1.
Teaching
Medieval
History:
The E-Learning
Landscape
Dr Antonella Liuzzo Scorpo
Queen Mary, University of London
Dr Jamie Wood,
University of Manchester

2.
Overview
• Context
• 1. Student-teacher dynamics in e-learning
• 2. Activities for learning
• 3. Engaging with sources
• Conclusion

3.
Teaching Pre-Modern History:
E-Learning Challenges and Opportunities
• https://sites.google.com/site/teachingpremodernhistory/

4.
Aims of the workshop
• To showcase best practice
and share teaching
experiences using
e-learning platforms
• To identify and solve problems
• To promote innovation and creativity in the use of
technology

5.
Our forthcoming report focuses on
• Engaging with sources: information
literacy, visual sources, archives and source
repositories
• Collaboration and independence: how to
develop and improve student’s skills, share
resources, integrate learning across modules
and levels of study

6.
Todays’ presentation
• Builds on workshop
• Draws on JW’s research into e-learning in History
teaching in HE
• Three areas to explore
– Teacher-students dynamics
– Activities
– Sources
• Focus on MEDIEVAL history: what specific
challenges does it pose and how can technology
help to overcome those? Or…does it create
more problems than it solves?

7.
Survey (May 2012)
• L1 and L2 from 5 different Institution in
UK
• Their experience of learning and opinions
about teaching history (all periods)
• General overview
• Findings applied to the themes we chose
to discuss today

8.
1. Student-teacher dynamics in e-learning environments
How and to what extent does a “blended system” challenge the
traditional face-to-face dynamics?
How can online and face-to-face teaching be combined
effectively?

9.
In a “blended” system…
• Interactive connections should remain open
• Changing roles in the learning life-cycle: e.g.
students as active protagonists and creators of
some activities
• From the survey:
– E-learning as a fundamental learning tool (32 out of 38
respondents)
– It provides a hub for info + (to a lesser extent) communication
with peers and teachers
– Varieties of approaches and teachers’ levels of engagement
– IT skills and technical issues

10.
2. Activities for learning
- Sources available at different times, places and paces
- Interaction between individuals and groups
- Sharing of sources and resources
- Generating awareness about interdisciplinary approaches
- Reflecting on the relationships btw “medieval” and “modern”
- Re-assessing scholarly materials and presenting them to wider
public
- Specific and generic IT skills
- Update contents regularly and remotely

11.
Activity Technologies available Examples Benefits
Discussion and debate outside of
class
Discussion boards
Blogs
Social networking sites
In virtual learning environments
Wordpress / Blogger
Facebook / Twitter
Develops skills in
articulating and sharing
ideas
Project work (creating resources
individually or collaboratively)
Web-authoring services
Blogs
Wikis
Google Sites
Wordpress / Blogger
PB wiki
Enables students to
experience processes of
knowledge creation; to
create a product that is
shared with others (rather
than just assessed by the
tutor); improves group-
working and project-
management skills
Search for and share information Social bookmarking services Delicious / Diigo Improves information
literacy; useful for revision
and essay-writing; can be
sold to students as efficient
(if they are sharing
resources with one another)
Engage with images Photo-sharing websites Flickr Helps contextualizing
information and drawing
interdisciplinary
connections
Reflect on their learning process Journalling software
Blogs
Livejournal
Wordpress / Blogger
Increases students’
awareness of their learning
progresses; encourages
further development;
develops critical
understanding

12.
Construct timelines/ clarify narratives Timeline software Timeglider (http://timeglider.com/)
tiki-toki (http://www.tiki-
toki.com/)
Helps clarifying ideas and
contextualize events and
processes; brings students to
consider themes and ideas
on a wider scheme.
Share and creating materials
collaboratively
Collaborative editing services Google docs
Dropbox
Slideshare
Encourages collaborative
study and research;
challenges set ideas and
approaches; stimulates
alternative thinking
Presenting material to students (or
share their presentations online)
Presentation sharing software
Generative/ reusable learning objects
Slideshare
Prezi
GLO-maker
Improves planning,
presenting and debating;
enhances communication
skills
What impact do these activities have on student
learning and how can we improve the ways we design
blended learning activities?

13.
Survey findings
• Some use to promote discussion and
collaboration; positive impact on learning
• Technology
– Aids preparation for class
– Enables independent working
• But are students viewing VLEs as closed
spaces rather than as starting points for
independent work?

14.
3. Engaging with sources
• How different is working with medieval
sources?
Geo-tagging class
notes using Google
Peer-assessed
presentations and
wikis
Blogs, bookmarks
and student-
generated
seminars
Online portfolios

15.
Please tell me about the top three
areas in which your skills improved
using e-learning
Critical analysis of
sources.
By using a wider
range of sources I
was able to look at
the unfolding of
events studied from
different
perspectives.
I could not have done
this if I had to buy
books or borrow
them in physical form
from the library…
Survey
findings
• improved
research
skills
• improved
subject
knowledge

16.
Conclusion
- Resources online: starting or
“stuck” point?
- Mixed effects of “blended”
systems
- What is peculiar about
teaching (and applying
technology to the teaching
of) medieval history?

17.
Thank you!
Feel free to ask
questions
and/or give us
your opinion
and feedback