16 Tech Tools to Teach History

16 Tech Tools to Teach History

Many students find learning history to be boring, but it doesn’t have to be!  Here are some tech tools that teachers and students alike can use to make learning history fun. 

Websites for History

Big History Project

A free introductory history course that establishes an interdisciplinary foundation of historical thinking practices, and a free standards-based world history course that builds upon those foundational skills in preparation for AP, college, and beyond.

Hippocampus  

Free educational videos and resources for middle school through college social sciences.  Your students can study independently, you can use content for your lessons or you can create playlists for your students to review.

Khan Academy

Incredibly helpful, straightforward, standards-aligned videos, practice exercises and articles.  Topics for 7-12 include various history topics under the arts & humanities umbrella.  Teachers can assign work and track student progress with a teacher account.

Google Arts And Culture

Your students can explore and interact with art and architecture around the world, with new picks featured every day.

Games for History 

Oregon Trail 

This classic game is a fun way to get elementary students invested in learning about Westward Expansion.

Playing History 

There are tons of free historical games, interactives and simulations on the web. Playing History aggregates info on these resources in a simple, searchable database making it easy to find, rate, and review historical games. This site currently connects you to 126 shared games.

Gaming the Past

These pages provide overviews of (and links to) a variety of freeware games on US History, World History and global issues.  The collection also includes commercial and online simulation games, so pay close attention to the categories and descriptions.

Apps for History

  • Genius World History Quiz

A trivia game app that lets students test their knowledge, share questions and answers with friends and level up.  Answer the questions correctly and discover the most important periods and civilizations in the history of mankind. For each question, there is a clear and comprehensive explanation rich in information that will allow you to learn history while having fun. (Android

  • The History of Everything

A vertical timeline that allows you to navigate, explore, and compare events from the Big Bang to the birth of the Internet. Events are beautifully illustrated and animated. (Android & Apple)

  • Today In History

Quote of the day, images, headlines and more for each day in history.  This is a great source for daily warm-ups! (Apple)

  • Civilisations AR

This app comes with the ability to superimpose ancient artifacts onto the real world. That allows you to inspect their various intricate details and learn how they came into existence.  There is also a photo mode so you can snap a picture of yourself with the objects to share elsewhere. (Android & Apple)

Podcasts for History

Listening to, dissecting, and responding to topics via podcasts can be a great way to get kids to engage in important discussions.  As an audio-only medium, podcasts also foster listening skills.  You can have a class-wide discussion about the selection, and/or whip up some reflection sheets to help focus your students and get them thinking critically about what they heard.  In addition to listening to podcasts whole-class, they can also be added in as an independent choice station.  

Many students find learning history to be boring, but it doesn't have to be!  Here are some tech tools that teachers and students alike can use to make learning history fun.

 

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