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Timelines are a powerful way to help students visualize events, concepts, and relationships over time. Whether you’re exploring historical movements, tracking scientific discoveries, or analyzing literary themes, digital timelines can enhance engagement and critical thinking.
via TimelineJS
In this post, we’ll explore how to integrate interactive timelines into your assignments, with example projects, rubrics, and tools to help you get started.
Why Use Digital Timelines?
Timelines can:
- Help students organize and synthesize information chronologically
- Encourage collaboration through shared research projects
- Provide a visual storytelling approach to complex topics
- Support multimedia integration (text, images, videos, and maps)
- Enhance digital literacy with hands-on tools
Example Assignments & Resources
Here are some inspiring ways faculty have used timelines in their courses:
- Assignment: The “American Century” Geospatial Timeline by Brian Croxall
A project exploring 20th-century U.S. history through an interactive geospatial timeline. - Creating Digital Stories with TimelineJS by Kayla Abner, Paige Morgan, and Amanda McCollom (University of Delaware
Google Doc version of guides: TimelineJS Assignment Package
A ready-to-use assignment template for integrating TimelineJS into coursework. - Creating a Timeline with Knightlab by Paizha Stoothoff (Community of Online Research Assignments)
A step-by-step guide to building a Knightlab TimelineJS project. - Keralis, S. D. C., Jacobs, C. E., & Johnson, M. W. (2021). Collaborative digital projects in the undergraduate humanities classroom: Case studies with Timeline JS. Journal of Interactive Technology and Pedagogy, (19). Retrieved from https://cuny.manifoldapp.org/read/collaborative-digital-projects-in-the-undergraduate-humanities-classroom-case-studies-with-timeline-js-31818d57-6216-4f71-b2bf-6f8f62b4bd48
Assessment & Rubrics
If you’re incorporating digital timelines into your course, here are a couple examples that evaluate student work effectively:
- Rubric for Multimedia Timeline Assignment – Assesses content, design, and research quality by Shawna Ross (Texas A&M).
- Timeline Rubric– Evaluate various aspects of a timeline project, such as content quality, quantity of facts, accuracy, sequence, dates, sentence fluency, and mechanics via ReadWriteThink.
Timelines & EdTech: Further Reading
For deeper insights into the pedagogical impact of digital timelines, check out these resources:
- Timelines, EdTech, and Thin Slices of Student Learning – Exploring the role of timelines in digital education. by Derek Bruff (Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching)..
- Information Visualization: A Challenge for the Humanities – How visualizing data impacts research and learning by Maureen Stone (Council on Library & Information Resources).
- Presenting Temporal Research with TimelineJS -A step-by-step tutorial will show you how to create a project in TimelineJS by Albert A. Palacios (LLILAS Benson Latin American Studies and Collections).
- A Timeline of Timelines – A fascinating look at the history of timelines by Sasha Archibald (Cabinet magazine) and Daniel Rosenberg (University of Oregon).
- Gallery of Data Visualization – Timelines – Examples of timeline design and storytelling by Michael Friendly (York University).
Digital timelines are a versatile and engaging tool for enhancing student learning. By integrating them into your assignments, you can help students connect historical events, scientific advancements, and literary trends in a visually compelling and interactive way. Whether you’re using timelines for individual projects or collaborative group work, they offer endless possibilities for fostering critical thinking and improving digital literacy. We hope this post has provided inspiration and practical resources to get you started. Don’t hesitate to explore the provided rubrics and tools to ensure a successful timeline assignment.
If you’ve used digital timelines in your own teaching, share your experiences with us at edtech@fordham.edu—we’d love to hear how you’ve integrated this tool into your classroom!
Looking for assistance in integrating educational technology into your classroom? Visit the EdTech website for resources or reach out to our team!
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