The History Pin app gives you a look into the past – and is great for social studies and history. With this app, you can explore the world through pictures and accompanying. Photos are pinned to their location so you and your students can see how certain places looked during different eras in history. This social studies app uses Google Maps and Street View technology. The company hopes to become the largest user-generated archive of the world’s historical images and stories. History Pin asks the public to dig out, upload and pin their own old photos, as well as the stories behind them. All of this is organized on the History Pin map.
This tool is great for social studies and history, but in the video below, Lisa challenges you to think of other uses as well.
Teachers and students view and share their personal history in social studies class in a totally new way.
Uniquely, History Pin lets you layer old images onto modern Street View scenes, giving a series of peeks into the past. This is a great tool for writing compare and contrast literature and, of course, for use with a History or social studies class as well.
Other helpful resources are the History Pin collections. These are groups of pins put together by members about a place, theme or event. You are able to search through a large library of pins and find the perfect collection for your classroom discussion or encourage your students to participate in the conversations by adding their own pins to the community.
History Pin – Social Studies Project
You can also visit the Teacher Learning Community to learn about how other educators just like you are about using History Pin. Here are a few bits of feedback from teachers at different grade levels. These tried and true methods will help you bring your lessons to life! They will also help students realize that they can have a greater role in real world social studies.