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Site Review: History.com

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Site URL:  History.com   

Content:  Home of the History Channel, this site offers far more than just news and notes on the network’s stable of shows. Users are treated to a veritable cornucopia of news, features and video on happenings in history, archaeology and anthropology.

Design:  Most major content sites have a primary scroller running through the most important items currently on the site. History.com is no different, except that its scroller is oversized and full of links, drawing users in with a giant, his-res image. Visitors might almost forget that there are other areas to the homepage.

Students can have fun with the small box offering important events that occurred on this date in history. A block of “Editors’ Picks” gives users a handful of content choices. This being a television network, there is also a listing for the day’s show lineup.

Review:  While there’s plenty to satiate fans of “Ice Road Truckers”and “Pawn Stars,” History.com offers so much more for history buffs and educators.

Teachers can certainly use items such as a video clip on Pharaoh Tuten’kaha’mon’s recent autopsy, or a discussion on Roman shipyards. The promoted topics tend to mirror historical elements that are popular in society. For example, there are plenty of resources dealing with Spartan King Leonidas and the Battle of Thermopylae—clearly a nod to the popular movie 300. Teachers will have no problem finding historical facts related to subjects students find interesting thanks to Hollywood.

Bottom Line:  Leave the network’s shows alone and focus on the great educational content—History.com has a ton of it.

 

Article by Jason Tomaszewski, EducationWorld Associate Editor
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