The Presidential Library resources to be widely used in schools

19 February 2015

The possibility to use audio-visual and multimedia content of the Presidential Library in the educational process was discussed at the roundtable by the leading teachers of history and social studies in St. Petersburg and representatives of the Research Institute of General Education under the Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia.

The meeting underlined the interest of teachers in the use of unique electronic resources of the Presidential Library which numbers today more than 370,000 units. 118,000 of them are freely available on the website of the library. These are printed and archival documents, audio and video recordings, reflecting the centuries-long history of Russian statehood. Of particular interest is the collection "Russian History Textbooks" posted on the website of the Presidential Library.

Here you can find rare editions of the 19th century, as well as Soviet and modern textbooks, encyclopedias, researches and scientific articles. These materials can be used directly in the classroom anywhere in the country through the library's website. Thus, teachers have an opportunity to organize lessons in the new format based on the objective and reliable information, which was previously classified or unavailable to a wider audience.

In collaboration with the schools of St. Petersburg and Leningrad region the Presidential Library holds multimedia lessons of literature. As part of the lesson, students are invited to an electronic reading room and multimedia hall, to the exhibition featuring the works of famous writers. The students learn about the literary works and the history of creation of literary masterpieces.

Students of St. Petersburg and Leningrad region regularly attend the video lecture series “Knowledge about Russia." Its basic idea is to highlight the most important events and anniversaries of Russian history. Lectures are traditionally joined by well-known professors and prominent scientists and are broadcast live on the website of the Presidential Library under the “Live broadcast.”

The annual interactive Olympiad in history, social science and Russian language for high school students "Russia in the Electronic World" is also worth noting. The Olympiad includes three rounds and is the most ambitious educational project of the Presidential Library by the number of participants. Remote format of the first two rounds allows you a large number of students from different regions of Russia and CIS countries to join the contest. All they need is to pass a simple registration on the website of the Presidential Library. Olympiad in history and social science is on the List of School Olympiads, approved by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation.