You Can Put Anything on a Timeline
You can create your own timelines! Timeline generators allow you to create timelines on any topic you can imagine. They also let you add information in different formats such as video, audio, text, and images. A timeline is a unique interface for presenting information; it can even serve as a shared knowledge base when students and instructors continuously update it.
These service providers offer free timeline generators and will host your timelines.
TimeGlider http://timeglider.com/
TimeGlider is “a data-driven interactive timeline application built on the (Adobe) Flash platform.” It is used by the New York Times as a way to display the results of an article search. TimeGlider developers are working on a Plus version based on feedback from educators and students but the current application is free.
TimeRime http://www.timerime.com/
TimeRime invites users to “create free time lines and share them with the world.” Developed by a Dutch company, TimeRime also offers an Educational version that can be purchased and supported locally so that access to content can be restricted within an institution. The web interface that displays publicly accessible timelines also allows users to rate them, leave comments and use a keyword search to find timelines with a particular theme.
Dipity http://www.dipity.com/
Dipity is a free timeline generator that claims to be in the alpha stage of development. Each point in a Dipity timeline opens a window with tabs for video, pictures, description and comments. Dipity offers widgets that pull in videos, images and updates from other sources automatically and connects to social networking sites. And if you want a different view – Dipity can display your timeline as a list, flipbook or map.
As with all externally hosted services take copyright and privacy into account before submitting course-related content that may be publicly available as a condition of using the service.
Vishal Jain
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