Teaching Social Studies with Technology: Article Review

Julie Anne Taylor and Mesut Duran’s article “Teaching Social Studies with Technology: New Research on Collaborative Approaches” looks at the contentious issue of integrating technology into the regular classroom. The MITTEN program was a four-year pilot program, which explored how planned integration of new technology would effect instruction in Social Studies in elementary, middle, and high school classrooms. The MITTEN program was created to help alleviate student’s boredom and feelings of disconnectedness that arise from reading text books in History. Taylor and Duran’s research indicated that students were tired of memorizing and recalling facts that seemed to hold zero personal value to the students.

I agree and disagree with numerous statements made by Taylor and Duran in their article. Firstly, I agree that students should not be learning solely from a textbook, learning historical facts and dates from desks in rows. Students are trying to advise teachers that textbooks are in the past and computer programs and online resources are the present. It would seem obvious that students’ learning increases, when their levels of motivation are increased, and their opinions are being taken in to account. Where I would disagree with the authors is the simplicity of maintaining these levels of motivation and heightened learning. It seemed that the teachers who reported the greatest levels of satisfaction were the educators who included technology lessons, with various other form of lessons, such as group, individual, and text reading assignments. I believe it is naive to think that the sole use of technology lessons will be the savior of Social Studies education.

This article has helped me to understand the great value that should be placed on students’ interests and opinions. In a separate text Beers et al. (2007), believes that the students in today’s education system are digital natives where most of their life revolves around the use of technology. Whereas, many of today’s current educators are digital immigrants, who are still learning the wonders and opportunity that arises from the use technology in the classroom. I believe it is important to use technology to aid learning in the classroom. In lessons where technology can benefit and expand the learning in the classroom, then its usage is necessary. However, in lessons where its use may be of a hindrance, then there are many different styles and techniques than can be utilized without technology.