George Stansbury
EDT 500
Dr. Kinslow
Can integrating technology in a social studies class improve student learning?
Very few social studies teacher will argue the fact that there are some parts of history that
students find boring. The challenge that social studies teachers must face is how to make the
content interesting for their students. There are a variety of ways that teachers can meet this
challenge, i.e. making the content relevant to their students’ lives. One method that many, if not
all, social studies teachers should embrace is using different forms of technology to make their
content more fun and exciting for their students. The question remains, however, is technology a
useful tool to aid students in learning social studies.
Before we answer this, we must first answer the question why teach social studies? In an
article by Andrew L. Hostetler (2009) the National Council for Social Studies clearly states that
the “core mission” of social studies is to develop the “knowledge, skills, and values” necessary
for students to be effective citizens in our democratic society (NCSS, 2001). In other words,
social studies teachers need to teach students everything that they will need in order to succeed in
our ever-changing global society in which we live. For our students to succeed, they will need to
know how to use technology. Students will need to develop an understanding on how to use
technology to make meaning of and influence the world around them (Hostetler, pg 51). It is
therefore our job, as social studies teachers, to, at the very least, expose our students to different
types of technology.
But is all technology effective in a social studies classroom? According to James Longhurst
(2003) the answer is no. Longhurst conducted a study to determine if on screen computer text
effects students’ reading comprehension. Longhurst conducted an anonymous survey, with
regards to his use of on screen reading of social studies content in his World History course at
the end of the year. The results showed that students not only were frustrated by the use of
computer screen reading, but also had difficulty comprehending the material. When students
refer to online reading assignments as “jumbled”, “confusing” or “tedious;” when they argue for
“tangible” or portable readings; when they complain about eyestrain or losing their place in the
text, they may be expressing the quality defined by researchers as “psychophysical” unease
resulting in lowered rates of comprehension (Longhurst, 2003 pg 353). In other words, most
students have a much easier time reading text from a book and/or a piece of paper than from a
computer screen.
More often than not, however, technology does aid in student learning in a social studies
classroom, especially when it comes to actual images. Joseph Coohill (2006) coined the term
“History Channel” generation. He found that his students were able to recall, in great detail, a
historical event that they had watched the night before on the history channel. He was so amazed
at the accuracy with which they told the story that he decided to conduct a study to determine if
the use of images really did help his students understand his content better. Coohill used
PowerPoint slides to project images on his screen behind him as he lectured. The images
consisted of individual portraits, photographs, maps, diagrams, film clips, depictions of battles,
and anything else that fit the lecture. It should be noted that Coohill did not refer to these images
in his lecture, but used them to guide his narrative. The results were positive in that 87% of
Coohill’s students said that the images helped them in retaining the information taught in the
classroom (Coohill, 2006).
I would have to agree with Coohill’s results as I have also had positive effects when using
images while teaching history. When I taught 10th grade United States History, there were quite
a few chapters that were just plain boring, even for me. However, I was lucky enough to have
access to a SMART board in my classroom. I used images almost every day in my classroom.
For example, when teaching about the child labor laws of the late 19th century, I was able to
project many different images of children working in the mines, the factories, etc. I had my
student first come up to the board and point out any objective characteristics they noticed; i.e.
that child is dirty. They then did the same thing for any subjective characteristics they noticed;
i.e. that child looks tired.
A SMART board is also useful when having students analyze maps in a social studies
class; not only beneficial for the geographic theme of location, but also when dealing with war.
For example, when I taught about World War I, I projected a map of europe using my SMART
board. Using the same map I had my students color in the Axis Powers, Central Powers, the
Schleffin Plan, and the trench system. The best part about the SMART board was that, if we ran
out of time in class, we were able to save our work and pick up with it the next day.
Using these images as a way to reinforce what I taught, my students were able to
understand the material better. I would encourage any other social studies teacher who has
access to this type of technology to use it every day. Some students just do not learn best by
reading or lecture. Many students are visual learners, and using this type of technology may be
the best, or the only, way to teach them. For others, it may be that they will understand what you
are teaching better if provided with a back up image.
References
Longhurst, J. (2003). World history on the world wide web: a student satisfaction survey and a
blinding flash of the obvious. History Teacher, 36(3), 343-357.
Coohill, J. (2006). Images and the history lecture: teaching the history channel generation..
History Teacher, 39(4), 455-465.
Hostetler, A. (2009). Democratic citizenship in a global society: purposeful use of technology in
social studies classrooms. Ohio Social Studies Review, 45(1), 51-58.
Annotated Bibliography
Longhurst, J. (2003). World history on the world wide web: a student satisfaction survey
and a blinding flash of the obvious. History Teacher, 36(3), 343-357.
In this article, by James Longhurst, a study was conducted to determine if students have a
difficult time reading text straight from a computer screen. Studies show that students read
better from a textbook than a computer screen
Coohill, J. (2006). Images and the history lecture: teaching the history channel generation..
History Teacher, 39(4), 455-465.
In this article by James Coohill, students were shown images via Power Point as the teacher
lectured his social studies class. Students’ work improved because of the images. Students also
said that they enjoyed the teacher’s lecture more when the pictures were used to guide his
lesson.
Hostetler, A. (2009). Democratic citizenship in a global society: purposeful use of technology in
social studies classrooms. Ohio Social Studies Review, 45(1), 51-58.
In this article, Andrew Hostetler advocates for the use of technology in any social studies class.
He believes that all students need to know how to use technology if they are to become an
intricate member of society.