Will your school make history this year?

The National Museum of Australia has created the History Makers School Video Challenge to encourage students to bring history to life through film and multimedia.

The success of Australia’s Defining Moments Digital Classroom, an interactive timeline of Australian history 65,000 years in the making filled with a treasure trove of learning resources, encouraged the National Museum to further engage and inspire students at a national and local level.

In 2022, with support from the Gandel Foundation, the first History Makers School Video Challenge was launched. Combining Australian Curriculum Learning Areas, General Capabilities and Cross Curriculum Priorities, the challenge provides students with an opportunity to creatively demonstrate their research and understanding of Australian history. Importantly, it encourages students to engage with the historical events that are of most interest or relevance to them.

“This was an excellent opportunity to use technology in the classroom authentically. It wasn’t something extra on top … but was able to be embedded in the learning we were already doing, which was fantastic. The students … keep asking if we’re going to do the challenge again! I’m so excited that we participated because it provided student-driven, authentic learning.” – Participating Teacher 2022

The videos submitted in 2022 came from across Australia and covered a broad range of topics including the demise of Bushranger Johnny Gilbert, the abolition of capital punishment and the integration of schools. One class of students went back to the 1700s. Ten major prizes of $2,000 were awarded across the competition and winners were invited to an award ceremony at the National Museum of Australia in Canberra.

The 2023 History Makers School Video Challenge has just been launched and entries are open until 15 September 2023. The challenge is open to all Australian school students (K-12) and can be completed as individuals, small groups or whole classes. The teaching and learning experience can be adjusted for all year levels, for all levels of digital capability and across a wide variety of topics. There is plenty to stimulate and excite students, who can choose their own defining moments in history.

The 2023 History Makers School Video Challenge is supported with video resources for teachers on cultural protocols, copyright acknowledgements and topics to be explored. All winning videos become part of the Digital Classroom to be used by other students as resources.

Are your students ready to take the challenge and be a #HistoryMaker in 2023?

For full details and terms and conditions of the competition visit: Nma.gov.au/history-makers.