by Na’ama Shik

In September 2005, the new Virtual School for Holocaust Studies was launched online. Produced by the International School for Holocaust Studies’ Internet Department, together with Yad Vashem’s Information Systems Division and Website Department, the Virtual School (www.yadvashem.org/education) is set to be the largest and most important interactive Holocaust education and learning center on the Internet today. The site will allow students and teachers—as well as the public at large—to access the latest information and teaching tools, and to create online learning and teaching communities across the globe.

The aim of the site is to provide concrete solutions to meet users’ needs, together with simple and clear orientation. As such, the site was built with portals that provide the user with knowledge and information immediately on entering the site. As a dynamic site, online forums, footage from international videoconferences and photographs from School events will be frequently uploaded, in addition to the latest educational resources, whose development is supported by the Claims Conference

A prominent focus is also being placed on the International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims (ICHEIC) Program for Holocaust Education in Europe, by adding educational materials in several languages—including German, Romanian, Hungarian, Czech and Polish—and uploading teaching materials prepared by ICHEIC course graduates and their students. Online graduate and student communities across Europe are also being forged, helping them maintain an ongoing relationship with the School.

“Phase Two” of the Virtual School will entail a dramatic transformation: merging the site with entire Yad Vashem website. This important step will see the integration of all materials on the two sites as well as their web design, thus enabling advanced search options and direct links to other Yad Vashem databases. It will also include the uploading of new educational projects, as well as the expansion of online audio-visual materials such as testimonies, musical clips and videoconferences. Expanded use of Internet-based tools—such as forums and distance learning—will be reflected in the introduction of two online courses, translation of the online magazine into different languages, and the creation of online educational communities and virtual encounters between graduates, public opinion-makers, students and the general public worldwide.

A significant part this work has been, and will continue to be, ensuring that the site remains dynamic and innovative. As such, the status of the Virtual School for Holocaust Studies as a major center for online Holocaust learning and teaching will be ensured for decades to come.

The writer is the Director of the Internet Department at the International School for Holocaust Studies.
 

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