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Building Families Through Time and Other Adventures in History
By Erin Knutson
The Columbia Basin Institute of Regional History (CBIRH) is pleased to announce the launch of its new online application, “Building Families Through Time and Other Adventures in History,” in partnership with School District No. 5 (SD5) and the Community Foundation of the Kootenay Rockies (CFKR).
“The App Project that the CBIRH has been working on is a great cross-curricular opportunity for students to learn about local history and develop critical research and thinking skills with technology. Students can explore these interests and engage with our local history in a meaningful and authentic way,” said SD5 Resource Librarian Kylie Rodney.
In March, Rodney participated in a test session facilitated by Helping Teacher of Transformative Learning Ryan McKenzie and teacher Carol Potter, with a blended class of Grade 4 and Grade 6 students at Kootenay Orchards Elementary School, to assess how the app would perform in a curriculum-based setting (pictured above and right).
“During a trial run in a classroom at Kootenay Orchards Elementary, students were given the opportunity to choose an area of interest and explore the collection. Some students found landscape comparisons and information about the history of elephants in Cranbrook,” she said of the experience.
The app, a unique collaboration between CBIRH, Eggplant Studios, and SD5’s Legacy of Learning project, offers a personalized journey through research and archiving. Users can create a historical portfolio for individual research or share it with others, making it a versatile tool for history enthusiasts and students.
“The beauty of the app is that there is something for everyone. Even more exciting, one student came across a photo of a group of pilots from 1945, where one of the pilots may have been a great-grandfather,” said Rodney.
Community support from the CFKR and the students who participated in the first test case was instrumental in launching the first phase of this pilot project.
CBIRH founder and historian Derryll White thanked CFKR and SD5 for their generous support in developing this original application. He also acknowledged the students’ pivotal role in launching this pilot in a classroom setting, underscoring the app’s relevance to the student community and their significant contribution to its development.
“This is an exciting development with a lot of growth potential in terms of new phases of development and will open up new avenues of viewership for our website while providing a useful tool that students and the public can enjoy in and out of the classroom,” he said.
Erin Knutson photos
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