Here is a collection of some of the best educational apps to help students learn history. The apps employ a gamified approach that makes history learning an immersive and entertaining experience. Using interactive activities, games, quizzes, videos, and illustrative graphics, students will enrich their knowledge of world history and learn about historical events and iconic personalities that shaped our world.ย
From virtual tours of world-class museums and art galleries to excavation sites in Egyptian Pyramids, the apps offer everything students need to build a functional knowledge of world history.
History Apps for Students
Here are our top picks for history apps for students:
1. Khan Academy
Khan Academy provides educational content covering various subjects including history. Students can learn through interactive exercises, videos, guides, quizzes, and articles. Content can also be downloaded for offline access. Students can also access timely feedback and keep track of their learning journey.
Compatibility: iOS and Android / Price: Free / Age: 4+
2. Google Art & Culture
Google Art & Culture helps students explore and learn about the world’s cultural heritage. It offers 360ยฐ videos, virtually reality tours into world museum, interactive games, Street View to explore famous sites, guided tours curated by experts, among other interesting content.
Compatibility: iOS and Android / Price: Free / Age: 12+
3. World History Trivia Quiz
World History Trivia Quiz offers a general test of world history covering topics from World Wars, ancient Egypt, Chernobyl, American history, and many more. There are over 150 general history questions and answers. Students can work together to answer questions and use hints to help with answers. World History Quiz supports a wide variety of languages including: Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Turkish, and more.
Compatibility: iOS and Android / Price: Free- offers in-app purchases / Age: 4+
4. Civilisations AR
Civilisations AR by BBC draws on the power of augmented reality to breathe life into a wide range of historic artefacts curated by the BBC in collaboration with Nexus Studios and museums from across the UK. The app offers a number of interesting tools to help students (and anyone else interested in learning about world history) learn history in fun and engaging ways.
Students can use the magic Spotlight to uncover audio guides, X-Ray helps with exploring secrets hidden within artefacts. Students can also ‘rub through the layers of history with Restore, bringing lustre to a Greek Corinthian helmet or colour to a faded Roman Cockerel statuette and find out what they looked like when new.’
Compatibility: iOS and Android / Price: Free / Age: 4+
5. History Hit
History Hit is a history channel that enables students to learn history through history programmes, films, documentaries, exclusive interviews with historians, and podcasts (e.g., Dan Snow’s podcast). Most of these educational materials can be downloaded for offline access.
Compatibility: iOS and Android / Price: Free- offers in-app purchases / Age: 12+
6. History at a Glance
History at a Glance helps students learn world history using 3D graphics and timelines. Students can use the app’s graph mode to learn about the relations between historical events. With a single tap students can delve deeper into historical details through the help of Wikipedia entries and YouTube videos. History at a Glance works both on portrait and landscape mode.
Compatibility: iOS / Price: Free- offers in-app purchases / Age: 9+. An Android alternative to History at a Glance is History Timeline.
7. Queens of Ancient Egypt
Queens of Ancient Egypt introduces students to part of the Egyptian history, that covering the stories of influential ladies that marked Egypt’s ancient past. The app offers information about over 200 Egyptian queens which students can search by name. Information include the queens name in English and hieroglyphs, her parents and kids, her ranks and titles, her Pharaoh, and her burial site. Students can also access biographical accounts through linked Wikipedia articles.
Compatibility: iOS / Price: Free / Age: 4+
8. Time Travel- chronicles
Time Travel uses the educational power of timelines to teach students world history. The app’s timeline includes over 70.000 events and over 13.000 map location. Events are illustrated with linked Wikipedia entries , Google Image, and YouTube videos. The app’s timeline cover the following topics: history of the world, history of music, history of Earth, history of cinema, history of USA, history of UK, history of India, history of Germany, history of France, history of Russia, and history of Iraq.
Compatibility: iOS / Price: Free / Age: 12+
9. Deep Time Walk: Earth History
Deep Time Walk takes students on a walking audio history of Earth spanning 4.6 billion years of deep time. Deep Time Walk helps students learn about everything related to Earth’s evolution including evolution of life and plate tectonics, the Cambrian Explosion, multicellular life, oxygenic photosynthesis, vertebrates, plants, amphibians, mammals, and humans.
Compatibility: iOS and Android / Price: Free / Age: 4+
10. Famous People: History Quiz
As its name indicates, Famous People Quiz is both a history and art game that tests students knowledge of world history figures including kings, musicians, film directors, writers, composers, painters, scientists, and more. The game is composed of two levels: Level 1 (contains 123 famous persons) and Level 2 (contains 122 heroes).
There are also four professional levels covering the following categories: writers, composers, painters, and scientists. The game also offers different modes such as spelling quizzes, multiple choice questions, time game, flashcards, and more.
Compatibility: iOS and Android / Price: Free- offers in-app purchases / Age: 4+
11. Today in History
Today in History enables users to discover and learn about important historical events of the day including births, deaths, holidays, and events. The app also features quotes from historical figures, visual representations of events, details on events that shaped our world, and many more.
Compatibility: iOS / Price: Free- offers in-app purchases / Age: 4+. An Android alternative to this app is Today in History.
Final thoughts
In the digital age, where the vast annals of history are at our fingertips, these educational apps have masterfully harnessed technology to turn the study of our past into a vibrant journey rather than a mere memorization of dates and facts. Each app offers a unique lens through which students can explore historical events and figures, from virtual reality tours to interactive quizzes, and from deep time walks to timelines that connect the dots across centuries. This collection is a treasure trove for curious minds eager to delve into the stories that have woven the fabric of our current world, ensuring that learners are not just passive recipients but active explorers of the rich tapestry of human history.
