Oregon Experience is a documentary film program about important people in Oregon history from the Oregon Public Broadcasting. And they have a website full of resources. Two dozen episodes are available to watch online, covering people such as Sam Hill, Abigail Scott Dunaway, and York. Not only are the videos online but for each program there are supplemental materials such as images, articles on related topics, time lines, and other resources. The programs are very good, with deep research and excellent production values. The site is well-designed and easy to navigate, and the video player delivers high-quality streaming video with an option for full-screen viewing. These half-hour videos would be great for classroom use.
There is room for improvement of the site. Given the potential classroom use it would be nice to see some teaching material here--guided questions, primary source excerpts, even lesson plans. It would be nice to be able to download the videos to play on a mobile viewer or show where an internet connection is not available. Some of the linked essays are from the Oregon Historical Quarterly and are behind a pay wall, you can't read them unless you are connected to a university that subscribes to the database. But having 24 excellent programs online is a great thing!
