Abstract
The computer is an appropriate tool for three levels of activity in teaching history. It is efficient in analyzing quantities of statistical data into manageable and relevant units of information. It is effective in making the structure of events salient. Above all, it is a valuable device for exploring the structure of the possible. The simultaneous presentation of actual and alternative pasts can be effected, for example, by programs embodying the counterfactual principle. The computer program can, by virtue of its prescribed logical structure, force the pupil to recognize and reflect upon his own mental processes. The computer is a great asset in teaching history, a subject so complex and replete with information that the significance of that information is often obscured for the child.