Main Article Content
Abstract
History teaching in Nigerian colleges of education remains largely lecture-based and textbook-driven, giving pre-service teachers few opportunities to practise the skills of historical inquiry they will later be expected to teach. At the same time, much of Nigeria's past, particularly community, family and everyday history, survives mainly in the memories of elders and is being lost as older generations pass on. Oral history, long recognised in African historiography as a legitimate source, offers a bridge between these concerns, and affordable digital technologies such as smartphones, free editing software and online archives now make it practical to record, preserve and share oral testimonies. This conceptual paper proposes a framework for integrating digital oral history into the Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) history curriculum. Anchored on constructivist learning theory, Kolb's experiential learning theory and the TPACK framework, the framework comprises three layers: curriculum alignment with existing NCE history courses; a six-phase pedagogical cycle of preparation, fieldwork, processing, interpretation, production and reflection; and enabling conditions, including staff capacity, ethical protocols, infrastructure and archival partnerships. The paper maps oral history activities to NCE courses, proposes an assessment rubric, and discusses challenges such as limited equipment, linguistic diversity, ethical risks and the reliability of memory. It argues that digital oral history can develop pre-service teachers' historical thinking, digital competence and community engagement while contributing to the preservation of Nigerian heritage. Recommendations are offered for curriculum review, staff development and institutional digital archives.