African-Americans and the Old West: The saga of the Old West is filled with tales of adventure with pioneers roving the plains seeking the unknown in the vast territorial lands west of the Mississippi River. Among those pioneers were identifiable contingents of African Americans who also roamed the western plains and helped to establish what we know of as the Old West. History books do trace and document the development of the United States and its territorial expansion Westward, but very little covers the inclusive part of African Americans as early pioneer dwellers of the Old West. Records are now surfacing taken from facts printed in primary resources, books, state and county documents, including verbal ancestral accounts of the many places, and faces of the early black settlers living in towns all across the Old West. This website provides links to these resources.
Virtual American Biographies: Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography, edited by James Grant Wilson and John Fiske was published in six volumes between 1887 and 1889. This was the "most-quoted" biographical source for 19th and early 20th America. The 35,000 biographies have now been placed online. Appleton's, due to its age, reflects the bias and prejudice of late 19th Century America and relies on volunteers to edit and update these historic biographies on a continual basis.
SchoolHistory: An award winning teacher-created website offering a plethora of resources and materials for history teachers and pupils. Includes categorised and reviewed internet links, interactive games, over 650 freely downloadable worksheets and presentations, online lessons, interactive diagrams and popular teacher and student forums. In addition to this, recent developments allow history teachers to submit their own versions of all the popular activities which can then be shared with the wider teaching community - and downloaded for their own use.
Battle of Hastings:On 1st October 1066 King Harold was celebrating his victory over King Hardrada at a banquet in York when he heard that William, Duke of Normandy had landed at Pevensey Bay. King Harold immediately assembled those housecarls who had survived Stamford Bridge and marched south. When Harold realised he was unable to take William by surprise he positioned himself at Senlac Hill near Hastings. On 14th October 1066, Harold II's army fought on foot against the attacks of Norman cavalry and infantry. After a long struggle, lasting for most of the day, Harold was killed and the Normans were victorious. This online activity involves the students looking at the various accounts we have of the battle.
Berlin Olympics: This is an impressive website provided by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Produced like an encyclopedia there are entries on Race Hygiene, Sport as Military Training, Indoctrination of Youth, Nazi Control of Olympics, Exclusion of Jews, Persecution of Athletes, African American Responses, American Antisemitism, American Jewish Boycotters, Nazi Propaganda, Nationalism, Racism, Demilitarization, Opening of the Games, Athletic Competition, African American Athletes and Jewish Athletes.
Book Section
The Bounty: Caroline Alexander's new book is the definitive account of one of the most infamous episodes in the history of seagoing voyages. Based on extensive original research, her book casts radical new light on the mutiny, on Bligh's character and on a welter of family connections and special interests that play crucial roles in the story. Using contemporary accounts, and particularly the mutineers' own testimony, she allows the men themselves to conjure the events and transport the reader back to the deck of the Bounty, to exotic islands in the South Pacific and to the back rooms of British naval power. (Caroline Alexander, HarperCollins, ISBN 0 00 257221 4, £20.00)
