Abstract : This paper explains the way in which the literature on developing preservice teachers’ technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) was used to redesign a graduate-level, content-based technology integration course. Common obstacles preventing pre-service teachers’ ability to utilize technology to support learner-centered pedagogy are addressed, as well as various approaches taken to develop pre-service teachers’ TPACK.
For more than a decade educators have witnessed a substantial infusion of technology in schools and an increased emphasis on technology in teacher preparation. However, despite these investments, educational technology has not produced a pedagogical revolution in K-12 classrooms. While many have touted technology as a mechanism to facilitate constructivist pedagogy and to transform social studies education, research shows that technology is still used largely to support traditional, teacher-centered instruction (Chai-, Koh, & Tsai, 2010; Swan & Hofer, 2008). If we are to achieve the goals of social studies education, “there needs to be a shift in social studies education that requires technology to be used as a resource stimulus for inquiry, perspective taking, and meaning making, and not as conduit for the transmission of knowledge” (Doolitle & Hicks, 2003, p. 14). What role then must teacher educators play in fostering such a shift? What challenges do they face?
We know that teachers tend to use technology in ways that support their existing practice (Guzey
& Roehrig, 2009; Swan & Hofer, 2008). If we are to transform the way in which social studies teachers utilize technology in the classroom, we must begin by fostering more learner-centered pedagogy. While pre-service teachers are just beginning to shape their own pedagogical beliefs and style, they bring with them years of experience as learners in social studies classrooms. Their beliefs and practices are heavily influenced by these past experiences (Niess, Ronau, Shafer, Driskell, Harper, Johnston, Browning, Özgün-
Koca, & Kersaint, 2009). While today’s pre-service teachers may be surrounded by technology in their daily lives, they’ve had few experiences learning social studies content with these technologies (Keeler,
2008; Niess, 2008; Niess, 2010). When they have witnessed technology used to support teaching in the social studies, it has most likely been used to support teacher transmission of knowledge. Teacher educators are faced with the difficult task of helping pre-service teachers reimagine what learning can look like in a particular subject-area and to imagine ways that technology can support teaching and learning. In order to help pre-service teachers “unlearn” the tradition of teaching as transmission, it is critical that teacher educators provide pre-service teachers with experiences that demonstrate the use of technology to support learner-centered pedagogy in the social studies (Chai et al., 2010).
The focus of this paper is to share with fellow teacher educators the pedagogical motivations and approaches used to develop pre-service teachers’ technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) in a secondary social studies technology integration course. Highlighting findings from an in-depth review of the TPACK literature, design principles and methods are shared to describe the way in which a guided historical inquiry design project developed pre-service teachers’ ability to create learner-centered activities supported by web-based technologies.

The redesigned course, Integrating Technology in the Secondary Social Studies Classroom , was designed for social studies pre-service teachers enrolled in a Master of Education program. Pre-service teachers are required to take this one course in instructional technology, and while it is a standalone course, students are simultaneously enrolled in a social studies methods course. The focus of this paper is to share the redesign of four modules within this fourteen-module course.
Social studies teaching and learning has traditionally been teacher-centered, characterized by teacher-guided lectures and passive listening on the part of students (Doolitle & Hicks, 2003). Teachers’ use of technology in the classroom has typically supported the transmission of knowledge, and has done little to support learning opportunities for students that move beyond the memorization of content (Chai,
Koh, & Tsai, 2010; Swan & Hofer, 2008). One of the core principles guiding the redesign of this course was to support pre-service teachers in crafting learner-centered activities, supported by technology, that allow students the opportunity to engage in critical thinking, inquiry, and collaboration. Prior to the redesign of this course, a thorough analysis of the TPACK literature was conducted, particularly in relation to social studies technology integration and pre-service teacher education. Several potential obstacles preventing pre-service teachers’ ability to utilize technology to support learner-centered pedagogy were found. These include pre-service teachers’ lack of exposure to the pedagogical uses of technology (Chai et al., 2010), inexperience learning social studies content with technology (Keller, 2008; Niess, 2011), and a history of skills-based, context-neutral approaches found in technology integration courses (Brush & Saye,
2009). The literature also revealed various approaches taken to develop pre-service teachers’ TPACK in the past, including the use of design projects (Koehler & Mishra, 2005; Koh & Divaharan, 2011), modeling technology-rich activities (Brush & Saye, 2009; Keller, 2008), and analyzing effective uses of technology to achieve pedagogical goals (Brush & Saye, 2009). Using the TPACK literature as a foundation, the following goals were developed for the redesign of four modules within this course:

Provide pre-service teachers with the opportunity to experience learning social studies content through a guided historical inquiry lesson, facilitated by an experienced secondary social studies classroom teacher.

Allow pre-service teachers to reflect upon, and discuss together, inquiry as a pedagogical approach and the use of technology to support guided inquiry learning based on the model lesson and assigned readings.

Develop pre-service teachers’ knowledge of scaffolding techniques designed to support students in historical interpretation.

Develop pre-service teachers’ ability to locate and adapt digital resources for use in guided historical inquiry lesson design, as well as the ability to select and utilize technology tools to support instruction and the management of complex inquiry lesson design.

Allow pre-service teachers the opportunity to develop a web-based, guided historical inquiry lesson for an authentic student audience.

Provide pre-service teachers with the opportunity to reflect on choices made using technology to support learner-centered pedagogy.
Four modules within this fourteen-module course were redesigned to support a design project that required pre-service teachers to develop a guided historical inquiry lesson plan, as well as all of the materials needed to deliver this lesson to an authentic student audience. The modules were structured to develop a pedagogical foundation for the use of inquiry in the social studies classroom, provide pre-service teachers an opportunity to experience learning social studies content through a guided historical inquiry lesson supported by technology, allow pre-service teachers to develop a guided historical inquiry lesson supported by technology, to provide pre-service teachers with feedback from a student who completed the lesson as designed, and to reflect on the choices they made concerning content, pedagogy and technology.
Module 1: Developing Pedagogical Knowledge - Inquiry in the Social Studies Classroom

The pre-service teachers in this course had all earned a bachelors degree in a social studies content area prior to entering the social studies education program. Therefore, they had a great deal of content knowledge. What they lacked was strong pedagogical knowledge. This is to be expected of pre-service teachers who are just beginning to study teaching and learning. Because pedagogical knowledge has been shown to have the largest impact on a teacher’s ability to develop TPACK (Chai et al., 2010), the first redesigned module focused on building pre-service teachers’ understanding of inquiry-based learning.
During this module, pre-service teachers were introduced to the idea of inquiry-based learning through selected articles and web-based resources. They participated in an online discussion concerning the pedagogical approach and its connection to social studies disciplines. In addition, pre-service teachers studied one strategy, SCIM-C, for interpreting historical documents and artifacts. They participated in online tutorials designed for students, then used various software programs to develop a graphic organizer that might support students as they use the SCIM-C strategy to analyze historical documents and artifacts.
Module 2: Developing Technological Pedagogical Knowledge - Experiencing a Guided Historical Inquiry
Lesson
While pre-service teachers often have a significant amount of technological knowledge, they have few experiences using this knowledge to support teaching and learning. In order to develop TPACK, preservice teachers need the opportunity to analyze and discuss the affordances and limitations of various technology tools when used to achieve pedagogical goals (Brush & Saye, 2009; Chai et al., 2010). Because pre-service teachers have had few experiences learning social studies with technology, it is also important for teacher educators to model technology-rich lessons (Keller, 2008). This experience allows pre-service teachers to better reflect on the ways in which technology can support student learning.
During this module, the instructor (an experienced secondary social studies classroom teacher) taught a lesson on the early years of the Jamestown colony using the guided historical inquiry method. Preservice teachers took on the student role as the completed the web-based lesson. This lesson used technology to support pedagogy in a variety of ways, including the use of a wiki to both manage the activities within the lesson and to promote small group collaboration during the historical inquiry lesson, the use of a web-based annotation tool, Scrible (www.scrible.com), to support students in analyzing the historical artifacts and documents, and the use of a web-based animated video tool, Voki (www.voki.com), to support students in sharing their findings with others in the class. After the pre-service teachers completed the lesson, a roundtable discussion was held, allowing them to discuss the experience from a student perspective and the way in which the teacher’s pedagogical decisions were supported by the technology choices she had made.
Module 3: Developing Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge - Designing a Guided Historical
Inquiry Lesson
The TPACK literature is rich with examples of pre-service teachers completing design projects in order to develop connections between content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and technological knowledge (Chai et al., 2010; Koehler & Mishra, 2005). When designing a lesson or unit of study, preservice teachers are challenged to consider the content they will be teaching and the objectives they have for student learning, the pedagogical methods that best support students in meeting these objectives, and the way in which technology can best support the pedagogical methods they’ve selected. Design projects bring together these separate forms of teacher knowledge as pre-service teachers work to create an authentic product.
During this module, pre-service teachers first completed an online training offered by the Library of Congress. This training was intended to develop pre-service teachers’ ability to locate and adapt digital sources for use in their lesson design. This is particularly important when teachers are developing inquiry lessons because students must utilize primary and secondary sources as they develop an answer to the question guiding the inquiry lesson.
Pre-service teachers then were guided through the process of developing a historical inquiry lesson through a wiki developed by the instructor. Use of the wiki allowed pre-service teachers to gain technological knowledge in using and setting up a wiki space, supported common lesson planning among pre-service teachers working in pairs, and allowed the instructor to monitor pre-service teachers progress and provide feedback as they developed their lessons. The instructor provided pre-service teachers with steps to follow in order to guide the design process. As a model, the instructor included a summary of her own planning process, according to each step, when planning the Jamestown mystery lesson students

participated in during Module 3. These steps included: (1) Define Learning Goals and Establishing Inquiry
Questions and Sub-Questions, (2) Identify and Modify (if needed) Sources Students Will Examine (Clues),
(3) Decide How Students Will Demonstrate/Share Their Conclusion, and (4) Design the Structure,
Management, and Supports Needed for the Lesson & Identify Technology Tools to Accomplish These
Tasks. Pre-service teachers were provided with three options in which to build their web-based historical inquiry lessons: PBWiki (https://my.pbworks.com), Google Sites (https://sites.google.com), and Weebly
(www.weebly.com). Instruction in using Google Sites and Weebly was provided through recorded tutorials.
Pre-service teachers also met with the instructor on an individual basis to conference about their lesson design and any challenges they were facing.
When submitting their final design project, pre-service teachers provided a detailed copy of their lesson plan, all accompanying materials (e.g. the web-based platform guiding the inquiry lesson, electronic documents and artifacts to be analyzed by students, graphic organizers supporting student analysis of the documents), and their answers to two reflection questions:

Why do you feel the content focused on in this lesson can be/should be taught using the inquiry method (pedagogy)?

What technology choices did you make throughout the lesson design process (e.g. data collection/clue selection, tools that support student understanding, tools that support the management of/platform for the lesson, tools that support students in assessment or product creation) and why do you feel those choices best suited the needs of students and the design of this lesson?
Module 4: Developing Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge - Sharing Lessons and Reflecting on
Choices
The TPACK literature also describes microteaching as a way to develop pre-service teachers’
TPACK (Calvin, 2008). Microteaching allows pre-service teachers to implement the technology-rich lessons they’ve designed and provides them with feedback and a rich-discussion with their peers about the effectiveness of the choices they’ve made in their lesson design (Brush & Saye, 2009).
During the final module of the design project, pre-service teachers were required to act as a student and complete one of the guided historical inquiry lessons developed by their peers. This provided pre-service teachers with a second opportunity to experience learning social studies content through a learner-centered method supported by technology. After completing the lesson, pre-service teachers shared their student feedback with the lesson designer in an online forum. The two were then able to dialogue about any revisions that may need to be made to the lesson, as well as the pedagogy and technology choices that were made.
Student products, as well as the transcripts of their online discussions and reflection activities, revealed a deep understanding of the connection between social studies content, guided inquiry as a pedagogical method, and technology that supports inquiry-based instruction. Student products, while original in design, did reflect some of the pedagogy and technology choices modeled in the Jamestown guided inquiry lesson. This supports the idea that pre-service teachers often imitate the practices modeled by teacher educators (Koh & Divaharan, 2011). Many students revealed in their reflective journals that, prior to completing the Jamestown lesson, they had never experienced a guided historical inquiry lesson in this way. This mirrors previous findings concerning pre-service teachers’ lack of experience learning social studies content with technology (Keller, 2008; Niess, 2001).
Extending current models of pre-service teachers’ TPACK development
Previous studies have shown that pre-service teachers must first develop pedagogical knowledge before they are able to develop TPACK (Chai et al., 2010). Teacher educators should consider providing pre-service teachers with the opportunity to experience learning subject area content using learner-centered pedagogy supported by technology. In their model for developing pre-service teachers’ TPACK, Chai et al.
(2010) identified three stages that should inform course design: (1) foundation building to develop pedagogical and content knowledge, (2) tools instruction to develop technological knowledge, and (3)

design opportunities to develop TPACK. During the foundation building stage, teacher educators should consider providing opportunities for pre-service teachers to experience learning subject-area content through learner-centered methods supported by technology.
Challenges to consider
While pre-service teachers’ did demonstrate TPACK development throughout these four redesigned modules, there were several design challenges that should be considered as future revisions to the course are made. Pre-service teachers must also reflect on how to best manage a learner-centered method like inquiry-based learning. While management does play a key role in the choices pre-service teachers make when designing the web-based platform that will guide an inquiry lesson, other considerations must also be made. In particular, pre-service teachers must consider how they will provide students with instruction in using the technology tools that support the lesson. In this case, the teacher educator also has to consider how to ensure that pre-service teachers feel comfortable using the wiki platform, Scribble tool, and Voki tool before participating in the Jamestown inquiry lesson. Teacher educators should consider modeling a strategy that can also be used effectively in a K-12 classroom, such as creating video tutorials for students to watch prior to starting the lesson or blocking out a small period of class time. This may eliminate concerns about using too much instructional time to teach “technology” as opposed to teaching content with technology, a concern expressed by some pre-service teachers in our group discussions.
Brush, T., & Saye, J. W. (2009). Strategies for preparing pre-service social studies teachers to integrate technology effectively: Models and practices. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher
Education , 9(1), 46-59.
Chai, C., Koh, J., & Tsai, C. (2010). Facilitating pre-service teachers' development of technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge (TPACK). Educational Technology & Society , 13 (4), 63–73.
Doolittle, P., & Hicks, D. (2003). Constructivism as a theoretical foundation for the use of technology in
Social Studies. Theory and Research in Social Education , 31(1), 72-104.
Guzey, S. S., & Roehrig, G. H. (2009). Teaching science with technology: Case studies of science teachers’ development of technology, pedagogy, and content knowledge. Contemporary Issues in
Technology and Teacher Education , 9(1), 25-45.
Keeler, C. (2008). When curriculum and technology meet: Technology integration in methods courses.
Journal of Computing in Teacher Education , 25 (1), 23-30.
Koehler, M. & Mishra, P. (2005). What happens when teachers design educational technology? The development of technological pedagogical content knowledge. Journal of Educational Computing
Research , 32(2), 131-151.
Koh, J. & Divaharan, S. 2011. Developing pre-service teachers' technology integration expertise through the TPACK-developing instructional model. Journal of Educational Computing Research , 44(1),
35-58.
Niess, M. L. (2008). Guiding preservice teachers in developing TPCK. In AACTE Committee on
Innovation and Technology (Eds.), The handbook of technological pedagogical content knowledge for educators. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. (pg. 223-250).
Niess, M. (2011). Investigating TPACK: Knowledge growth in teaching with technology. Journal of

Educational Computing Research , 44 (3), 299-317.
Niess, M. L., Ronau, R. N., Shafer, K. G., Driskell, S. O., Harper S. R., Johnston, C., Browning, C., Özgün-
Koca, S. A., & Kersaint, G. (2009). Mathematics teacher TPACK standards and development model. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 9(1), 4-24.
Swan, K. O., & Hofer, M. (2008). Technology and social studies. In L. Levstik & C. Tyson (Eds.),
Handbook of research in social studies education (pp. 207–236). New Your, NY: Routledge.