Peer Review

South African History Online

Material Detail page

Reviewed:: Apr 19, 2025 by Sociology

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Ratings

Overall Rating:

Content Quality:

Effectiveness:

Ease of Use:

Overview:: South African History Online (SAHO), established 1998, is one of the largest and most comprehensive online, open access repositories on South Africa and Africa history and culture. Here you will find several of SOHO's partnerships, projects, programmes whose mission or goal has been to break the silence on South Africa's past and to address the biased way in which the historical and cultural heritage of South Africa and the continent has been represented in our educational and cultural institutions.
Type of Material:: Learning Object Repository. This is a composit of several resources including articles, and summary information for classrooms.
Recommended Uses:: The articles could be integrated into a homework assignment or as a conversation starter for group work. Begin with the CAPS document for guidelines on learning objectives.
Technical Requirements:: High speed internet
Identify Major Learning Goals:: This site is a repository of articles related to the history and development of countries in Africa. There are many topics that are discussed: Society and Politics, Art and Culture, Biographies, Timelines and Archives with over 40,000 resources. There is a "Classroom" with learning material for grades 4-12 with recommended curriculum topics. This site appears to support the curriculum recommendations (CAPS - Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement) in South Africa.
Target Student Population:: Grade School, Middle School, High School, College General Ed, College Lower Division, College Upper Division, Graduate School, Professional. The section on Classroom (materials) goes up to grade 12.
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:: None. Some knowledge of Africa is necessary.

Content Quality

Rating:

Strengths:

The content offers a variety of short articles on the history and culture of African countries. South Africa is highlighted. Some of the learning topics/articles make recommendations for learning objectives and activities.

Concerns:

- The sections do not flow in a logical manner for students to follow.

-Aside from the resources offered, there is not a connecting link from one to the other, so the overall theme as stated in the Purpose is not obvious for learning.

-The content does not appear complete with little continuity or connection.

-The Classroom Section is a series of partial summaries on the topics covered. Some areas are in 'construction.'

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:
Strengths:: The CAPS document offers learning objectives and skills for South African history. The document is sufficiently detailed.
Concerns:: Because it is a repository, there are no stated learning goals in each of the sections. Because the material is not integrated, it would require the ongoing guideance of the instructor for overall conceptual learning. The learning modules divided by grade are limited (4-5 per grade level). They do not specifically connect to the learning objectives identified in the CAPS.

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:
Strengths:: -This is basically one page in which the person may scroll down to various sections or can use the horizontal menu at the top. It is easy to navigate to different aspects of the website. The layout is consistent and the site is in working order.
Concerns:: It would be nice to have more explicit connections to the CAPS learning objectives. There are no directions for how the student would navigate the site. The sections differ in format although they are not difficult to view. Many of the sections have not been updated in several years.

Other Issues and Comments:: The site needs updating to include more intuitive ways to navigate and feedback and evaluation of learning as the student proceeds in it. It would be nice to to be able to browse the archive by topic.
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