Welcome to the Virtual History Lab

The Virtual  History  Laboratory (VH Lab), under the direction of Professor Stéphane Lévesque, is the first research centre in Canada to study the online learning of history. The VH Lab was launched in 2011 to provide researchers, graduate students, and public and private stakeholders a bilingual research facility to conduct advanced research on computer-user interactions and cognitive processes. 

 

Innovative research approaches, such as eye-tracking analysis and post-action think aloud, are used to examine the methods and quality of virtual learning, to better understand the needs of online learners and to develop the models and contexts that help improve the design, presentation and evaluation of Web sites, online exhibits, simulations and learning materials in history.

 

With the collaboration of the Making History: Narratives and Collective Memory in Education Research Unit of the University of Ottawa, the Centre de recherche en civilisation canadienne-française and Canadian museums, the VH Lab uses cutting-edge technology to study user behaviours, to improve learning and evaluation and, ultimately, to enhance the teaching of history through information and communication technologies.

 

This new infrastructure was made possible with financial support from the Canada Foundation for Innovation and the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation.