The main impediment to becoming a history teacher is a dull classroom. This is because students perceive history as a monotonous subject. Even while we were in school, most people found studying history to be tedious. This is partly because our primary source of learning is textbooks. Despite being a trustworthy source of knowledge, textbooks have a narrow focus. To go beyond the fundamentals, the best history teacher has to be innovative. The opportunities to teach history online have never been more significant, thanks to the development of ed-tech tools. In this article, we’ll go over a few ways for teachers to teach history online.
Audio visual tools
The traditional method of teaching history places a lot of emphasis on textbooks with scant information and illustrations. Since most kids learn visually, the gap left by textbooks makes it challenging for kids to properly understand history. Modern learning management systems enable the integration of brief historical snippets, documentaries, and movies into lessons of modern history online. These audio-visual components are crucial to the learning process of history. The best history teacher uses these audio-visual components to make their classes more interactive. Post seeing a historical documentary, teachers can discuss a few significant events and persons in the video. Additionally, they can draw connections between the documentary and their curriculum textbooks. This type of engaged study will make teaching modern history online enjoyable.
Connecting the past with the present
Becoming a history teacher is exciting when we understand how to relate contemporary events with our past. When a subject has some connection to their daily life, most learners are more interested in learning about it. A history teacher needs to relate historical events to contemporary issues. You may, for instance, display a toy engine to the class and then make a connection between it and the history of railway engines. You can begin by going through the entire spectrum of historical occurrences around the invention of an engine and then conclude by explaining how we arrived at the railway system in the modern era.
Nothing beats practice
It is true that recalling dates and locations plays a considerable significance in teaching history. There is no getting around that truth. The method we use, nevertheless, has a significant impact on how well the students retain the topic. Blind memorization does aid in the retention of information by students, but regular practice can ease the strain and load associated with the procedure. A widespread idea among parents and students is that practicing is only for subjects like Math or Science. However, even an abstract subject like history needs practice. When you teach history online, you can influence your students to practice more.
Involve your learners
Encouragement should be given to students to create charts, mind maps, and other visual representations of the topic you are teaching. Consider the scenario when you are teaching history about World War I, you can ask one group of students to create a chronology of the entire world war, another group to concentrate on one particular country, and create a timeline of significant events in that country, etc. A history teacher can also propose that a different group create mind maps. You can ask your students to deliver their understanding of the lesson through peer teaching. The peer teaching model works wonders while teaching modern history online. The core principle is that learners have a better probability of remembering the topic if they actively participate in it.
Online resources
The best part of teaching history online is the availability of different types of resources you can use in your classroom. You can inculcate the Internet modern history sourcebook tools like
- Numerous YouTube or video links to historical websites that are connected.
- Add useful mobile applications
- Recipes for era-appropriate cuisine
- Examples of Clothing Materials Designs with a link to the History Channel website Tools and Technology Documents
- Days to travel for each sort of transport might be displayed alongside Transport of the Age on a Google Map.
- Events for Global Reenactment
Animation
When teaching history to the younger students, animations are excellent. Animations can be used to simplify a complex topic or concept for students of all ages, making it easier for them to understand. But keep in mind that making them can be costly. Some free tools make it easier to create simple animations even if you are not an artist.
The Final Word
In conclusion, history teaching needs to be updated according to the internet modern history sourcebook to reflect the periods we currently live in. The days of learning history by cramming the material the night before an exam are long gone. To make history more exciting and pleasant for their students, teachers can make the most of online opportunities.
If you are an online history teacher looking for the perfect platform to host your online courses, Classplus has just the ideal solution for you. The Classplus team can help you create a customized app to teach history online. Your teaching app can make your teaching interactive, thus delivering value for you and your students. Moreover, a professional-looking app will add to your brand value, giving a boost to your online teaching career. No doubt that the Classplus team is trusted by thousands of teachers across India.
