Manuscript received November 22, 2023; revised January 3, 2024; accepted April 8, 2024; published August 13, 2024
Abstract—The purpose of this research is to analyze the effectiveness of virtual tours and digital libraries in learning history based on student perceptions. The study employed survey methods and statistical analysis, complemented by historical methods, along with virtual tours for the recreation and modeling of specific historical conditions to explore their potential consequences. The study involved two surveys developed by teachers: the first was before the experiment and the second took place after its completion. Each student received the questionnaire by mail. Thus, 60 bachelor students of the “History” specialty took part in the experiment. The average age of the participants was 21 years old. According to the survey results, the majority of the students (58%) noted that they rarely used digital technologies during history lessons. At the same time, 30% said that they did not use digital libraries and virtual tours when studying history and only 12% reported that they used them in lessons. Following the study, a majority of the students (85%) observed that the utilization of digital technologies impacted their motivation to study history. Meanwhile, 10% found it challenging to respond to this question, and 5% indicated that digital tools had no influence on their motivation levels. The improvement in students’ academic performance was evident when comparing the responses to control assessments conducted before and after the experiment. Based on the standard deviation data, the average score was 77.5 before training and increased to 81.9 afterward. Based on a comparison of the results obtained in two surveys, the researchers can conclude that electronic libraries and virtual excursions are effective for studying history. All the indicators increased, in particular those related to the level of motivation.
Keywords—educational resources, electronic library, study of history material, knowledge archive, virtual tour
Cite: Marina Moseikina and Saken Toktamysov, "Virtual Tours and Digital Libraries in History Education at the University: How to Make the Study of History Attractive to Students?," International Journal of Information and Education Technology vol. 14, no. 8, pp. 1068-1077, 2024.