Social Studies and Technology

In an article from Learning & Leading by Mark Hofer and Judi Harris titled, “Tech Integration in Social Studies” the authors point out that technology for use in this area of study has been around and developed for quite some time, though what hasn’t been developed much is the thinking behind how to use it in the classroom. Instead of throwing technology into a lesson plan, the authors express the idea that teachers should make their lesson plans around content based learning activities, and then integrate technology from there. Both Hofer and Harris go on to explain different types of activities and the possible matching technologies. An example given was done by Julie Bray a sixth-grade U.S. History teacher who was instructing her class on westward expansion and Manifest Destiny. Normally Mrs. Bray would use historical documents to explain her lessons; this didn’t have the desired impact nor drew the students into the content. Instead Mrs. Bray used her projector to place a painting by John Gast depicting Manifest Destiny and used that to engage her students into discussion and giving them roles from the painting to explain point of views. Such methods bring more of an interactive approach between the students and teachers, especially in a social studies classroom where lectures tend to be king.

Having my degree in history I tend to be much more drawn into the subject of history, this really is not the case for many others. I know there are many who would call history, “bland and boring” compared to how I feel about the subject. I have heard the term bringing history to life quite a bit, but it is really a tough accomplishment to pull off in a classroom. Being able to juggle what is necessary for students to know and understand while bring it to them in an engaging and interactive way can seem like a daunting task. Where before when computers and technology was limited and much of a lesson plan was straightforward lecture or reading, in todays’ classroom you have a viable option to give the students a different view on history.

This article fits in with NETS standard 1.c “use models and simulations to explore complex systems and issues”. Students may not be able to simply apply themselves to lecture and reading; some may need more of a visual concept of a subject or idea. In the case of this article Mrs. Bray used a painting to put the students in a different position, rather than just being talked at by a teacher. They had to interact and explain the roles with the idea circling around Manifest Destiny.



Mark, H., & Judi, H. (2009). Tech integration in social studies. Learning & Leading, 37(September/October), 26-28. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/learn/publications/learning-and-leading/digital-edition-september-october-2009.aspx