Colonial Williamsburg

To commemorate the 250th anniversary of American independence, Colonial Williamsburg will partner with 49 museums and the Organization of American Historians to develop history.org, a free digital learning platform for K-12 U.S. history and civics education. The project partners will create online curated collections of objects and write object-based lessons that share uplifting narratives of American history. By shifting classroom pedagogy towards object-based inquiry, the project will enable teachers to engage students in respectful dialogue centered around vetted and contextualized digital primary source material. Deliverables feature a scalable website hosting over 1,500 animated videos, 4,500 primary sources, and a Customizer tool to adapt content to meet student learning needs. Project outcomes include reduced teacher stress, improved student engagement, and classrooms driven by object-based inquiry.