UNIVERSITY HISTORY COURSES ON-LINE
Internet-based university history courses can prove interesting reading for teachers. Lecture notes, student readings, quizzes, exams and on-line discussions are posted. Many of the ideas and materials can be adapted for use in secondary schools and links to other topics of interest are frequently made.
Pioneers in the use of teleteaching
Excellent examples of on-line courses are "Worlds of Late Antiquity" and "Augustine on the Internet" both courses given by James J. O'Donnell at the University of Pennsylvania, From Washington State University there is World Cultures taught by Richard Hooker (see World Cultures Learning Modules). Paul Halsall has produced on-line materials for his introductory course on "Chinese Culture" at Brooklyn College and Introduction to Medieval History at Fordham University containing. syllabus, course outline, and other class handouts. In addition, source readings for each class are made available to the students.
Courses which make extensive use of online materials
Another professor who makes extensive use of source readings online is Thomas Tirado of the History Department of Millersville University of Pennsylvania. Students of Latin American history are linked to information available from CIRS (Computerized Information Retrieval System on Columbus and the Age of Discovery). In addition, there are numerous student projects and reviews available for peer evaluation. Likewise, Richard Effland from Maricopa Community College in Arizona has published an Internet companion to courses on archaeology and ancient history that relies on a rich array of on-line materials (see Buried Cities and Lost Tribes ).
The development of image libraries
Other innovative uses of Web technology can be found in Peter Piccione's "History of Ancient Egypt" at Northwestern University. In addition to background information relating to the period, Professor Piccione has published a host of visuals and images used in his course.
Professor Ron Johnson (with help from the courseware development center at Humboldt State University) provides a stunning collection of images from Africa, North American and Oceania for his course Introduction to Tribal Art. There are links to other online collections such as University of Virginia's African Art: Aesthetics and Meaning.
Image libraries have also been created by Professor Hugh Lestor at Tulane University for his course 'Period and Style for Designers' and from the Department of Theater and Dance at Southern Illinois University Professor C. Otis Sweezey has published 'History of Costume'. Here students of history, design and theater can access images organized by historical period illustrating architectural, decorative and fashion styles from the ancient world to the present time. Nick Cahill at the University of Wisconsin has published course notes and images from his Art History 201: Survey of Ancient and Medieval Art. Professor Haines Brown from Central Connecticut State University is creating an image archive to support the study of history at his Gateway to World History Web site.
Patricia Craddock and her students at the University of Florida have collaborated on a project entitled The World of London Theater--1660-1800 with interesting biographies, chronologies, aspects of London life and other topics connected to the theater of that period. Finally there is Professor JM Massi's personal Image Library including examples of Norman/Romanesque architecture, Gothic architecture and Italian architecture.
Art Images for College Teaching (AICT) began as a personal project dedicated to the principle of free exchange of image resources for and among members of the educational community. The AICT site is maintained and distributed under the general auspices of the Minneapolis College of Art & Design (MCAD) and is a royalty-free image exchange resource for the educational community.
Lecture materials online
Another innovative use of the Web for teleteaching is the publication of online lecture materials. Examples include Raffael Scheck from Colby College, Maine, for her course on History of Germany and Europe 1871-1945. From Western New England College there is Professor Gerhard Rempel's courses with extensive lecture materials from, Western Civilization I: Prehistory to Reformation, Western Civilization II:Since the Reformation, the History of World War I and History of World War II.
William Paterson College History Department has a comprehensive set of lecture outlines History Study Aids. From the University of Kansas history department there is An Introduction to Medieval History.
The history department at the University of Newcastle Australia offers a lecture and tutorial guide for Australia in the Twentieth Century, faculty from the Defense and Arms Control Studies Program at M.I.T have published The Causes and Prevention of War (with outlines from World War I, World War II, Korea, Indochina, the Peloponnesian, Crimean and Seven Years wars) , AND David Burr has included some of his own translations of original documents for students of his Medieval History course
Collaborative history projects
"The Victorian Web" from Brown University is a collaborative effort between historians, other specialists and a group of university students to provide background information on 19th century British political, social and literary events and personalities. Containing articles, student projects and loads of background information on the British monarchy, this site promises to become an important on-line resource for students of 19th century history and literature.
Another collaborative project comes from Don Mabry and his students at Mississippi State University. Latin American Republics: A Student History is an online electronic textbook of Latin American history organized by nations. Other contributions are welcome. Professor Mabry explains
Over time, we hope to have a "basic" history written for each country. Our target audience is the general public, for there is insufficient historical material on the Web. The textbook pages will contain hyperlinks to the Latin American sections of the Historical Text Archive and to Latin American materials elswhere on the Web..
Creating online meta-resources
Several history professors have created lists of useful resources for their courses.
Professor Taylor, a history professor at Louisiana School for Math, Science, and the Arts, has published an extensive collection of available materials for his courses on Ancient and Medieval History, English Renaissance, Modern European History and History of Political Philosophy.
Exploring Ancient World Cultures was compiled from existing internet resources (making it a meta-resource) by Anthony Beavers (with introductory comments by Bill Hemminger) to supplement World Cultures 101, the first in a three part series of courses required of all students at the University of Evansville in the US.
The History Guide
Steven Kreis from Vance-Granville Community College in Henderson, NC has created The History Guide for the high school and undergraduate student who is either taking classes in history, or who intends to major in history in college. The purpose of The History Guide is to better prepare them for their history classes and to make their time in class more enjoyable and proficient.
The History Guide contains the following sections: A Student's Guide to the Study of History (a compendium of information concerning a student's experience with history in the classroom), What is History? (containing a series of quotations by historians and others regarding history and the historian's craft in general) , EUH 4206: Europe in the 20th Century (which contains the online versions of a course he taught at Florida Atlantic University including the syllabus, all handouts and all lectures deposited for student download and review), Lectures ( Modern European Intellectual History consisting of six lectures he has published online) and Sample Syllabi (which includes syllabi from courses he has taught in the past).
Skip Knox: The Electronic Classroom
Finally, Skip Knox from Boise State Universtiy has published background narratives from his course "History of Western Civilization". Searching in the section called "Classroom" one can find lecture notes on "The Peloponesian War", "Alexander the Great", "The Punic Wars", and "The First Caesars" among others. In addition there are source readings and introductory essays on selected topics.