Object based learning – educator’s guide

From time to time, most teachers and educators find themselves looking around for interesting ways to engage students and help them learn as school priorities change. We’ve developed the Museum of the Highlands to support exactly this, using object-based learning to enhance engagement about a range of topics to suit our 21st-century Scottish curriculum. There are over 300 objects from a full range of historical periods and nearly 200 learning resources to be found on this digital learning platform.

For anyone new to object-based learning, the concept is incredibly simple. The term refers to creatively using physical objects or artefacts to stimulate curiosity and develop critical thinking (among other things). The idea is that we can learn about the people of the past through their objects. We can see, touch, even smell, the things that our ancestors held and used.

To support use of the website we have created ‘Take 5’ – a series of blogs which will help you to explore key themes in the classroom or at home. You can access those via the Museum of the Highlands Take 5 page. Or By clicking directly on the links below:

Environmental impact

Childhood in the past

Daily life in days gone by

Highland Clearances

Role models and achievements

Jacobite history

Folk tales and stories from the Highlands

Colonialism and the legacies of slavery

Sport and achievements

Highland traditions and identity

Religion and beliefs

Geology

Crime and punishment

Science and inventions

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