Geography and History Online: Integrating Digital Geographic Resources for Use in Schools

Introduction

With the support of the Institute of Museum and Library Services and in collaboration with Minnesota's Land Management Information Center (now the Minnesota Geospatial Information Center), the Minnesota Historical Society has initiated a project to provide Minnesota's teachers with the knowledge, curriculum, and tools to teach the state's new graduation standards for geography and history, using online digital resources and applications. This will help students learn geography and apply geographic principles in the study of other disciplines. The project will enhance the value of digital resources both at the Society and across the Web by integrating more closely the application of technologies with the needs of students and teachers in grades 4-12. To make this effort sustainable, the project will select an appropriate and manageable set of resources, with the collaboration of subject matter experts and audience focus groups.

The final results will include: a selection of online resources, with a web-based GIS tool to make them useful; products that demonstrate the variety of stories geographic information can help tell; an online curriculum package that shows teachers how to apply the resources and tools; an online repository for the geographic narratives students and teachers create; and a workshop that instructs teachers on the resources and tools. As well, the project will provide a tool that can reach other audiences, as the concept can be extended to cover other geographic content and other audiences; the overall result is a model for application by other institutions across the country.

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