Free iOS App: National Archives DocsTeach

Written by Nathan Smith on December 10, 2014. Posted in iOS Apps, Mobile Apps.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/national-archives-docsteach/id513465174?mt=8

Engage in activities that will help you make sense of stories, events, and ideas of the past using documents from the holdings of the US National Archives. Choose an historical topic and challenge yourself with an activity. Or, find activities in a classroom set up just for you, using the code provided to you from the DocsTeach.org web site.

DocsTeach.org is an online tool for teaching with documents from the National Archives. On the web site, you will discover thousands of primary sources and learning activities. When registered for a free account, teachers can borrow from and modify an ever-expanding collection of activities, plus create unique ones using the online tools. Log in and create classrooms full of activities, then share the classroom’s auto generated code with your students to access on their iPads.

Features:

• Choose a historical era or topic to find an activity based on primary source documents such as the US Constitution, the canceled check for the purchase of Alaska, and Thomas Edison’s patent drawing for the light bulb.

• Participate in DocsTeach activities made with the Focusing on Details, Making Connections, Finding a Sequence, Mapping History, Weighing the Evidence, or Seeing the Big Picture tools.

• Tap and drag document icons to move them within activities.

• Tap to view documents. Zoom and inspect individual pages of documents using the controls in the document viewing window.

• Students: Find activities specifically assigned by your teacher using your classroom code.

• Teachers: Share the unique code from your DocsTeach.org classroom with your students so they can find and complete just the activities you have chosen or prepared for them.

A WiFi connection is recommended for this application.

The DocsTeach web site can be found at www.docsteach.org. DocsTeach was created in partnership with the Foundation for the National Archives. Designed and developed by Second Story Interactive Studios.

National Archives DocsTeach Support

What's New in Version 1.3

– Updated to orient correctly on iOS 7 devices
– Support for iPad Mini
– Performance improvements

Nathan Smith

Nathan Smith is Director of Technology for the College of Education and Human Services at Utah State University. In that role, he also directs The Adele & Dale Young Education Technology Center (The YETC) located in room 170 of the Education Building on Utah State University's Logan campus. The YETC is a combination student openaccess computer facility, a K12 curriculum materials library, a NASA Educator Resource Center for Utah, and a technology training center. Nathan served eight years (20042012) on the Board of Directors for the Utah Coalition for Education Technology (UCET) He was reelected in 2014 to serve another two year term on the board. A former elementary school teacher, Nathan has taught students every age from young children to senior citizens. He has had the opportunity beginning in 2011 to train international high school teachers from all over the world about technology in education, through the U.S. State