What teachers said...
OH MY GOD. THIS IS THE BEST THING EVER! C'est un outil extrêmement utile qui simplifie en masse la tâche de l'enseignant d'histoire.
- Rachelle Brazeau, Étudiante, programme de formation, Université d'Ottawa
Dans l'ensemble, les élèves adorent le programme. Ils aiment son caractère interactif et sont d'avis que les archives et les films originaux sont tout-à-fait « cool ». Il nous a fallu 115 minutes pour compléter le Raid de Dieppe. Vous avez fait un travail fantastique !
Merci pour tout.
- Sigrid Hynscht, French immersion, Thames Valley District School Board
The website program that you've created to teach Canadian history looks great. It uses models of 'best practices' in terms of students investigating and exploring
- Dr. Adam M. Friedman,
Professor, Instructional Systems Technology,
The University of North Carolina at Charlotte
We had an opportunity to get into the program today. It was a very interesting experience for both me and my grade 10 students. The research question was simply framed, so the basic focus was clear to the students. We walked through the mission and the basic format of Virtual Historian and the tools and resources available. At the end of class we had a preliminary discussion, starting with the focussing question. Amazingly kids had started to construct answers to the research question and they had pulled out various pieces of evidence to support their ideas--a lively debate ensued. In the end most students acknowledged that this was the most successful they had been at constructing an interpretation of history based on evidence (my words not theirs) and that our discussion had been quite good--everyone had sufficient evidence to support a position.
- Craig Winegarder, Ottawa-Carleton District School Board
As historians we are always looking for new ways to develop in our students the appreciation for history and for the lives and event of the past. The Virtual Historian has done this for us. This new and innovative technological tool has brought together many types of media presentation from archival film footage, never before used historical documents, audio and sound clips, and primary documents our students otherwise would never have access to.. The integration of this technology into research and essay writing process will reap great rewards in the learning process for all students. In particular, student with learning disabilities and or difficulties have the opportunities to network with other students on a level never before enjoyed. The Virtual Historian is a look forward into the future methodology of teaching and presenting the concepts of history inquiry to students. The level of research and ease of students use allow a depth of understanding that would take weeks in an ordinary class room setting. The Virtual Historian opens up the avenues of technological use for students and teachers alike.
- Bruce Clarke, Thames Valley District School Board.
Educators have often bemoaned the fact that history should be about more than memorizing dates and names, but teachers have been given few tools to assess learning in other ways. Teachers have also had difficulty finding primary sources that younger students could use, since these sources are written in archaic and inaccessible language. The Virtual Historian solves both problems by selecting age appropriate, manageable sources and by creating fun activities that require students to employ judgment, reflection, and understanding. Students do not just learn about what historians have discovered, but do the discovering themselves. By learning about how to deal with evidence, they learn how knowledge is created. This gives them the skills needed to be critical citizens. My students have felt liberated and engaged as a result of allowing them to be the creators of historical knowledge.
- Stanley Hallman-Chong, Toronto District School Board