Local history project
Outline of the activity
The children were studying the history of Merthyr in the 19th Century using the book ‘Merthyr Boat Boy’ as a stimulus for much of their work. They had made class visits to places of interest and decided to work in groups creating an interactive project book containing linked multimedia pages.
Skills Covered
Children used a multimedia package to organise, refine and present a set of linked multimedia pages, which incorporated images and text; creating pages which offer users a variety of options and presenting information that matches the needs of the audience. The children learned how to link pages using picture ‘hot-spots’ and text hyperlinks. The children were able to use a scanner to capture images and insert them into their pages. They used a variety of written and visual sources of evidence for their research.
Rationale
This activity was part of the class topic on local history with great emphasis on children experiencing first hand the places they were to research and write about. The activity not only extended ICT skills but involved considerable development of research and communication skills also.
Result
The children were able to produce useful mini web sites on aspects of local history. These would be very useful for future reference. The children worked extremely well in their groups with all children's contributions listened to and valued.
