Timelines 2.0: A Fun, Easy, and Free Classroom Tool | Edutopia

Timelines are one of the most useful and effective tools I’ve found that can fit in nicely with any classroom’s content area and grade level. They are fantastic vehicles for doing research, being creative, and sharing and publishing information. In addition, they are easy to use for simple classroom projects such as tracking birthdays, major significant events, and holidays. Furthermore, they offer a rich opportunity to explore the goings-on behind significant events, allowing students to uncover what led up to wars, significant scientific breakthroughs, changes in culture, or shifts in art styles and music. The possibilities are endless.

A fantastic new timeline tool I’ve been playing with is xtimeline. This free Web-based tool makes it simple to create timelines, and it has built-in capabilities that allow you to conduct research, embed photos and videos, do group editing, and engage in social collaboration. Imagine combining the power of a traditional timeline tool with the history and edit features of a wiki while making it a social, globally published, living online document. It doesn’t get much simpler, or more effective, than this.

Notes from Presentations about Digital Storytelling at SITE 2008Posted by hickstro on March 5, 2008

This week, I am at SITE 2008, preparing for a presentation on Project WRITE tomorrow. Today, I will try to blog from some of the sessions (as wifi will allow). Here are three sessions on digital storytelling that I attended this morning.