In the spring 2018 semester, seven students in History 419: Digital History and Archival Practices built Android apps as one of their assignments. The focus of the class is students creating projects using digital tools based on archival research in the St. Bonaventure University archives. It is team taught by Dennis Frank, University Archivist, and Phillip Payne, Department of History. Rachael Schultz, also of the archives, joined in helping the students. Her MLIS background proved valuable. Building an app was a new assignment for the class. The instructors wanted to explore the impact of mobile technology on digital history practices and make a legacy digital mapping and web page project into project mobile. Over several iterations of the class, we have built a digital map of a cemetery. The next logical step was to make the map mobile friendly. Additional goals included having students think broadly about mobile technology, design, and collaboration. We propose a session where students and instructors discuss their experience building their first app.
