BIG HISTORY PROJECT / WEB GUIDE 1 WEB GUIDE FOR EDUCATORS

BIG HISTORY PROJECT / WEB GUIDE 1

WEB GUIDE FOR EDUCATORS

Home page: bighistoryproject.com .......................................................................................................... 1

Syllabus Page ......................................................................................................................................... 2

Two ways to view the course .................................................................................................................. 4

Unit View ............................................................................................................................................. 4

Lesson View ........................................................................................................................................ 4

Unit Content View .................................................................................................................................... 4

Content modules ................................................................................................................................. 5

Lesson summaries .............................................................................................................................. 6

Content Types ......................................................................................................................................... 6

Lesson View ............................................................................................................................................ 8

Teacher Console ...................................................................................................................................10

Add Periods .......................................................................................................................................10

Analytics Dashboard .............................................................................................................................13

Assessments .........................................................................................................................................13

Unit Quiz ............................................................................................................................................13

Course Test .......................................................................................................................................13

Investigations ....................................................................................................................................14

Profile ....................................................................................................................................................14

BHP Community ....................................................................................................................................14

Contribute to the community .............................................................................................................15

Getting Help ..........................................................................................................................................15

Welcome to the Big History Project. This guide will get you up and running with the course website.

Refer back to this document whenever you need a refresher. For full details on teaching the course,

refer to the Teaching Big History document. First, let’s walk through the pages of the site.

Home page: bighistoryproject.com

The home page of the site is your first entry into the course. Here you can learn about the benefits of

the Big History Project (BHP), watch some informative videos, and get a sense of what it will be like to

teach the course. If you don’t already have BHP credentials, simply fill out the Registration form. A

password will be emailed to you. If you do already have credentials for the course, log in by clicking

the “SIGN IN” button, and type in your email address and BHP password.


Syllabus Page

After you log in to http://www.bighistoryproject.com with your teacher credentials, the Syllabus will be

your home page for the course. If you want to link directly to the syllabus, the URL is

http://course.bighistoryproject.com. The syllabus shows you all ten units in the course, arranged on a

timeline. The Thresholds of Increasing Complexity are called out at their respective points on that

timeline.

You can roll over each unit to see information about it, including a brief description, number of content

items, and number of lessons contained in the unit.

Clicking on any point in the timeline will take you the content view for that unit. You can also jump to

any unit in the course using the Units drop-down menu in the top navigation bar.

Click here to sign in

Click here to register for the first time

http://www.bighistoryproject.com/

http://course.bighistoryproject.com/


Several links are available in the navigation bar on the Syllabus and every other page:

Console - Your management home for the course

Your Name - This drop-down menu includes links to:

Profile

Presentation Mode – the version of the page that students see

Sign-out

Help – options for registered teachers:

Community – the place to collaborate with other teachers on course ideas, and the central spot for

program information from the BHP team. You can also reach the Community page from the

Console.

Course Help – an email link that you can use to send BHP-related course questions to a group of

curriculum developers,

Tech Help - through which you can email our technical wizards.

About – information about the program

Terms of Use

FAQ - a quick troubleshooting guide that you may want to consult before emailing tech help.

Roll over units to see details

Teacher console

The NAME menu

Jump to any unit from any page

Get Help

Search


Search – a text-entry field where you and your students can search for a term. Results will show you

available glossary definitions and where in the course that topic appears.

Two ways to view the course

There are two different ways to view the content of the course.

Unit View

Each unit has its own page, and on each of those pages content items such as videos, articles,

investigations, and activities are grouped together by topic. We call this the “à la carte” method to

move through a unit, and it’s optimized for teachers who prefer to create their own lessons or simply

want to jump directly to a specific piece of content.

Unit View is roughly the same for teachers and students, though teachers get a bit more contextual

information for each piece of content.

Lesson View

Those groups of content items shown in the unit view each have an accompanying lesson plan, and

those lessons are the other way to interact with the course. The lessons are designed to give

teachers guidance for structuring a course period that makes use of the content items, activities, and

readings associated with that topic. There are between 5 and 8 lessons per unit.

Lesson View gives teachers guidance that can help to facilitate lessons with their classes. The

student view provides instructions and context for each content item. Remember that teachers can

always see what the students see by choosing Presentation Mode in the HELP menu.

Now that you know the different ways of working with the content in the course, let’s take a look at

each one in detail.

Unit Content View

The Unit view shows you all of the content in the unit, arranged in rows, where numbered rows are

Lessons. Each unit begins with some context-setting materials, such as Threshold Cards, Activities,

and overview videos.

A Unit Overview is accessible from the up/down arrow on the right side. You can collapse it to give

you more room on the screen.


Content modules

When you click on any content item you’ll see a window pop up that contains information about that

item, along with a set of actions you can take. Students and teachers see a description and options to

open (play) the item, download it, open an associated notebook, or download a transcript. Options

vary depending on the content type (video, article, image, etc.). Teachers will see an attached window

to the right that provides additional guidance for using the content item in the classroom.

Click to show/hide unit overview

Each numbered row is a lesson

Teaching guide, text reader, and slides for the unit

Options for content items

Teacher guidance

Lesson summary

Click through to lesson


Lesson summaries

You’ve seen how the Unit View arranges items in rows, and that each of those rows comprises a

lesson. We define a “lesson” as the context for and structure of content items. They include

suggestions of steps to take with your class in a class period, but they are not prescriptive: use what

works for you.

When you click through to Lesson, you are taken to a dedicated page that includes context for the

lesson, concepts covered, and lesson steps.

Content Types

Now is a good time to describe the types of content you’ll work with in the course. Each content type

is represented by its own thumbnail image.

Thumbnail Type Description

Activity Activities are woven into every unit and every lesson and offer a variety of different ways for students to learn, experience, practice, and test concepts covered in the course.

Article A text-based document such as biographies, historical accounts, and

Community Link to the Community site, where teachers can share lessons, and content with each other, and download course materials.

Concept Card Several concepts in the course get the “glossary plus” treatment in Concept Cards. They ask and answer: What is it? Why is it important? How do we know about it?

Glossary Definitions of important terms in a course unit.



Glossary Challenge Students can take the glossary challenge to test their understanding of vocabulary terms in a unit.

Infographic Infographics are included in many units to graphically represent key concepts. Zoom in to reveal detail.

Investigation Investigations are inquiry-based activities that help students frame some of the big issues tackled in each unit.

Investigation writing The online form that students can use to complete the writing portion of the Investigation.

PBL Activity Activities aligned to Problem Based Learning, a method of instruction that has students take part in an extended inquiry around a complex question, problem, or challenge.

Student Survey A series of questions for students that helps us understand their perceptions of the course.

Teacher Survey Questions for teachers about perceptions of and experience teaching the course.

Teaching guide Each unit includes a guide to provide teachers with ideas and resources for teaching the content in the unit.



Test key The answer key for unit tests, visible to teachers only

Unit log Teachers complete a log in each unit to share what went well, which content items were helpful or not, and what they would do differently the next time around.

Unit PPT slides Many teachers use PowerPoint to present BHP information. Each unit contains a PPT presentation that you can use or modify for the classroom.

Unit quiz Teachers can assign an online quiz to students in each unit to test for understanding.

Unit test Teachers direct students to take 4 concept

assessments in the course. They are a mix of

identifications, short answers, and released

items from national and state tests in World

History, Geography, Biology, Chemistry, and

Earth Science.

Unit text reader In every unit, the text-based articles are gathered into one downloadable reader file for easy printing and offline reading.

Video Each unit has at least one main video talk by David Christian, supplemented by a variety of guest talks and/or animations. Teachers will also have access to ”teaching big history” videos

Lesson View

Lessons include the same content items that you saw in rows in the Unit View. They are repeated

here with additional context, such as how to present the item, and suggestions for leading discussions

about it with your class.


Lesson Context frames the lesson for you and your students.

Concepts are the key terms that will be defined in the course. Click the down arrow next to each to

reveal the definition.

Lesson steps present a suggested order for working through the material.

Download the lesson

Key terms in this lesson

Suggested steps for working with content items

Content items appear inline


Just like the Unit content view, each content item displays a content module when you click on the

thumbnail. The module provides more information about that content item and displays options for

downloading the item and seeing related materials.

Teacher Console

The teacher console is your home for course management. Here you’ll set up class periods, reveal

and hide quizzes and tests for your students, complete teacher logs and surveys, read messages

from the BHP team, and access additional resources.

When you first visit the teacher console, only two modules will be active: BHP messages and

resources.

Add Periods

Your first task is to set up a class period. Click on “Add Period” on the console page. You can enter

names one at a time, upload a .csv file, or paste in a list of email addresses. Email will be sent to

each student with login information and passwords.

Get to the console from the nav bar

Red number indicates new messages

Set up class periods

Teaching resources


Class period options:

Add student – by individual name/email, or with a list of email addresses

Print list of students

Delete period – remove a period and start over, or delete at the end of your school year.

Once you have a period set up, new options will be revealed on the Console. We’ll go through each

section one by one.

Add student names one at a time

Or add a list of student email addresses


Class lists: a list of all of the students you’ve added to each period, along with their email addresses

and site passwords.

Unit logs: complete and submit teacher logs for each unit. Indicators show which logs you’ve

completed.

Unit quizzes – show or hide quizzes for each unit. The green checkmark indicates that the student

has access to that quiz from their view of the course site. When you click on that box to grey out the

option, the quiz is hidden from a student’s view. We’ll discuss quizzes and other assessments in more

detail below.


Course tests – Turn on or off each of the 3 concept assessments for students. Green checkmarks

mean that a student can access the test from their view of the course.

Teacher surveys – complete surveys at the start of your school year, at the mid-point, and at the

end. The BHP team will send out reminders. Green checks display after you complete the survey.

Red symbols mean they are overdue.

Student feedback – turn on or off the 3 surveys that students will take over the year. Green checks

mean that the survey is available for them to complete in the student view of the course.

Analytics Dashboard

For each class period you can view information about how your students are interacting with the

course, including their use of content items, whether they’ve taken the quizzes you assigned, and if

they completed surveys. The Analytics Dashboard starts filling with data as your students interact with

the course site, so it’s only accessible after your periods are set up. Get to it from the Analytics button

on the Period panel.

Assessments

You’ve seen that you can reveal or hide unit quizzes and course tests from the Console. Let’s have a

look at each one.

Unit Quiz

At the end of each unit, students can take a quiz online to test their knowledge. Students receive a

score on the quiz immediately, and those results are tallied and displayed on the Analytics Dashboard

for each period. Students also have the option to download, print, and complete the quiz on paper.

Course Test

At the beginning, mid-point, and end of the course, students can take a more comprehensive concept

assessment online. These tests gauge student understanding and use of the core concepts. The

concept assessments are a mix of identifications, short answers, and released items from national

and state tests in World History, Geography, Biology, Chemistry, and Earth Science. Results are

again evaluated and tallied in your Analytics Dashboard. Students can see results from their own

tests and quizzes on their Profile page.


Investigations

Investigations are inquiry-based activities that help frame some of the big issues tackled in each unit.

They invite students to take up a problem and require them to analyze, synthesize, and evaluate

evidence to construct their own answer. Students can complete and submit a portion of the

investigation online.

Profile

Access your profile from the Name menu in the navigation bar. On this screen, you’ll complete or

correct your personal details, and indicate your role, your teaching credentials, and how many years

of teaching experience you have. We don’t share your personal information, but it’s helpful for us to

have a sense of who comprises the BHP community.

We also ask for your school details, and whether you are co-teaching the class with someone else.

The profile is also the place for you to reset your password, should the need arise.

BHP Community

When you start teaching Big History, you become part of a community of educators around the world

who are doing the same thing. It’s a complex course, but there is no reason to reinvent the wheel. In

the BHP Community pages you’ll be able to share lesson plans, course structure ideas, and your

suggestions for improving the course.


The Community site is arranged in a few different ways so you can quickly find what you need.

Program folders – general program support for teachers and administrators, including teacher

preparation resources, BHP marketing and press, assessments, and program management message

from the BHP team.

Unit folders – find and share lessons for specific units of the course. You’ll find the teaching guide for

each unit here as well.

Cluster folders – each US school in the managed program (and all of Australia) is part of a

geographic cluster. If you’re looking for guidance that is particular to a region or state, or if you’d like

to connect with educators nearby, start with your applicable cluster.

Contribute to the community

Collaboration can be a boon for teachers, particularly those new to Big History. If you have an idea for

a lesson or activity add it to the community site. It’s also a great place to share examples of student

work, or presentations you’ve created. You can add items to the Community site by clicking on the

“Add Something” buttons in each of the unit and cluster folders.

Getting Help

We hope that you’re excited to dive in to Big History. If you need help along the way, there are

several resources available:

The full course guide: Teaching Big History

Guidance from a BHP teacher: Teaching Big History videos

Resources section in the Teacher Console

If you still have more questions:

For technical assistance, email [email protected]

For course help, email [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

BIG HISTORY PROJECT / WEB GUIDE 1 WEB GUIDE FOR EDUCATORS

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