Category: Presentations

Categories
History Adventures Presentations Spencer Striker PhD

5 Reasons To Download History Adventures

History Adventures Banner
History Adventures Banner

Watch out people, there is a new kid on the block and it’s revolutionizing the way you learn history: introducing History Adventures

History Adventures is a series of next-generation digital books developed by Dr. Spencer Striker. History Adventures blends the latest innovations in mobile entertainment design and technology – including animation, music, motion, and sound effects, with the powerful storytelling method of narrativizing the life stories of peoples who lived in past centuries, in different ages and locations around the world, with the innovative, cross-disciplinary curricula.

The first book, History Adventures, World of Characters, (1750-1900), presents a fresh approach to history education, designed for today’s digital generation.

What’s History Adventures’ secret? Amazingly, it simply lets you relive history by reading the stories of multiple characters who used to live during a certain period in world history with a click of a finger. 

If you are getting ready for the AP World History Exam, just download History Adventures. Getting ready for the college, voila – History Adventures. Or maybe you are no longer studying, but just want to improve your general knowledge of history, or relax and enjoy a fascinating and engaging book while distracting yourself after a long day – then History Adventures will come in hand too. 

With our streamlined book application, anyone can have a great audiovisual experience at the click of a button! To celebrate our launch, we’ve put together this list of even more reasons why you should download History Adventures.

By the way, you can download History Adventures: World of Characters, (1750-1900) here.

  1. Engaging Learning Experience



    Learning history has never been more exciting! History Adventures provides users with an interactive history learning experience that will enhance and broaden their comprehension of the complex world around them.

    When you first open the book application on your device, make sure you go through the ‘How To Use This Book’ guide since History Adventures is filled with different types of interactive content and you can launch different features at your own comfort by clicking certain icons – additional information, 3D experience, tags (mainly to help you memorize certain definitions), audio comments of the historian related to the featured topic, and much more!

  2. History Has Never Been So… Unboring!
    Innovative applied interaction design research shows how data visualization, musical scoring, interactive maps of time, and documentary-inspired visualizations can bring the pages of history to life, which makes the learning experience incredibly engaging and fascinating.

    We promise, after you start reading, you just won’t be able to stop!

  3. Get Ready To Ace The AP World History Exam (Applicable To Some Other Exams Too)



    We’ve created the History Adventures keeping the AP World History Program curriculum in mind. Therefore, in the actual book, you will be able to see which AP World History: Modern topics exactly are covered in the upcoming pages.

    The best part – you will also be able to test your knowledge about the relevant topic or story with different types of questions.

    Moreover, the book can also be used when preparing for other types of World History exams.

  4. Pure Readaxation
    According to the University of Sussex research, reading for just 6 minutes can be enough to reduce the stress levels by 68%. Our book will not only help you reduce stress, but you’ll also be able to switch your mind off from your work and daily routine and go on a breathtaking historical journey to the age of Revolutions and Industrialization.

    By the way, you can learn more about the power of reading for pleasure here.

  5. History Adventures is free



    Yes, you read that right! History Adventures is absolutely free to download for everyone.

    We’re available on Apple Books, so just download it now to your iOS device and enjoy the most captivating history book ever.

So why wait? Download History Adventures now!

Categories
Big History History Adventures News Presentations Spencer Striker PhD

Big History Adventures – AUD professor presents new App

Big History Spencer Striker PhD
Big History Spencer Striker PhD
AUD Assistant Professor of Digital Media Dr. Spencer Striker presented a new digital learning prototype, called Big History Adventures, being developed in collaboration with key members of the International Big History Association.

Big History, an emerging academic discipline that examines history from the Big Bang to the present was discussed at AUD recently by Dr. Jonathan Markley, of Cal State Fullerton, who presented an engaging overview of Big History’s cutting-edge innovation in visual educational multimedia.[1]

Championed by such thought leaders as Bill Gates, who finances the Big History Project, this cutting-edge, macro-level, interdisciplinary approach to world history curricula is increasingly influential around the world.

About Big History Adventures – by Dr. Spencer Striker
Building a digital learning experience to be produced in association with the International Big History Association. Featuring contributions by leading scholars of world history, the app will tell the Little Big History of Human Collective Learning from the origins of spoken language on the plains of Africa to the paintings of the Chauvet-Pont-d’Arc Cave; from the invention of cuneiform in Mesopotamia to the audio-visual revolution of the 20th century; and beyond.

Leveraging my original research and expertise in mobile app development, the project will demonstrate how data visualization, big data, interactive maps of time, musical scoring, sound design, branching paths, game-based assessments, and embedded documentary can bring the pages of history to life. [2]

Promotional Poster for Dr. Spencer Striker’s Big History Adventures FX Demo at AUD


About Big History
Big History examines long time frames using a multidisciplinary approach based on combining numerous disciplines from science and the humanities and explores human existence in the context of this bigger picture. It integrates studies of the cosmos, Earth, life, and humanity.

Big History examines the past using numerous time scales, from the Big Bang to modernity. If conventional history focuses on human civilization with humankind at the center, Big History focuses on the universe and shows how humankind fits within this framework, and places human history in the wider context of the universe’s history.

Big History draws on the latest findings from biology, astronomy, geology, climatology, prehistory, archaeology, anthropology, evolutionary biology, chemistry, psychology, hydrology, geography, paleontology, ancient history, physics, economics, cosmology, natural history, and population and environmental studies as well as standard history, to draw an unprecedentedly complete portrait of the human story in the universe as we know it.

Categories
Big History News Presentations

Visual Cultures Forum – Jonathan Markley – Big History: Innovating Visual Educational Multimedia

VCF Jonathan Markley AUD
VCF Jonathan Markley AUD
The Department of Visual Communication hosted a Visual Cultures Forum with Jonathan Markley titled “Big History: Innovating Visual Educational Multimedia.”

Jonathan Markley a New Zealander by birth, earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the University of Auckland. After that, he taught history for four years in Hong Kong, before moving to Sydney, Australia, where he earned his Ph.D. at Macquarie University in ancient Chinese history. His first book (published by Brepols) is called “Peace and Peril. Sima Qian’s Portrayal of Han-Xiongnu Relations.” He moved from Australia to California to take up his position in the History Department at CSUF in 2006. He was granted tenure and promotion to associate professor in 2011.

He has been involved with the Big History movement since his time at Macquarie, and he featured in many of the episodes of the History Channel’s 2013 series “Big History.” Other TV appearances include an episode of “America’s Secret Slang” (Lower the Boom), “Ten Things you didn’t know” (Caligula), and “History of the World in Two Hours.”

Promotional Poster for Dr. Markley’s popular talk on AUD campus

He was appointed to the board of the International Big History Association (IBHA) in 2014. He is working on a book about the Big History of Grass, a species of plant that includes wheat, barley, rice, corn, sugar cane, and bamboo. He is also the host of an exclusive 3-part documentary that provides insight into the links between astronomy, deep time geological events, and human civilization, called Deep Time, running on Curiosity Stream.

Dr. Markley’s talk connected the fascinating world of Big History with cutting-edge innovation in educational multimedia.