Study of History, Online?

One of the intriguing movements within education is the rise of accessible, quality learning resources offered entirely online. Websites like Khan Academy and Coursera provide courses taught by knowledgeable staff and college professors in a wide variety of subjects. These are offered, currently, at no cost to the consumer.

Additionally, junior colleges, universities, and vocational schools are taking advantage of the resources and utilizing distance education to encourage more students to take their offerings.

This is an exciting trend, in part because anyone with a reliable internet connection can now access information on nearly any topic they are interested in, at a cost much more reasonable than a traditional onsite course. More access means more students means more opportunity to succeed in learning the subject material. Another potential benefit is a decreased expenditure for providing the course, since facilities maintenance and other costly overhead is minimized by having much of the content on the web.

Challenges also arise, as with any new emerging technology. The ability to instantly connect with, and adapt the material to the needs of, the students,and establishing the actual needs of the students, becomes increasingly challenging with online coursework, as lecture materials and communication is often done asynchronously. Live feedback is more difficult than onsite courses.

Additionally, the level of comprehension, measurements of comprehension, and motivation is more in the hands of the student, since the professor or teacher is not seeing the students face-to-face each day. Unless the teacher is successful in conveying the material in a meaningful, successful manner, and the student is, or becomes, interested in the course or its completion, unique challenges arise, regardless of the content.

We, then, are led to understanding that there are pros and cons for online education. Is it useful for the student of history? I argue that it has potential for benefit.

History is the exploration of past events, their causes, effects, and reasons why. Additionally, it is tied into modern times and woven into a unique narrative that marries past and present. Finally, history is learning the facts and figures of the past...the dates and events themselves. I believe online education, when utilized effectively, can provide a vehicle for teaching the important aspects of the past to students, specifically for created a foundation in historical events to dispel ignorance of context.

Online resources, a variety of media, readily accessible, can be utilized to drive points home with imagery and content that goes beyond lectures and reading, which is a) most often utilized in onsite courses and b) has been shown to maintain a rather small percentage of students who retain the material. Conversely, a picture can invoke emotional responses, a film can be memorable long past its ending credits, specifically because it utilizes more of the senses, and connects on a human level. This same response can be utilized in history teaching to convey the emotional past.

Though it is not without it's unique challenges, the learning of history can greatly benefit from utilizing all resources available to engage the student in the material, and online education would be a welcome tool to use in the public dissemination of our unique historical heritage.