Apps for Education: Chesapeake History
When you think about teaching K-12 students about the Chesapeake Bay your mind probably jumps straight to science, but hold your horses: this watershed has a rich heritage and history! Indigenous cultures, colonial settlement, wars that shaped the nation – these are just some of the topics that come to mind related to the history of our region. History is a great topic for teaching students about the changing landscape and environmental health of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, and now it is a great way to get your students using technology in - and out - of the classroom.
Do you want to teach your students about the history of the Chesapeake Region? The Early Jamestown App is a great place to start! This App is an interactive textbook exploration of the early days of the Jamestown settlement and the state of Virginia. Students will enjoy the rich interactive graphics and the engrossing story of a key moment in the history of the United States. Embedded videos chronicle the beginnings of the Jamestown Settlement, interactive timelines document the development of the first permanent English colony in North America, zoomable maps link history to the geography of the Chesapeake, and clickable key words will help students learn definitions and pronunciations of vocabulary. Embedded assessments also allow teachers to check student understanding of concepts. This interactive version of Our Virginia was developed by Victory Productions and is part of the Virginia Department of Education’s Beyond Textbooks initiative to explore and test technical, social, and policy implications of textbook alternatives.
The Civil War Trust’s Battle Apps will help your students unlock all the rich history that our Civil War battlefields have to offer. “Virtual Signs” provide access to accounts, audio links, and videos from true battlefield experts and leading historians. These apps for the battles of Gettysburg, Antietam, Bull Run and more are great for field trips because the include detailed, GPS-enabled battle maps that will show users their location on the battlefield, and many also include various time-phased maps that will allow users to see where Union and Confederate units were located on the battlefield at various key moments. Students will love the “Field Glasses” augmented reality viewer, which uses a smart phone’s camera to analyze your location, find key battlefield landmarks, and superimpose them on the modern landscape with links to more information. Here is a great article about how one school used the Battle App in the classroom and beyond: A Field Trip with Battle Apps: Students From West Springfield High School Take Gettysburg Battle App to the Battlefield
DocsTeach.org is an online tool for teaching with documents from the National Archives. On the web site, you will discover thousands of primary sources and learning activities. When registered for a free account, teachers can borrow from and modify an ever-expanding collection of activities, plus create unique ones using the online tools. Log in and create classrooms full of activities, then share the classroom’s auto generated code with your students to access on their iPads. This is a great app to engage your students in activities that will help them make sense of stories, events, and ideas of the past using documents from the holdings of the US National Archives.
Alright, this one is not an App, but it is worth mentioning: Hold the Fort is an online game that puts players in charge of Fort McHenry during the Battle of Baltimore, responsible for the defense of the fort and the city. As commander, players lead the troops, manage resources, and keep the fort from falling under the withering British bombardment. The game, produced in partnership with the National Park Service, begins by providing historical context for the Battle of Baltimore and includes educational information throughout. Teacher Resources are also provided.
For more great ideas on teaching with Apps, check out this blog series.