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Technology and learning in the social studies:
When I say that technology needs to provide a "value added" for
teaching the social studies, I mean that technology should provide
teachers with an instrument or tool that allows them to do something
they couldn't do otherwise in their teaching of the subject. In
my view, the web and some social studies software allows teachers
(who have access to sufficient, workable hardware and software obviously)
to make their instruction more student-centered and less teacher
and textbook driven. I lay out my thinking more fully about what
I mean by this approach in an article called "Leveraging Constructivist
Learning in the Social Studies Classroom."
Thanks to a grant from the US Department of Education, a journal
was launched in 2000 devoted to applications of technology to teacher
education in each of the major disciplines: science, mathematics,
English, and social studies. This journal is called Contemporary
Issues in Technology and Teacher Education. This online journal
is sponsored by the National Council for the Social Studies College
and University Faculty Assembly and edited by John Lee, David
Hicks, Michael Berson.
The first issue of that journal showcased an important article
by some of the key people in social studies working in technology:
Mason, C., Berson, M., Diem, R., Hicks, D., Lee, J., & Dralle,
T. (2000). Guidelines for using technology to prepare social studies
teachers. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education
[Online serial], 1(1). Available: http://www.citejournal.org/vol1/iss1/currentissues/socialstudies/article1.htm
I was asked to write a response to this article, which was published
as a commentary piece called: Leveraging Constructivist Learning
in the Social Studies Classroom: A Response to Mason, Berson, Diem,
Hicks, Lee, and Dralle Crocco M.S.
Its url is: www.citejournal.org/vol1/iss3/currentissues/socialstudies/article2.htm
Late in 2001, Peter Doolittle of Virginia Tech published a response
to my article: Commentary: The Need to Leverage Theory in the
Development of Guidelines for Using Technology in Social Studies
Teacher Preparation n: A Reply to Crocco and Mason et al.
As you can see, the establishment of the CITE Journal has provided
an important forum for discussing issues around the use of technology
in teacher education in our field.
Crocco, M., & Cramer, J. (2005). Technology use, women, and global studies in social studies teacher education. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education [Online serial], 5(1). Available: http://www.citejournal.org/vol5/iss1/socialstudies/article1.cfm (if this link is not working, copy and paste it into your browser)
This paper, which won a best paper award at the 2004 annual conference of the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education, is a report of findings related to the introduction of technology in a course, entitled Women of the World, in a master’s degree program in the teaching of social studies. Recent academic research and journalistic commentary have pointed to a gender gap in technology use. The authors address this problem by infusing technology into an interdisciplinary course focused on women’s lives within a global context. By employing technology to teach innovative curriculum dealing with the status of women worldwide, the course attempts to motivate students, most of whom are women, to use technology in teaching. This strategy has succeeded by linking digital technology with powerful social studies content that holds considerable relevance to future teachers’ professional and personal lives. |
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