First Contact addresses the issues of applications of social studies knowledge and skills. This includes developing skills in information gathering, interpretation, issues analysis, presentation and an awareness of the role of active citizenship in our democracy. Social studies course in B.C. encourage students to:

• Make use of a wide range of information sources,
• Draw inferences from maps, documents and other primary and secondary sources, both historical and contemporary,
• Develop and defend positions on historical and contemporary controversies,
• Use various media to communicate in small and large group settings,
• Take a public stand on matters of personal concern.

With its caches of timelines, historical documents and maps for research and presentation tools such as the Collector and Ways of Seeing Digital Video, First Contact has the components to meet all of the prescribed outcomes  for social studies applications. It provides users with an electronic library of data and sources complemented by an innovative research tool in the Collector and dynamic presentation possibilities in the Movie Studio.

“Making history online” sums up the intents of the instructional strategy of First Contact. Critical thinking and problem solving are innate to historical investigation and form the foundation of the educational rationale for the site. Using primary and secondary sources of historical evidence, such as maps, journal entries, artifacts, narratives, users will employ high levels of thinking, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation to develop their personal interpretations of the events.  In First Contact the students will face questions concerning the reliability and corroboration of historical sources.

When they engage with First Contact, students will be encouraged to be their own historians. As such, they will develop their own unique interpretation of events. Making History Online is ideal for such an approach.

Students under the direction of a teacher, or those engaged in individual research, will find content and design of First Contact an essential Canadian source for research projects, homework assignments, clarification of general questions, and a source of review material for tests.

Subjects such as history do not have “right answers” and must be taught to encourage students to develop their own ideas, opinions, and interpretations. First Contact will not only provide students information but also a vehicle for knowledge construction. Students using First Contact will hone their information technology skills including investigation, discovery, control of pace and content, case analysis and other experiences.

Because students can work on the site from home, the classroom, from the library, or a laptop with the same connectivity, First Contact can become a powerful extension of the education institution without the constraints of a formal institution. With the increasing emphasis on individual student needs and learning styles, and flexibility of programme delivery web-based learning with authoritative Canadian content has some obvious advantages to the student

These are:

• Pace of content can be controlled,
• Flexibility in times of use,
• Encourages higher order thinking,
• Promotes the development of recognized skill sets for social studies,
• Leads to knowledge creation by motivation and interest,
• Complements and enhances school-based learning.