An 8th grade American History class is visiting Gettysburg.  After spending the morning walking the battlefield learning about the battle the students travel to the David Wills House on the Gettysburg Square.  Once they enter the House they are provided a brief overview of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, David Wills, and the aftermath of the battle.  Students  are then  provided tablet pc’s loaded with an augmented reality app entitled “Whose Father Is This?” that will help them assist Philinda Humiston and her 3 children find their beloved  Amos, a soldier for the 154th New York volunteer regiment that was missing after the battle.  Using clues given by the app on the tablet students are directed to points of historic interest around Gettysburg to help them solve the mystery.  As they get close to a clue their app triggers information in the form of letters, newspaper articles, photos, and further clues.  Eventually, the students are guided to the National Cemetery and Amos Humiston’s grave.  At the grave the app triggers a video explaining the mystery of Amos Humiston and how it led to Philinda Humiston opening an orphanage in Gettysburg for the children of deceased soldiers.  Students are then directed to where Abraham Lincoln gave the Gettysburg address and the app triggers an audio of the address.  The debriefing focuses on how their experience relates to the message of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.

The American Civil War Augmented Reality Project (ACWAR) aims to make visits to historic sites more interactive and engaging for all visitors, but especially for students.  Providing students the opportunity to interact with one another on challenging, problem solving tasks is the key to student engagement and learning.  ACWAR aims to create these engaging learning opportunities for students to use at historic sites.

In addition, ACWAR intends to “unlock” the local history and human interest stories related to the Gettysburg Campaign that often gets overlooked by a focus on the purely military aspects of the battle. Students interested in military tactics may be naturally engaged by battlefield tours, but what about the rest of the students who wonder “how much longer until lunch”?  What will make a larger impact on students–passively listening to a guide talk about Gettysburg troop movements, or working with peers to solve an interactive mystery related to the lives of real people involved with the battle.  Augmented reality is the vehicle to this engagement.  If designed correctly the apps and products developed by ACWAR will focus on the story and learning opportunities, and not be focused on  the technology.

With increasing competition in the tablet pc market, and the increasing market share of smart phones, augmented reality applications will play a larger role in our lives.  In addition, the sesquicentennial of the Gettysburg Campaign make the present the perfect time  for ACWAR to be partnered with historic sites to change how students view history.  Recently, the National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg and the augmented reality firm Winvolve have become partners.

Despite the exciting partnerships the problem remains money.  Tablet pc’s need to be purchased in order to test and fine tune the apps on real people.  Without monetary support the full potential of ACWAR will never be realized.

Consider contributing to the ACWAR Kickstarter campaign.  Kickstarter is a micro financing site that helps fund projects through individual contributions.

For more information check out the following ACWAR social media sites:
Blog
Facebook
Twitter

Harriet Tubman Interact Map from Harcourt School — A cute little interactive that allows students to learn more about Harriet Tubman.

Harriet Tubman Webhunt from Scholastic — A great resource that includes tons of links and resources related to Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad

Unraveling the Underground Railroad Webquest — Nice webquest where students  become individuals involved in the Underground Railroad (slaves, slave owners, conductors, Northerners) and will come together and discuss this important historical event.

Across Five Aprils Resources , Study Guide for Across Five Aprils and the Across Five Aprils Webquest — provides some good resources for those who use this book in their classroom

Free at Last: Slavery in Pittsburgh, Pa – The exhibit documents early slavery in Pennsylvania including slaves’ journeys from Africa, through the abolition movement and the aftermath of the Civil War. The website is divided into sections: the Middle Passage to Early America, The Freedom Papers, Fugitive Slave Laws and Escapes, Abolition, Civil War and Aftermath, and a Photo Gallery.

Lincoln:  Booth’s Last Days — great collection of videos and links to resources from the History channel on John Wilkes Booth

According the the website, “the Lincoln Archives Digital Project is providing unlimited access to the historic but fragile paper records of the administration of President Abraham Lincoln.”  This project is “identifying documents from the State Department, Treasury Department, War Department, Justice Department, and other federal offices from the period of Abraham Lincoln’s presidency.”

With a few exceptions, the time period covered by the project is March 4, 1861, through April 15, 1865.

While this site is primarily a “pay for access” website ($2,000 for schools for a unlimited access for a year or $150 for a single PC), it does have some access to free resources related to Lincoln.  Karen, was kind enough to provide me with a temporary login so I could explore the site in more detail.

The Lincoln Archive Digital Project is broken into several sections including Library of Congress, National Archives, Dictionary, Podcasts, Photographs, Lesson Plans, Maps, Cartoons, Newspapers and Timeline to name a few.

So, I thought I would provide a review of a few of the sections.  Let’s start with the Newspapers.

The above graphic shows the listing of the newspapers that users can access via the LADP.  Each of the papers has an overview and background information about the paper (available for free) and then you can drill down to view specific dates for the papers.

Another cool section of the LADP is the maps section. You can view Civil War Battle Maps, City Maps, State Maps, European Maps, Territory Maps, and US Maps.

What is really cool about the maps (and other parts of the website) is a feature called Zoomify.  This feature allows you to zoom in on the maps (or newpapers or photos) and look at the artifact in greater detail. The following two photos are of the Battle of Gettysburg.

Here is the map at normal magnification:

Here is that same map, at max magnification:

Check out the details!  This feature can be used to really get your classrooms talking.  For example, why was the reserved artillery placed where it was?

Another interesting section is the Political Cartoons where you can also click on one of several papers and get some background information about the publication.  From there you can view and examine various cartoons from the period.  One interesting thing that you could do is to have your students compare and contrast political cartoons from the Civil War to those of today.

Two of the free sections of the website that I especially like is the Lesson Plans and the Timeline.  The Lesson Plans section contains links to some really good Lincoln related lessons and resources for use in your classrooms.  The timeline is a very well done and includes events from the day Lincoln was born in 1809 up until his death in 1865.

I recommend that you check out the Lincoln Archive Digital Project and let me know what you think.  If you are a school this could be a great resource for you and your students.

The collection is from Fitchburg State College and is called Teaching American History Program : Lesson Plans and Teaching Ideas for Sectionalism, Civil War and Reconstruction

Enjoy!

The complete list of walks is available at:
http://www.pcntv.com/battlewalks2010pr.html

Additionally, you can also view clips from previous years’ walks on the site. Here are a few examples:

• The Rose Farm
• Pickett’s Charge
• Cemetery Hill

These clips can easily be used to help supplement any classroom discussion on the battle of Gettysburg.

Enjoy.