This archive features links to web-based projects of the Center for Educational Software Development (formerly known as the Center for Computer-Based Instructional Design). Components of the Emerging America Teaching American History program are based on this previous work by CESD with area schools and historical organizations.

Historical Investigation into the Past: The Lizzie Borden / Fall River Case Study

Using late nineteenth century primary source materials from the Lizzie Borden murder trial and from Fall River, Massachusetts, this project teaches students at all levels to reconstruct the historical past using their own ideas to explore the evidence at hand.

Goody Parsons

The Goody Parsons website explores the story of Mary Parsons, who lived in Northampton, Massachusetts in the mid-seventeenth century, and was accused of witchcraft. The site provides primary source documents, transcripts, narrative text tailored to elementary school students, and interactivities. Local teachers provided lesson plans and other curricular materials for download from the site.

Local History Online

The Local History Online project seeks to expose students to historical methods by putting at their fingertips primary source materials pertaining to a place or event from their community’s history. The project allowed students to share their work through the creation of their own websites. It involved elementary school students from Amherst, Hatfield, Pelham, Petersham and New Salem, Massachusetts, and includes Teacher Guide.

Forge of Innovation

Forge of Innovation is a multi-part project on the Springfield Armory in United States history, comprising five periods, or "postholes," of which one is in place: The Industrialization of the Springfield Armory, 1812-1865. This period saw the development of precision manufacturing with interchangeable parts and mass production; the primary source documents, essays, images, video clips and interactivities in the site explore the effects of these innovations on the workers, the local community, and the nation as a whole.

American Centuries

American Centuries features a digital collection of approximately 2000 objects and transcribed document pages from the Deerfield, Massachusetts Memorial Hall Museum and Library. American Centuries started as a collaborative project between The Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association (PVMA), CESD (formerly CCBIT), Frontier Regional / Union 38 Schools, and Greenfield Community College. The online collection is augmented by innovative tools to view and analyze the objects, interactive and multimedia activities, and extensive curricular materials and teacher background essays.