History lesson anchored in the past

Abstract

New educational paradigms put a strong focus on experience-based learning and situated cognition. As Science can manage with creating space of real conditions and engaging students in them, History classes are facing problems hard to overcome. First—the past is simply non-reproducible, which means that situated learning cannot be provided and every experience must be delivered by contact with representation of the past events, Second problem is traditional way of teaching History as a collection of facts, rather than knowledge as a tool. These agents make historical knowledge inert—not spontaneously using by students in commonlife cases. In both an anchored instruction—strategy of instructional design by Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt—can be helpful. Centered not on transmission of facts chosen by teacher but on individual choices of students and using modern technologies to create impulse for research, anchored instruction has potential to be a strong enhancement in inspiring historical thinking in classroom. Author is looking for a way to make an impossible-to-experience past meaningful for students at History classes. Considering term of inert knowledge he review anchored instruction as useful strategy in constructing historical knowledge like a usable tool rather than collection of facts. In the end examples of modern anchors are given—describing potential of an augmented reality facilities.