Research for "My Hudson History"

     Since spring 2019, I have been creating an educational history app for students in the Hudson Valley to learn more about their county’s local history. Based on the student’s current location, and their personal interests in history, various sites of historical significance would appear around them on a digital map. Essentially, the technology caters to the student’s location and personal interests in history. The purpose of this app is to make seemingly far-off, dry history lectures feel like relatable events to young students; my goal is to bring unrelatable history books to life by encouraging students to find the history in their own backyard. Using various online resources from historical organizations, historic sites, and museums, this semester I have completed half of the counties’ research (Albany, Columbia, Greene, Rensselaer, and Ulster). 

As a result, I created a custom map of 364 "Points of Interest" placed all over the upper Hudson Valley: categorized, subcategorized, individually and succinctly described, and sourced. Once finished, this map will help students, educators, and the general public users gain an interest in learning history. This app will have an incredibly valuable impact by increasing access to high-quality education for students in the Hudson Valley.