Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Digital Timelines with hstry.co

A few weeks ago, I came across the lesson plan that said:

Formal Assessment:  Timeline depicting Cuba's history from Columbus' Arrival - Present

Timelines are a famous teaching/assessment tool.  However, for me their organization and presentation was always cumbersome.  

Students had posters as long as your chalkboard with writing as small as chalkdust. 


 The dates were the focus instead of what actually occured.  






Once technology rolled in, timelines still remained awkward with broken PP links and motion-sickness causing Prezi's that made it difficult to see the "big picture".  Even still we were limited for some time to: dates, text and pictures.  All this requiring at minimum a week in the computer lab.

Now hstry.co provides a simple click-and-add platform that requires little to no training to use.  

Easily embed text, pictures, audio, questions, video and more.  

All while logging in with your smdutch.net account or through Edmodo.

Click here to see an example I made for SMASD teachers.  
(displays one example of each item that can be added to a hstry.co timeline)


Click here to see an example my students made.  

(Below)This is an example of the framework with which a teacher or student would start.  
Add and delete elements as necessary.


Click here to see a description of each of the elements and other FAQ.

A student guide is found here:



Finally don't forget that hstry.co timelines are great ways to present information to your class.  

Don't want to reinvent the wheel?  Search, copy and/or edit an existing timeline.

See this timeline that teaches "Determining the Main Idea" in a story.

Timelines aren't just for history teachers anymore.  Comment below with a way you think you could use hstry.co timelines in your class.



7 comments:

  1. The hstry.co site is awesome! I have been looking for ways to either introduce or reinforce some of our historical time periods in music theater class. With the different features, it is neat to add a YouTube Video, a document, and a sound clip for students to view. This will also be a great resource for them to create projects. It is a bit easier than Prezi.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Adam, have you checked out Thinglink? You can take an image and embed facts, youtube videos, and useful links into that image. https://www.thinglink.com/

      I figure, it never hurts to throw other ideas out there.

      Delete
    2. That's a great idea! I always like new, digital presentation enhancements!

      Delete
    3. That's a great idea! I always like new, digital presentation enhancements!

      Delete
  2. Looking for something with a more simple format? - Read Write Think offers an easy - no learning curve alternative for teachers who want a) a date b) a picture and c) a one sentence description.

    Here is an example of how it turns out:

    https://goo.gl/90OocG (cut & paste into browser)

    or Google "Read Write Think Timeline" and click the ~Get Started~ button.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This looks snuper easy and functional. I had heard a lot about a similar product (http://www.tiki-toki.com/), but this one looks like it is easier for teachers to administer over and allows students to create multiple timelines. Great share!

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  4. Hi Ellen,

    I hope this message finds you well and thanks again for writing about HSTRY last year.

    I'm delighted to shoot you this short note to say that we’ve released real-time timeline collaboration to HSTRY. It was our most requested feature and we’re happy it is now up and running!

    Please go ahead and give it a go when you have time. We’ve put a lot of work into making it as simple and intuitive as possible for users from multiple accounts and devices to work on one same timeline.

    I hope you’re enjoying the start of the new school year and do let me know if you have any questions on collaboration!

    Thanks,

    Thomas

    ReplyDelete