When the term “digital native” was popularized by Mark Prensky in 2001, educators were jolted by the realization that, “today’s students are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach.” While this may be an oversimplification of the learning style of all students, Prensky’s assertion certainly resonates twelve years later. Though technological advances are not necessarily alien to all current teachers, most educators can still be dubbed “digital immigrant” (Prensky, 2001). Many teachers are not prepared to integrate technology in meaningful ways that engage students in the learning process. More specifically, technology is often used as a different tool to continue teaching in traditional direct instruction modes such as the now practically requisite PowerPoint for lectures (Mason, C., Berson, M., Diem, R., Hicks, D., Lee, J., & Dralle, T. 2000). The growing availability of technology options seems to only add pressure for teachers who are expected to find creative ways to teach state and national standards while maintaining best practices. Though Social Studies concepts often fall by the wayside, as schools struggle to raise student success rates, it is in this time of global mobile technologies and social networking, that geographic and cultural awareness may become even more relevant.
Many facets of Social Studies and English Language Arts lend themselves to technology integration. Pensky stressed, “in geography which is all but ignored these days, there is no reason that a generation that can memorize over 100 Pokémon characters with all their characteristics, history and evolution can’t learn the names, populations, capitals and relationships of all the 101 nations in the world. It just depends on how it is presented.” (Prensky, 2001). As an experienced English Language Arts Teacher in a district that has now pushed Social Studies and ELA together, I am now navigating ways to effectively integrate the two content areas, keeping it fresh and current, and also adhering to required standards. While the standards must continue to be a guide, with appropriate planning and training, it may be possible to modify curriculum goals to better prepare students for global communication.
Both preservice educators and those in service receiving professional development, need technology training in the context of their content area for it to be meaningful or useful. As for students, exercises that use technology just for the sake of using it don’t necessarily translate to the classroom. “Preservice instruction enabling teachers to integrate technology seamlessly into lessons is more productive than technology instruction that merely teaches preservice teachers how to use specific computer skills. For example, preservice teachers should not learn how to create PowerPoint presentations or Excel spreadsheets merely with the goal of mastering the technology. Rather, preservice teachers should create PowerPoint presentations that aid in direct instruction of a particular social studies lesson or spreadsheets that help illustrate statistical data significant to the social studies student” ( Mason, C., Berson, M., Diem, R., Hicks, D., Lee, J., & Dralle, T.2000). Technology use for Language Arts or Social Studies must be linked to specific learning outcomes for it to have relevance. The U. S. Department of Education recognizes the needs for integrative and cooperative learning. The executive summary for transforming education recognizes that technology used in everyday professional settings is the driving force regardless of the domain. Technology will help us execute collaborative teaching strategies combined with professional learning that better prepare and enhance educators' competencies and expertise over the course of their careers. While the key is creating 21st century critical thinking skills that transcend the confines of specific content areas, there needs to be concrete integration of technology that is relevant to the learning outcomes.
Effective technology integration within the content area will more likely be achieved when its use is transparent. Students must become able to select technology tools to help them obtain information in a timely manner, analyze and synthesize the information, and present professional looking products. The technology should become an integral part of the daily functions of the classroom rather than a special event. As stated by Fred Hofstetter and cited by Edmar Bernardes DaSilva, “Teachers using technology should understand first that their roles are different from their traditional lecturing roles, and they should realize that by using technology, teachers are no longer just providers of knowledge but rather exchangers, since students exposed to technology are typically more intimately involved in creating knowledge (DaSilva, 2008). The face of teacher education must change so that educators are learning the content area while synonymously learning how to effectively integrate effective technology that supports that particular content. “Teachers using technology in their English language arts classrooms are not only improving their instruction for their students; they are changing the very nature of that instruction.” (Pope, C., & Golub, J. 2000) The trick to really meaningful reform of education to include technology for Language Arts, Social Studies, or any other content area will be to insure that the tech integration actually extends learning beyond what could simply be done without it.
References
Executive summary. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.ed.gov/technology/netp-2010/executive-summary
Da Silva, E. B. (2008). A comparison of multimedia technology instruction on the achievement of u.s. educated and non-u.s. educated community college geography students. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation)Retrieved from http://digitool.fcla.edu///exlibris/dtl/d3_1/apache_media/
Mason, C., Berson, M., Diem, R., Hicks, D., Lee, J., & Dralle, T.(2000). Guidelines for using technology to prepare social studies teachers. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education [Online serial], 1 (1). Available: http://www.citejournal.org/vol1/iss1/currentissues/socialstudies/article1.htm
Prensky, M. (2001, October). Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the Horizon, 9(5). Retrieved September 3, 2013, from http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky
Pope, C., & Golub, J. (2000). Preparing tomorrow's English language arts teachers today: Principles and practices for infusing technology. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education [Online serial], 1 (1). Available: http://www.citejournal.org/vol1/iss1/currentissues/english/article1.htm
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