Making History Resources
The links on the right are resources I have gathered over the years to support students specifically taking the module, ‘Making History’. Your websites are set up via the UCL Reflect platform, and you will have been allocated your group space. All the information that you need to get up and running and add content has been painstakingly created for you.
This space has been built on the shoulders of those who have come before you. I updated this on a yearly basis after reviewing their questions and providing some answers as well as resources for the elements that can make your site creative.
People using digital devices out of the context of the era credit @Midjourney
If you are unsure about anything here or would like to have a question answered about some technical aspect of your blog, then please reach out to me, and I will be happy to help. If you have a question about your assessment or other query connected to your programme of study, then please direct those questions to your module instructors or check the information provided via Moodle.
Make Good Choices
Some things to think about when building your sites*:
- Before adding in lots of bells and whistles (interactive elements), take a look at what has been done before to put the available options into context. What you might think is creative, may just be because you hadn’t seen it before.
- What does it add? What does this element do? Do you need it?
- Does this element change what we are aiming to do? How does the addition of this alter aspects? This could include accessibility concerns that may impact on your audience’s access to your site
- Is there a tradeoff to using this? Do you get it for ‘free’ but give away your right to privacy or even data? This could include those who access your site and then click on the element in question.
- Remember to give credit where credit is due. The usual rules apply for text based sources. If you use any media that is not of your making, then identify where it came from. For example, if you create an image from an image generator like Midjourney, then ensure that this is included in the caption under the image (as shown above) “<details of image> created using <insert tool>.
*Take note: the use of the term ‘website’ or ‘sites’ is used to refer to the Reflect blogging platform. Although it was designed for blogs, it is possible to create websites with static pages that act as websites. The blogging part refers to ‘posts’ that are chronological in order and appear in a newsfeed-type space. The Reflect guide is a useful resource to help use it effectively.
WordPress is a global platform that is used outside of UCL by commercial organisations. The more familiar you are with it and how it works, the more able you will be to demonstrate your digital literacies skills.
Check your Digital Capabilities through this UCL provided assessment tool.