Our Story is an online, multimedia timeline creation tool. Our Story is designed to be used as a way to collaboratively record the events in a person’s life or the genealogy of a family. The timelines that users create on Our Story can include videos and images as well as standard text information. Like any good Web 2.0 product, Our Story timelines can be embedded into your blog or other website.

I’ve looked at Our Story in the past, but haven’t shared it for a couple of reasons. In the past the default setting for the timelines was set to public and you had to change it to “just me” in order to hide it. The terms of use stipulate that users need to be 13. Recently, Our Story changed the default setting for timelines to “just me” or private setting. The terms of service still require users to be thirteen or older so while Our Story can’t be used with elementary students it could be used in a high school setting.

Applications for Education
Our Story could be used as a high school lesson in genealogy. Students interview their parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles to record the significant events in their family’s history. If a family member has a picture or a video record the student can include it in the timeline. Our Story is a collaborative tool so if a family member wants to get involved they can add details to the timeline.