Document Analysis, Interactive Maps Are Key Features In Bold New Online Edition Of Holt World History: Human Legacy
Atlanta,GA - Long respected for its K-12 textbooks, learning resources and technology for middle and high school grades, Holt, Rinehart and Winston (www.hrw.com) recently released a new Interactive Online Edition of Holt World History: Human Legacy 2008 at the National Educational Computing Conference (NECC) in Atlanta. At NECC, Holt will showcase the new tools and resources that not only ease the teacher's workload and but also encourage self-directed learning. Among those new resources are interactive maps placed throughout the online edition that help students create a historical picture about the time period being studied.
"History is so much better understood when the learner can place themselves in the era being studied so we gave Human Legacy every conceivable tool to make that happen such as interactive maps and durable links to primary sources," said Allen Wheatcroft, president of Holt. "We take our role as mediators very seriously so our editorial team constantly reviews those links and monitors current events to keep the content fresh and relevant."
Like its print-based counterpart, the Interactive Online Edition of Human Legacy promotes the investigation of primary source documents and the study of historical artifacts. However, with the online textbook, students have additional resources already integrated into their textbook either through links to new content or through links to reputable websites that have a minimum of advertising and are maintained by well-respected history experts. Among those experts is The World Almanac and Book of Facts, which provides data that is continually updated so that the online textbook never goes out of date.
The online edition of Human Legacy has over 65 interactive features that bring history alive starting with an interactive Geography Starting Points map that immerses students in the geographic and cultural time period. Interactive Maps, which are unique to the online textbook, were developed to help teachers establish the geographical setting of the chapter for students. Additionally, videos, artwork, literature, and web-based interactivity feed students' curiosity and natural inclination to explore. For example in the chapter on the French Revolution and Napoleon, students read about the inequities that angered French workers and drove them to riots and plundering. Students analyze paintings, period cartoons, and literature while recording their comments in a notebook that can be viewed by the teacher. With the interactive maps, they see how these factors affected France and surrounding countries over time.
In all of these student resources, the teacher can monitor how their students are scoring on quizzes and read their answers to the guided reading and e-activities through a single management site. Teachers also have a host of editable resources, activities and exams that can be delivered online or in a printed format.
SOURCE: Holt, Rinehart and Winston