Web Work Teaches Historians
Article & Interview by Valeria Gooner

In the Spring of 2004 history students were given the task of designing a web site as part of their course work for History 190: Eastern Europe since 1939. In a show of hands, it was clear that most of the students in that class had never before created a web page, much less an entire site. In spite of this limitation and with minimal assistance, these students were able to pull off the task of building solid web sites that not only showcased their hard work as researchers but that also gave them the special insight and skills required of scholars who travel the web.

Interview with Chad Bryant July 9, 2004

Please explain briefly what motivated you to assign your students to create web sites to showcase their research.

One of the purposes of my HI 190 was to teach students how to interpret and analyze a wide variety of primary and secondary sources. Along with web sites, we analyzed films, novels, memoirs, and works by professional historians. Students obviously use the internet a lot, and I wanted to create an exercise that encouraged students to read web sites as an historian, armed with critical thinking skills, might. In other words, how can you tell if the information presented on a website is reliable? How is doing internet research different, and perhaps riskier, than traditional research with written texts? I also wanted the students to learn what went into creating a reliable web site. Finally, I thought that a web site project would teach students how to work together toward a common goal and play to skills not normally drawn upon when writing papers, participating in class, and so on.

We structured the assignment with roles (see Web Project Roles) in order to give your students a basis for organizing themselves. Please give your assessment on how well that worked for them.

The roles seemed to work very well, although some groups seemed to have devised their own divisions of labor. The drawback was that some jobs demanded more work than others. In a few cases, there were complaints that group members weren't pulling their weight. On the whole, however, the system seemed to have worked quite well. Each student could point to a page the she or he had mostly constructed; the designer and content editor presented their website to the class at the end of the semester. These presentations were great. It was clear that the students were proud of the work that they had done, and everyone in the audience appreciated the work that had gone into the final product.

How difficult do you think your students found the assignment?

The amount of time and technical knowledge needed to construct the website intimidated nearly all the students. I don't know why they didn't take advantage of you. Next time we might have to require visitations. Or we might hold a class in the library where you can give them hands-on instructions. Most of the people who ended up constructing the sites had previous experience of some sort. Finding the necessary information was less daunting. They could draw from materials already presented in class, and I had given them a few leads, such as websites by the BBC, the Economist, a news service specializing in East European events called Transitions Online, and media outlets in the various countries of Eastern Europe .

Do you feel they enjoyed it and walked away with a better understanding of the internet plus a new skill?

The students seemed to really take to the project. It allowed for a great deal of creativity, and it produced something tangible and solid. Because it required them to comment on current events in their assigned countries it brought our class up to the present, which students always seem to like. The events leading up to now then take on a new significance, as for example, we see how the memory of World War II still affects relations between Poles and Germans, why NATO still has troops in Kosovo, and so on. I hope that students will surf the internet with a new awareness for how web sites are made and how the intelligent, critical reader might peruse them.


Group projects are often a vexing educational tool. Do you feel that structuring this group project in this manner was helpful or just more work for the students?

I think that few students minded working in groups. Scheduling was a problem, and sometimes personalities clashed. But most jobs require some sort of cooperation with others, so I think that they were learning valuable skills. In almost every case, a real team mentality developed among the groups. They were proud of their projects, and it gave them a chance to get to know their classmates a bit better.


How difficult was it for you to assess student's work? Did you feel you were able to be fair, given the newness of the task?

Grading was a challenge. Some students simply worked much harder than others in their group, were more talented writers/researchers, and so on, yet I had to give a group grade. Since it was only ten percent of the final grade the project rarely made a big difference in the end. Yet, I admit, it was difficult to be fair to individuals while assessing a product of common work and effort.

Assessing the website as a whole was less of a problem because I had laid out clear criteria for judgment. (See Evaluation Criteria.) Next time I will expect more, however.   I wish that they had spent more time looking at a number of sources. At times it seems that students simply went to one source, which sometimes skewed their presentation of the facts. I also wish that they had spent more time on the required "resources page," in which I asked them to comment on the texts and websites used to create their final project. Some factual mistakes slipped in, too. If I had assigned the project earlier in the semester and required them to show me a Beta site these problems would have been solved early on.

On the whole, though, I'm very glad that we did it, and I will definitely have a web site project the next time I teach the class. You did a great job of steering me through the early stages, Valeria. Sometimes technology in the classroom can distract us from our larger pedagogical goals. The website project, however, allowed me to insert technology into the classroom in a way that enhanced the learning experience.

Possible Web Project Roles:

Web Designer/Graphic Artist: in charge of over-all design concept, prototype creation and testing, colors, layout, buttons, etc. Images themselves tell a story.

Web Researcher: responsible for bench-marking, image and text copyright issues, link accuracy, plagiarism issues, information gathering and evaluation, and for knowing exactly what the site contributes to the web.

Site Architect: responsible for how the site is structured (how many clicks to get where you want to go), navigation, naming convention, labeling, metatag information and text-only site.

Content Editor: determines what and how much content is presented, works closely with Researcher   Designer, writes and rewrites extensively to ensure that the final product is accurate and distinctive.

Web Developer/Project Manager: coordinates the above efforts, responsible for time-line and time on task issues, puts all the pieces together into a final web site, does usability testing, browser testing.

Evaluation Criteria:

•  Research: Did the group locate valid and informative sources? Did they use them effectively? Does the “source page” show that a good effort has been put forth, and does your web site seem like a reliable source of information for the general public?

•  Content: Have the histories succinctly covered the major issues, events, and personalities in the country's recent past? Has the author of the documents page done a good job of summarizing the primary or secondary source and its relation to a particular issue/problem/question in the country's history? Does the “current issues” page give us a good picture of current events and problems in the country today? In other words, have the authors accomplished the goals stated in the “topics” section and demonstrated the analytical and critical skills of good historians?

•  Style and organization: Is the written content marred by grammar mistakes? Is the website clear in purpose and pleasing to the eye? Does the organization of materials make sense?