History Teaching with Moodle 2

History teaching can gain a lot from the interactive elements of the Moodle virtual learning environment, and this book will show you how to transform your existing courses easily and quickly with no technical knowledge needed.

Overview

• Follow the creation of a history course that includes activities for all age groups, with subjects ranging from the medieval times up to the fall of the Third Reich
• Make your student's homework more exciting by enabling them to watch videos of historical documentaries, participate in group discussions, and complete quizzes from home
• Save time by transforming your existing lesson plans into interactive courses
• Monitor your student's progress using the Gradebook

What you will learn from this book

• Set up a database of important figures in History
• Create a theme for your course to make it interesting and accessible to all students
• Design workshops that encourage students to work collaboratively and perform peer-to-peer assessment
• Simplify grading and reporting to parents
• Update the content regularly with random glossaries and RSS feeds, linking to history in the news
• Create quizzes to reinforce understanding or to challenge the gifted and talented
• Use timers, videos, and podcasts to add a level of difficulty or complexity
• Post videos of school trips, or historical documentaries
• Set up groups to put together their very own story on a collaborative wiki page
• Set up debates about important events in History using forums

Approach

Follow the creation of a History course with lots of practical examples and screenshots. Each chapter builds on the course and takes you through a different aspect of teaching history using Moodle. All exercises in the book relate to different periods of history and are suitable for all students of high-school age.

Who this book is written for

This book is for history teachers who would like to enhance their lessons using Moodle. It doesn't matter if you haven't used Moodle before; as long as someone has set it up for you, you can get started with the exercises in the book straightaway.

In Detail

Moodle is an open source virtual learning environment that is coming to be used in more and more schools worldwide. History and Moodle complement each other perfectly in terms of content and delivery. This book will show you how to set up tasks and activities that will enable your students to forge a greater understanding of complex issues, bringing History into the 21st century.

History Teaching with Moodle 2 presents new and exciting ideas for the delivery of History content making use of tried-and-trusted methods of teaching the subject. By following a sample course, you will find it easy to transform your existing lesson plans into a Moodle course that will become even more efficient, attractive, and useful over time.

Make the past come to life using a range of tasks and activities that can consolidate learning for some, enhance understanding for others, and enthuse all. Learn how to add an RSS feed to your home page to display daily 'On this day in history' posts. Create a one-minute quiz about how the Second World War began. Post video footage of a trip to a castle and set some questions for students in anticipation of their next visit. Set up a wiki so that student groups can create their own story about 'murder at a monastery'. Moodle's built-in features allow students to get a better grasp of historical concepts and will rejuvenate their interest in the subject.

A practical guide to using Moodle to create quizzes, forums, activities, and much more, to make your History lessons more interactive