This could be a very effective teaching app for students knowledgeable about US history to improve their contextual understanding, but it will not be a great choice for many students to use independently. Fortunately, the app can be played cooperatively with up to six players on six different iPads, or as a single player game. Students are given 12 facts from a period in US history. They must place the facts in the correct location on the number line. Students will deepen their knowledge of the relative timing of events and better understand how and why events transpired. When a fact is placed correctly, the precise year appears underneath the event for reinforcement. When an answer is incorrect, it "bounces" back to the middle of the screen to try again. There is no opportunity for hints, so students must keep guessing until they answer correctly. The facts are written in very small font which can be hard to read. Students will need to swipe to view all the facts, which will be hard for students with weaker memory skills. This app can be a very effective learning tool, but adults should be cautious that it could frustrate students who are still learning the information or have weaker memory skills.

• Provides sufficient and varied types of practice problems to maximize understanding and generalization of the targeted skill/concept
• Manufacturer claims alignment with Common Core/Known Standards
• Presents educational concepts accurately
• Explains answers so students can learn from mistakes
• Better for teaching the skill to new or struggling learners
• Better for practicing or refreshing the skill
• Skills are practiced through authentic, meaningful problems (not just rote practice)

• Appropriate for a broad age range to use and enjoy
• Subject matter and problems are relevant, interesting and authentic to students
• Visually appealing to children in the target age range
• Provides virtual rewards or incentives after meeting specified goals or objectives
• Provides a "break activity" between academic problem sets
• Offers ongoing, progressive challenge
• Overall - Enjoyable. Given the option, students would choose this option

• Has a free or trial version
• Provides teaching guidance for adults to support the child and set appropriate goals
• Provides an age-appropriate tutorial/first time users can work independently
• Student should be able to use independently after first use
• Has a multi-player option to foster in-person collaboration or cooperation
• Multiple users can save a profile
• Student graduates to the next level or topic only after meeting a benchmark
• Can play without sound and not distract others
• Students can save work between sessions
• Can effectively understand and monitor student's progress (email report or in product)
• Provides options to play in languages other than English/Good for ELL
• Presents information in multiple formats (voice over, pictures and text, etc.)
• Overall - Easy to use

• Abstract Reasoning
• Requires remembering and completing a sequence of visual steps
• Fine Motor Skills
• Requires challenging finger movements, motor precision or physical manipulation
• Reading Comprehension
• Includes long written questions or text that students must be able to read on their own
• Self-regulation
• Multi-player activity that requires cooperation or has potential for disagreements
• Social Awareness
• Multi-player activity that requires cooperation or has potential for disagreements
• Spatial Perception
• Requires scanning in multiple places for words, objects or numbers
• Requires remembering and completing a sequence of visual steps
• Verbal Reasoning
• Assumes specific knowledge or vocabulary without "look-up" options
• Includes long written questions or text that students must be able to read on their own
• Visual Discrimination
• Requires scanning in multiple places for words, objects or numbers
• Words used during activity can be too small or difficult to read
• Visually distracting with too many pictures, problems or moving objects
• Requires recall of text information without audio or visual reinforcement
• Visual Memory
• Requires remembering and completing a sequence of visual steps
• Visual Motor Speed
• Requires challenging finger movements, motor precision or physical manipulation
• Vocabulary
• Assumes specific knowledge or vocabulary without "look-up" options
• Working Memory
• Requires scanning in multiple places for words, objects or numbers
• Requires remembering and completing a sequence of visual steps
• Requires recall of text information without audio or visual reinforcement
• Includes long written questions or text that students must be able to read on their own

History Line is a collaborative learning game for the iPad focusing on US History. The game can be played by 1-6 players. As a single player game, a series of historical events are presented on the screen and the goal of the game is to place the events onto a timeline at the bottom of the screen in the correct sequence. When the event placed on the line is correct the date appears below.

In multi-player mode, up to 6 people can play by connecting their iPads via Bluetooth. One player should start a group and up to 5 additional players may join the group. When the game begins the timeline then stretches across all iPads with each player having responsibility for one portion of the timeline. The events are initially distributed randomly throughout all players’ iPads. Players must decide if events belong on their portion of the timeline or need to be sent to another player. Events pushed off the edge of one player’s screen will appear on the screen of the player immediately to the left or right, making one continuous timeline out of 2-6 iPad screens. All players must work collaboratively to place all events in the correct order throughout the multi-iPad timeline.