Education

The Digital Public Library of America is involved in a number of different initiatives to bring partner content to classrooms in K-12 and higher education. To follow the progress of DPLA’s education projects, sign up for education announcements on our education news list or email us at education@dp.laIf you are having trouble accessing dp.la from your school, please let us know.

National History Day

DPLA provides an excellent research resource for students working on National History Day projects in any state. Read more.

Primary Source Sets

DPLA’s Primary Source Sets are designed to help students develop critical thinking skills by exploring topics in history, literature, and culture through primary sources. Drawing online materials from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States, the sets use letters, photographs, posters, oral histories, video clips, sheet music, and more. Each set includes a topic overview, ten to fifteen primary sources, links to related resources, and a teaching guide. The sets were created and reviewed by the teachers on the DPLA’s Education Advisory Committee.  View the sets and explore tips and ideas for using them.

Teaching and Learning with DPLA Resources

On October 26, 2023, the DPLA Outreach & Assessment Working Group and educator Joanna Schimizzi explored the Primary Source Sets from DPLA, including Feeding the Hungry with Food Stamp Programs.” In this session, we chatted about the structure of the existing Primary Source Sets and used framing questions to see what might be missing. Joanna provided an OER Commons template to curate additional resources and we provided feedback on what else could enrich these sets. (This OER Commons link is helpful for this session.)

Watch the recording here.