How can you effectively teach high school history online?

Take time to plan your lessons to teach your students. Be well-versed and knowledgeable in the topic of interest. Ensure you are familiar with the teaching platform so you are not thrown off-balance due to technicalities with the platform. Avoid distractions in your background to enhance your delivery. Record the teaching session for future reference.

Teaching online gives you no right to compromise. Be as effective online as you would be in-person. Prepare your lessons. Write a detailed outline. Search for the software that empowers you to follow your curriculum. Provide your students primary sources. That is crucial to success online and in-person. Especially in the teaching of history. I have taught Jewish history both in the classroom and online. The skills are similar but video learning has multiple challenges. Wherever you are, speak clearly and divide your presentation with brief questions, answered concisely. You must have decent lighting. Always be sure there is nothing that disturbs the presentation. Power off your cell phone--very important. Avoid disruption and embarrassment.

Plan a lesson that has a sharper focus, but concentrates on the use of varied tools or elements. This would mean breaking up the lesson into different segments, such as segments for students to work on issues together, a mini lecture and discussion with the teacher, and a mini assignment segment. Post-lesson segments can be included as well to allow students to compete their learning at their own time and pace.

There is a famous quote by Benjamin Franklin that goes - "By failing to prepare you are preparing to fail" Basically, if it can be done online now it will be done online in the future. As for the actual teaching - You need to be organised and be able to anticipate especially in the online classroom. This is always for better learning development as you can bridge massive gaps for students instead of just giving them the answer.

Begin with the end in mind. Is this intended for a test or for a future in the analysis of historical sources? Work backwards from there. None of the platforms or tools matter as much as the result. I would suggest pacing both instruction, guided, and independent practice as distinct components and consider how they will be encountered. Stories and emotion are what carry history. It is all told backwards so you should do this that same way. Begin with the end in mind.

Do not begin with an introduction but a hook. This contains your objectives and your agenda. Nobody likes to hear learning objectives. The hook should be a question. Transition from striking images to contextual bridges and work your way to a twist ending that pays off the hook and sets up what comes next. If you are plodding and pedantic and guided by data externally you catch and carry no one. Your students consume content on a different level than all of this. Craft accordingly. Their challenges are different but so are their strengths.

When delivering your lessons, you have to make sure that your teaching materials are complete. This is so that you can proceed with the lessons without any problems. When teaching your students, make sure that you assess your students during the learning process. This is so that you can gauge the level of your students. You should always get feedback from the students. This is so that you can improve on the way you teach.

Teaching history is extremely challenging because students associate it with memorizing data and dates about the past, with little relevance to the present or future. However, this is a mistake because history not only provides a deep understanding of past events but also offers valuable perspectives to comprehend the present and anticipate the future. By connecting historical events with the current context, students can develop critical skills, analysis, and an understanding of the world around them. It is essential to present history as a vivid and relevant narrative so that students see its applicability in both current and future society.

Talk to your students. Engage with them as a community. Individual engagement is both a powerful incentive when we are disconnected but it is also a pure formative assessment. Summative assessment should be in the nature of a performance. They want to create too. They want and yearn for events where they are challenged. It is in challenges and the recovery from challenges that we evolve. Thus with history. Use what tools you can to support feedback. Technology can enhance your capacity and theirs.

The use of online simulations or role-playing activities as a teaching strategy. This involves creating virtual scenarios that simulate historical events or situations. Students actively participate in these simulations, taking on different roles and making decisions as if they were historical figures. It provides an immersive experience that helps students understand the complexities of historical contexts and encourages critical thinking by considering various perspectives within the simulation. This approach brings history to life in a dynamic and engaging way, making the learning experience more interactive and memorable for students.

Online resources such as animated historical videos or talks that can be found on platforms like YouTube serve as good tools that can be used for an online history lesson to high school students (or even university students). These tools help to make history topics more relatable to the lives of the students, and can serve as a segue into the rest of the online lesson (or be used in between the lesson).

You should use online resources. This includes sources from various websites. You can also include images or photos that are available in the old archives. This makes it easier for your students to understand your lessons. You can also ask your students to join online history communities. This is so that they can gain knowledge from these people.

To effectively teach history in high school online, it's important to make classes engaging. Use visual resources such as videos, interactive maps, and images. Promote discussions in online forums to encourage student participation. Create projects that involve research and presentation of historical topics. Utilize online learning platforms like Moodle or Google Classroom to organize materials and interactions.

There should always be a decision tree electronically. There should be a forking path of branches that you can go along if it does not all work for them or you. At the heart of this you just need to be able to share sources and ideas and let them make their own interpretations and support them.

In terms of etiquette, it is good to brief students on what is appropriate for engagement through the online session. For instance, through zoom, I will always emphasise the need for cameras to be turned on, for names to be displayed properly, and for mics to be muted unless one would like to speak. Other good habits would be to encourage the practice of 'raising hands' online before speaking, or using the chat function as an alternate means of communication. It is also good to establish the steps that students should take if they experience poor internet connection (eg in terms of how to communicate with the teacher in such an instance).

You should always anticipate technical issues and have a backup plan. You should be aware of your students’ technical capabilities and limits, as well as their limits in terms of accessibility. Some students have vision or hearing impairments and may need accessible-friendly tools and websites. Some students may have internet with very low bandwidth.

I neither teach history nor high school students. However, looking back, if I were a high school student being taught online, I would effectively engage if the teacher combined role-play and story telling. For instance, if teaching Greek History, dress like a Greek philosopher and tell the story to the students (not slide reading) - I mean direct story telling of the history.

I strive to create a learning experience that goes beyond the pages of a textbook, inviting my students to explore new ideas and perspectives. I hope to empower my students to become lifelong learners who are eager to expand their knowledge and skills, rather than simply memorizing facts and history?????? ???Have a great time! ????

Treat the audience as individuals rather than an amorphous class. Take lessons from streamers, content creators, and eSports. Turn the audience into a community and take them on a journey with you.

Digital Assessment Tools: Incorporate digital assessment tools to evaluate students' understanding and progress. Here are some ways digital assessment can come into play: A. Online Quizzes and Tests: Create quizzes and tests using online platforms that provide immediate feedback to students. This allows them to track their progress and identify areas for improvement. B. Formative Assessment Tools: Use formative assessment tools such as online polls, surveys, and exit tickets to gauge students' comprehension of specific topics before moving on to new material. By utilizing digital assessment tools effectively, you can create a dynamic and engaging online learning environment for teaching high school history.

Thinking about challenges has me remembering when, during an online lesson, the student’s building fire alarm kept going off and he had to evacuate. It happened 3 times. Thankfully both of our schedules were flexible enough that day to make up for the lost time. History is about inquiry and cause and effect. Getting the student to research a historical question is another good way to teach history. It puts the student in the driver’s seat, and allows the student’s creativity to flourish, thereby operating at the highest level of Blooms, which is our aim in the teaching/learning process.