Teaching the complex history of Africa can challenge any professor. Intersperse that history with the aid and development efforts of government, secular and religious organizations over time, and that challenge becomes a near impossibility.

Elizabeth Bounds and Joe Wiinikka-Lydon of Emory University are simplifying African history through the use of Dipity, a free online tool for creating interactive timelines. In addition to displaying disparate events on a common timeline, images, text, clips and clickable links add depth to the course, says Wiinikka-Lydon, a teaching associate who’s pursuing a doctorate in religion.

“The history, ethics, missions and development of the country often overlap, and this is a way to hold it together,” says Wiinikka-Lydon. “We didn’t want to rely on our artistic skills with a large sheet of paper.”

The classroom where the course “The Church and Economic Life: Problems in Aid and Development” is taught features two large video screens. The Dipity timeline is generally displayed on one screen, with lecture slides or other materials on the other.

This is the first time Bounds, associate professor of Christian ethics in Candler School of Theology, has taught the course, and she knew the history could be confusing. Over the summer, Bounds and Wiinikka-Lydon visited Emory’s Center for Interactive Teaching for guidance on how to present this information, meeting with Director Wayne Morse and Coordinator Chris Fearrington.

“We told them what we were doing; they threw out a bunch of ideas, and Dipity seemed like the best bet,” Wiinikka-Lydon says. “It was online, accessible, free and exactly what we needed.”

The teaching associate took the lead in building the timeline, populating it with information from the course reading and supplementing it with other significant events. Students can join Dipity and comment on the timeline, but Wiinikka-Lydon says it was more practical for students to contact him directly with questions and comments.

The free account was not as nimble as he would have liked because there is no way to control how prominently events are featured, but overall the instructors and students both believe the experiment has been positive.

“It’s a very interesting, creative software once you figure out how to use it,” Bounds says. “I think we could have done more with it pedagogically, but the second time around we’ll get a better grip on it.”