Over the years we’ve received great feedback from teachers who have experimented with using Historypin in the classroom, from grade school up to the university level. Examples included using Historypin to train students on practicing community history, to having students create themed historical Collections sourced from Historypin’s open archive. And with the recent introduction of open Collections on our site, we’ve made it easier for teachers to create themed Collections that their students can contribute to. If you are a teacher or educator thinking of using Historypin, here is a basic framework for how you might do this:

1. All students create their own profile on Historypin.
2. The teacher creates a Historypin profile with a Collection for the class / project. S/he might add pins there for students to use in their own Historypin Collections, or students can add pins to this master collection (see next).
3. Students pin under their own profiles, and add to relevant Collections. You as the teacher can always reuse their pins (“repin“) if you decide to put together more Collections down the line.
4. Students can also create tours and other Collections under their own profiles. Links to them can be added to the central collection created by the teacher (in the “About” section, etc.). Eventually we will probably allow Tours and Collections to be associated with other Collections, but until then you can for example link out to them in the “About” card of the master Collection.

We think there is an advantage in students creating their own accounts – there is better accountability, and also ensures that everyone using our site has accepted our terms and conditions, which using shared class profiles does not account for. Another thing to take into consideration is the administrative aspect of this work; for example, you might use Google Drive or something similar as an option for administering your Historypin project, where students can initially submit photos to the teacher plus the accompanying information via a simple Google Form that mirrors the pinning process. Because all uploaded content is public, this is a good way for teachers to check information and content before students upload to Historypin.

Here are some great examples of classroom and student projects on Historypin (some were partnerships with Historypin):

• Labrador Schools’ Historypin project – Grade 6 students from Nelson Rural School in Miramichi, east Canada, to help students develop their interviewing and interpersonal skills.
• Billericay School Historypin Day – A local project for Year 8/ Seventh graders to deepen their ties with local older people and to bring history alive in the classroom (students did their own interviews and helped scan photos).
• Mapping Historic Sites –  high school students from Los Angeles explore and map out places important in the life of activist Cesar Chavez, creating thematic collections
• Mapping Industrial Juneau – college students visualize mining projects in Juneau, Alaska from 1880-1944
• Latino Food Establishments – graduate students explore and map out local Latino establishes not part of a chain

Do any teachers have tips on running Historypin workshops? What works for you and what doesn’t? Do you as a teacher have particular concerns over using Historypin with your students? 

Leave your comments here or via our Twitter or Facebook pages. Your feedback is extremely valuable as we continue to develop our tools and projects!