Developing and Teaching with Computer-based Courseware in History: the History Courseware Consortium

Summary

This demonstration illustrates one model developed in the UK for developing, producing and disseminating web-based courseware to enhance the teaching and learning experience of history students in higher education.

The demonstration covers the five key areas that the Consortium sought to address in overcoming the under utilisation of computers in history teaching: a pedagogical framework, quality, accessibility, flexibility and support. Examples of the courseware's use in UK Higher Education history teaching are also provided and the demonstration concludes with an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the courseware.

Outline

Pedagogical Framework: Bridging the gap between 'traditional' and computer based methods of teaching meant that the History Courseware Consortium required a conceptual framework that provided both a familiar pedagogical context and incorporated the benefits of computer-based teaching. The metaphor adopted by the Consortium to achieve this was the 'Enriched Lecture'.

Academic Quality: To ensure the courseware matched accepted standards of academic scholarship the Consortium adopted a unique commissioning system. Editorial panels were established and subject specialists targeted. A key to this was the divorce of authorship from technical production.

Accessibility: Another barrier to the widespread use of computers was the technical skills required to operate software. One of the key requirements for the Consortium was that the material should be accessible. Writing the courseware in Hyper-Text Mark-up Language (HTML) permitted the materials to be viewed through a web browser. This minimised the amount of time spent learning 'computing' and maximises the amount of time spent learning 'history'. The consortium format, involving over 80 UK HE institutions, also proved a valuable format for creating a sense of ownership, community and acceptability.

Flexibility: In part this was provided by the technical features of HTML, but other aspects of the courseware design had to maximise this feature to help overcome the 'not written here' syndrome. An open-ended system, rich resources and multiple pathways were adopted as key design features. A facility for customisation was also adopted so local lecturers were able to add their own material, sources and evidence.

Support: To prevent the courseware 'withering on the vine' on-line, paper-based and staffed support systems were adopted. A particularly distinctive feature was a programme of on-going technical and academic support and training channelled through a 'Users Club'.

Use in Teaching: There was a widespread and rapid uptake in UK HE, but the courseware's use was not based on the 'Enriched Lecture' metaphor. This was not unexpected but perhaps an 'Enriched Tutorial' metaphor would have been more appropriate for dissemination. Examples of the courseware's use in teaching, including customisation, are provided from the Universities of Glasgow, Teeside and Sheffield.

Assessment: The model adopted by the Consortium was largely successful in UK HE, but the practical limitations of customisation and more recent technical advances must be acknowledged.