Historisches Lernen im World Wide Web: Suchen, flanieren oder forschen?

When we are online, we learn about history in very specific ways – the characteristics of networked media heavily influence the content and structure of historical narratives. What is the potential of the internet for researching, learning and teaching history? What are the risks? What are the didactical requirements for presenting history online? Astrid Schwabe’s empirical research draws on both media studies and the didactics of history. Grounded in didactical research and media theory, Schwabe develops a concept for a virtual history museum. This concept forms the basis for the implementation of the didactical history website www.vimu.info. An empiric evaluation of the website and its users gives unique insights into people’s history learning online. Based on these results, Schwabe develops a theory of online history reception and user types. The study is in the field of “Geschichtskultur“, that is learning and teaching history outside of academic institutions.