Middle School Social Studies Teachers Integration of Technology to Meet 21st Century Challenges

          Authors Dr. Elizabeth Langran and Marsha Alibrandi have years of experience working in middle schools, Technological institutes, and in collaboration with teachers.  They share the practical strategies that middle school social studies teachers use to integrate technology into their curriculum.  Examples of these include using the internet to research primary sources and submit their own viewpoints on the PBS POV website.  This makes students feel like they are “contributing to something bigger” than themselves and their classrooms (p.4).   Digital tools such as Photo Story 3 are also used to create slideshow movies in order to teach peers about a certain subject. An example of this was students showing photos of themselves as they practice the Bill of Rights throughout a typical day.  Making history relevant to students’ lives is key for engaged learning.  Interestingly, Langran and Alibrandi observed that the most challenging and most rewarding aspects of teaching often directly correlate with one another.

            A big focus is placed on Collaboration and Teamwork in this process of integrating technology into social studies.  Students must work together to come up with a great project.  The article also made an important point in that simply having technology is not sufficient.  Rather, class time is essential for giving kids the opportunity to practice the tools.  This in turn requires effort from the teacher.  Indeed, many kids may be experts in using technology but they still need help from their teachers in knowing how to use it to for the purpose of learning.

          A thought-provoking question that was asked in this article is "Do thes teachers see more content being better learned through the application of these technologies?” (p. 6).  The answer from the teachers interviewed was YES.  I learned that information literacy skills not only “blend very well” with Social Studies, as one teacher stated (p.6), but they are essential to preparing kids for the globalized world where much of daily communication happens through technology: emails, telephones, and media.  I also learned that although allowing students to make videos and powerpoints is fun, it is complex and requires serious planning, effort, and time!  Indeed, as the article mentioned, it is not enough for teachers to simply assign creative projects and let their students loose; teachers must thoroughly train students how to properly use various technologies to reach their objectives for learning. 

          Collaboration, integration of technology, and guidance from a teacher are three things that I would strive to incorporate into my future classroom.  I have observed that projects are one of, if not the most memorable and effective ways of teaching lessons.  If there is are ways to combine students' interests and talents with learning objectives, why not take advantage of them? 

          As hard as this task may be, I am reassured that teachers are not in this alone.  Those interviewed in this article were candid about the fact that their lessons are not originally designed.  Rather, they gather advice and suggestions from library media specialists and fellow teachers.  Little by little, the best ideas are compiled to create an excellent curriculum.  This has helped me realize that it is absolutely okay, and actually adviseable, to draw resources from other experienced people.  After all, we are all in this mission of educating the future generation together!

Source:
Langran, Elizabeth and Marsha Alibrandi. "Middle School Social Studies Teachers Integration of Technology to Meet 21st Century Challenges." Meridian: A Middle School Computer Technologies Journal 11.2 (2008): 10.