I came across Tiki-Toki today, a great tool for creating multimedia-infused timelines. Instructors can use Tiki-Toki to share timelines, complete with images, links, and videos. Students can use it for, well… the same thing! To familiarize myself with Tiki-Toki, I started this simple timeline of the World War II events that took place in 1943.
I was first asked to decide which kind of account I would like. There is one free option and two paid. Here’s an overview of their features:
Of course, I chose to stick with the free version. I was then able to start creating my timeline. This process was pretty easy since Tiki-Toki provided me with instructions as I clicked through the various options.
You first enter the details of your timeline, including the title, start/end dates, introduction, etc. I really like that you can change the background of the timeline by adding your own image. To add an image, you can click on the magnifying glass and search images in Flickr that are labeled Creative Commons or choose your own Flickr images. The image source is automatically credited, which is pretty nifty. You are supposed to be able to enter the URL for an image, but this didn’t work for me (could be user error). One piece of advice regarding images: nothing happens when you click on your image of choice. I kept thinking that it wasn’t working, only to realize that Tiki-Toki had already inserted the image.
Once you’ve finished the settings, you can start creating timeline events, which Tiki-Toki calls “stories.” For each story, you can add a title, date, and basic information. The real beauty lies in how you can enhance the story with links, images, YouTube videos, and additional text.
When you’re finished, simply share the link with others and they can enjoy your timeline! If you have some extra budget money and can afford the educator account, you could have your students group edit a timeline. This would be a great feature for group projects.
