About the Author: Russel Tarr
 This site is the work of Russel. Tarr. I graduated from Oxford University with degree in Modern History in 1993, completed a PGCE at Birmingham University in 1995 and I have been teaching History full-time to the 11-18 age range since 1997 - currently at the International School of Toulouse.
What is the background to the development of the website?
The activities made available on the site were developed in my own time to supplement my history teaching and are continually evolving in response to feedback from my students and other teachers. I first used the internet in my second year of history teaching (1998), and quickly
became aware of the potential it offered not only for research but also for
interactive learning. Within a few months I had a basic website up and running,
and since then I have focused on creating online games, activities and
worksheets for history teachers and students. These can be used to 'spice up'
traditional schemes of work or used as stand-alone units.
What resources are offered by this website for teachers and students?
The crucial thing about this website is that it is a practical, continually evolving resource produced by a
full-time history teacher for his students and his colleagues.
All of the activities have been produced with the classroom in mind, and are
continually amended after being tried out in class by myself and other visitors.
The activities I have produced to date include such things as
1. Virtual "Head2Head" Interviews (free
sample: available here)
These activities allow students to get instant feedback on questions
submitted to historical characters such as
Adolf Hitler, Henry VIII and
Martin
Luther King Jr; Stalin is the next character to be developed for the site
(expected launch - Christmas 2004). Each character is provided with an extensive
database of questions and answers, and worksheets and lesson plans are provided.
Two of the characters are also equipped with
cutting edge text-to-speech software which have added yet another dimension
to the activities.
These activities allow students to decide for themselves what they want to find
out about a particular character rather than be restricted by their textbooks
and teachers, and they can then feedback with their findings in groups and as a
whole class. This innovative project was awarded first prize in the
BECTA /
Guardian Educational
Website Awards in 2002, beating off competition from over 320 other sites
and described as a "brilliant concept" that won "hands down". The site author
was presented with an award at a ceremony at
BAFTA in London. The promotional film which accompanied the ceremony can be
seen here.
2. Decision-making games (free
sample: available here)
These activities - which follow the format of a "choose your own adventure" game
- students converse with historical characters, trade objects, decide how to
react to circumstances and complete a worksheet as they go along. These
activities engage students with the historical process by:
(a) appreciating
at 'first hand' the difficulty of making tough decisions in difficult
circumstances and
(b) choosing for themselves which areas of the topic they wish
to 'visit'.
There are three main types of these games which I have developed:
● Chronological: Students take on the role of a historical character
(e.g. Year 7: King Harold: Battle of Hastings game,
Year 8:
Charles I: Don't Lose
your Head, Year 9: The
Home Front in World War Two,
GCSE: Civil
Servant: Running the League of Nations,
GCSE: Weimar
Politician: Steering the Republic,
GCSE: Can you survive the Wall Street Crash?)
● Thematic: Students are asked key questions about their beliefs
(e.g. Year 8: Are You a Lutheran, a Catholic or a Radical?,
Year 9: Would you make a good
entrepreneur?, What are your political beliefs?;
What electoral system should we have?)
● Geographical: Students journey around a historical landscape
(e.g.
Year 7: Time Machine Journey to the Middle Ages,
GCSE: Undercover in Nazi Germany,
GCSE: Life in
the Trenches in World War One,
GCSE: Surviving the Vietnam War,
A-Level: Walking
the Mid-Tudor Tightrope,
A-Level: Adventure in the Ottoman Empire)
3. Sourcework exercises, in which students are helped to:
● Evaluate reliability by inserting / deleting bias (Year 7: The Murder of Becket),
● Compare and analyse sources by cutting and pasting information into
appropriate categories (Year 9: Death on the Railways)
● Make inferences from a source rather than merely describe them (Year
8: The Tudor Portrait Mystery,
What is the
Message of 'The Ambassadors'?) or
● Develop skills of sourcework analysis (GCSE:
Sourcework Tips - Flash Animation,
GCSE: How to do structured
questions)
4. Interactive quizzes,
Students are given feedback on their answers by
the computer. These games are available for topics covering every year group in
the 11-18 age range.
Historical
Wordshoot - A "Space invaders" game in which the 'invaders' are the answers
to historical quiz questions;
Manic Miner - An adaptation of a classic platform game;
Play your Dates Right - Helps to
develop chronological awareness;
The Dating Game - The quicker
you guess the date of a key event, the better the quality of your "date" for the
evening!
These activities allow students to get instant feedback on their factual recall
and learn about topics in an entertaining and light-hearted way.
5. In-depth investigations (free
sample: Year
9: The Coalbrookdale Interactive Database)
Students analyse various interpretations of
a key event to come up with a full interpretation
(e.g. Year 9: The
Coalbrookdale Interactive Database,
GCSE: What Caused the
Bolshevik Revolution? GCSE: What was life like in the
trenches during World War One?;
GCSE: What Caused World War Two?,
A-Level: The Field of the Cloth of Gold,
A-Level: What is History all about?)
What are the plans for the site in 2007?
I find that I produce the best activities whilst teaching the subject, so the
site builds up on an ad-hoc basis. I have a backlog of ideas on the drawing
board, and get as many done as time will allow! In 2007, I am keen to update some of the more established games on the site and to develop new decision-making exercises on subjects including Stalin's Russia and the Cold War. Beyond that, I have a whole list of interactive games on the drawing
board which I am slowly working through.
The best way of getting a feel of what the site is all about is to keep an eye
on the "What's New?" page on
the site, which is updated every few days.
How else do you promote the use of ICT in history?
I am very eager to encourage more teachers to use ICT. I strongly feel that
although there are a few teachers who are determined never to use ICT, and a few
who are passionately committed to it, quite a lot simply can't see the point.
I write a regular column in History Review Magazine designed to demystify ICT
and show how it can be used to improve our teaching and learning of history; I
have also written several academic articles for the magazine. I have also
written for the Guardian and the
TES. I have been a speaker at
SFE conferences
in Bradford and London, have provided courses for
Mill Wharf, and offer INSET
courses. I am also keen eager to build up links
with other teachers both in the UK and abroad to share ideas and good practice.
I would very much welcome any suggestions for improvements to the site and would
be happy to answer any of your ICT queries - mail me using the
Feedback Form.
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