Students:

Overview or the "Why" of the Assignment:

As we begin to encounter time travel in our narratives, one of the most central underlying principals is the concept of cause and effect. There is fear that through the act of time travel, the timeline could be altered, unintentionally or intentionally, with catastrophic outcomes.

In time traveler lingo: significant historical events become "fixed points in time" and to alter these events would have these disastrous results. For a humorous example, read: Wikihistory -- "Everybody Kills Hitler On Their First Trip" 

In order to begin to understand how your life fits into the larger construct of HISTORY and TIME, we will create "personal" timelines.

Instructions (READ):

Step 1: Create your own blank wiki page.

First, log in. Then go to "Create a Page" on the upper right of the screen. Enter the title (make sure it is unique and readily identifiable as yours since all your classmates will be creating pages and you don't want to link to someone else's page) for your page and select "create page". When you are done, select "save".  (see How to Navigate for additional instructions) This is where you will create your timeline - on this page.

Above is a chart of all of your first names (feel free to change your name if you prefer to be known as something else - just make sure you tell me so I know who you are and can give you a grade). You will link your newly created wiki page to your name below. To do this, go to this page and select the "edit" tab at the top (you will need to be logged in). With your cursor, highlight your name and then select the earth icon on the menu bar just underneath the title of this page. A window pops open. For LinkType make sure it says PBWorks Page. For Page: use the menu to select the page you created. Then select "ok".

Step 2: Create a timeline on your wiki page that begins with the day of your birth up to now and plot along the timeline what you feel are the significant events of your life that have occurred (more than 10 and less than 20). In other words, you are creating the "fixed points of your life", that should they be altered - you would be altered significantly as well. Include two or three sentences with each event explaining the event, giving a day and year (approximate if your are unsure), and why you feel these are significant/important events to you. NOTE: this is a public forum so make sure you do not include any personal information such as your address, phone number, email etc . . . In addition, PROOFREAD!!!!!

Step 3: Now that you have "plotted" your own life, the next stage is for every significant event you selected for your life, choose a "historical" event that occurred either on that day or around the same time with an explanation in two or three sentences of why you selected the event and why it is significant. The idea is to begin with your own life history and then step out to society's history to see the overlaps and begin to recognize the relationship of how the world and the world's events can affect you. One approach to a "historical event" is to see it as an event that has had a great/profound impact not just for you but upon society as a whole. An example would be Neil Armstrong landing on the moon on July 20, 1969 or the destruction of the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001.With this timeline, your are establishing a historical framework and placing yourself within a historical context.

Step 4: What should my timeline look like? This is your opportunity to create a "unique" space for yourself. Take ownership of this space as your creation and explore the potential of what you can do with this wiki. Choose a color scheme, create titles, upload images or video, set-up links --- dress it up! Just make sure that if you take any images or videos or information from another site - you give credit where credit is due! 

Step 5: The last task is for some additional fun. Using the following formula, plot your age and determine how much of your "total life" you have already lived. Post the result with your timeline. (current age)  / (life expectancy) x 100 = percentage of life lived [male life expectancy is 73 years and female life expectancy is 80 years] ^[1]

The following website is great way to see the collaborative potential of timelines:

      http://www.dipity.com/

Grade:

Your garde will be based on the completeness of your timeline, the thoughtfulness of your explanations, the accuracy of your events, as well as the creativity you employed in designing your timeline to be a visual representation of you as much as the content.