How do you bring European history to life for secondary school students and teach them its relevance to today’s world? The House of European History, part of the European Parliament, tackled this question through the creation of the HistoriCall project in close cooperation with Avetica. The result is an inspiring answer; an innovative digital learning environment built on Moodle Workplace. This platform invites students from across Europe to engage critically and actively with the past, and discover its impact on the present.
A European question, a European answer
HistoriCall was prompted by a large-scale needs survey among more than 1,000 teachers across Europe. Educators expressed a clear desire for accessible, audiovisual learning tools that resonate with students’ perceptions. In particular, there was strong demand for content focused on the European Union and modern approaches to teaching history. This valuable input became the foundation for the development of HistoriCall, which is now freely available online in all 24 official EU languages.
From question to insight: Curiosity as a starting point
The learning environment is designed based on the Visible Thinking method, developed at Harvard University. This approach encourages students to explore the past from multiple perspectives and to form personal connections with historical figures and events. Rather than focusing on passive knowledge transfer, it places curiosity at the centre: by asking questions, making connections and reflecting on current issues through the lens of history, abstract topics become concrete and meaningful.
A good example is the module where students explore fictional social media profiles of historical figures. Through this format, they not only learn who the pioneers of European integration were, but also gain insight into their motivations, challenges and visions. The style resonates with students’ experiences, making history come alive and help them understand why it matters in today’s world.
- “They provided clear and relevant insights into European history, making it easier to understand complex topics.” — Civic Education and Language teacher from Luxembourg
- “Students liked a different kind of lesson flow.” — Language teacher from Slovenia
- “They felt as if these people [EU pioneers] were talking to them directly… they realized the importance of their achievements.” — Language teacher from Poland
- “The parallels to the present and the relevance to personal life were excellent. This allowed students to reflect on the influence on their own lives and helped them to identify with the personalities.” — Language teacher from Austria, students 15 to 17 years old
- By creating a post, it allowed them to bring the situation to life; discussions and debates started automatically. Some students even actually posted their content on their Instagram profile ;-) History teacher from Belgium, students from 17 to 18 years old
Privacy-friendly
A special aspect of HistoriCall is its thoughtful approach to student privacy. European regulations (such as the GDPR), were not viewed as obstacles, but as an opportunity to develop innovative solutions. By enabling anonymous registration and providing dashboards for teachers, the platform offers insight into student progress without collecting personal data. This privacy-conscious design makes HistoriCall suitable for younger audiences and adaptable to a range of teaching contexts.
Moodle Workplace to drive learning platform
For the technical implementation of HistoriCall, the project team chose Moodle Workplace for its flexibility, scalability and robust learning capabilities. Avetica was responsible for setting up the platform, developing custom features and selecting suitable community plugins. In close collaboration with the learning team at the House of European History, they created an intuitive and visually engaging learning environment that meets the project’s high ambitions.
By combining standard Moodle functionalities with didactic expertise and smart extensions, the result is a platform that is not only easy to manage but also well-prepared for future growth.
A collaboration to be proud of
The collaboration between the House of European History and Avetica was marked by open communication, a shared learning vision and enthusiasm to create an engaging learning environment together. From the initial design sketch to the official launch, multidisciplinary teams worked closely together, with a strong focus on detail and user experience. Feedback from more than 100 teachers and 2,000 students during the testing phase led to meaningful improvements and fine-tuning of the platform.
The results speak for themselves: teachers describe the material as ‘interactive’, “modern” and ‘a new way of learning’. Students particularly value the use of technology, the appealing design formats and the clear connection between past and present.
Want to know more?
Visit HistoriCall’s learning environment at learn.historia.europa.eu and experience for yourself how Moodle Workplace is being used to strengthen European citizenship education.
This article was originally published by Avetica.
