Important Lessons in History Now Online
Facing History and Ourselves, a nonprofit educational organization that has trained more than 12,000 teachers over two decades, and VIS Corp. are developing a Web-based version of the Facing History and Ourselves curriculum. The project delivers a civic education program designed for middle school and high school classrooms, teaching about the privileges, responsibilities, and skills of citizenship through lessons on history, literature, science and art. For example, students learn about the values of democracy by examining Germany’s crumbling democracy from the 1920s through the Holocaust. By learning about the impact of the actions of ordinary citizens, students begin to understand the importance of making responsible choices. They are then encouraged to apply these lessons to contemporary events and their own experiences.
Through the integration of multimedia, interactivity, quizzes and feedback, the e-learning versions of the program will enable teachers to bring the curriculum to a large number of students. The main curriculum and supplementary curricula highlight issues of inclusion, tolerance and democracy, and include a large library of primary sources. Facing History and Ourselves, Boston, MA, (617) 232-1595, www.facinghistory.org.
This article originally appeared in the 05/01/2001 issue of THE Journal.