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March 1, 1998
Using Technology in a Social Studies Classroom
By Michael Hutchison
A Little Background
Nearly two decades ago, when I landed my first teaching job, I marveled
that I could use videotape in my classroom. As a social studies teacher, I was enthralled
by the wealth of material about U.S. history and government, world history, and so on that
was available on VHS tape. It was so much better than when I was a student and excited
whenever a teacher decided to show a film in class.
Nearly two decades ago, I was what one might call a
"traditional" teacher. I taught the way I was trained to teach and the way
teachers had taught me when I was in school. Everything was neat and orderly. We all had
books, we all used books, and that’s how we learned.
Thus, as a traditional teacher, I lectured when I needed to lecture,
gave homework when I needed to give homework, showed videos when I wanted to show videos,
and tested when the time came to test. I had a hard time seeing that students were
becoming bored and disenchanted with this type of instruction, especially when I felt it
had worked so well for me. But I also began to realize that being a traditional teacher
wasn’t all that rewarding for me either.
A New Start
In the spring of 1995, as a social studies teacher at Vincennes Lincoln
High School, in Vincennes, Indiana, I began to use technology—both computer and cable
television—in the classroom. Within a year and through technology, my students had
literally become part of the 50th anniversary of VE (Victory in Europe) Day, had traveled
to Ellis Island in New York City’s harbor, had celebrated the 50th anniversary of the
founding of the United Nations, had investigated the 1996 presidential election, and even
had gone to the Atlanta Braves’ spring training. Teaching had become much more
rewarding for me as well. I believed my students were more interested in what we studied.
And I received national recognition for my work as a teacher who used technology in the
classroom.
Every time I used the technology, I was able to adapt and add a little
more to what I and my students did. To use a track-and-field term, I "raised the
bar" that I expected them to hurdle. I wanted them to use technology themselves to
develop ideas rather than have me convey concepts through lecture. I recognized that I had
to allow them to do things less traditionally than I had been taught as a student and had
done myself earlier in my career. I also had to be demanding enough to let them develop
their own creativity rather than have me "spoon feed" them. A good example of
the "raised bar" is a recent project completed by my freshman-level
interdisciplinary social science class and two senior-level U.S. government classes.
During the summer of 1997, I downloaded a message from an educational
mailing list about a multipart series titled "The Modern Presidency," which was
airing on Assignment Discovery, an educational program sponsored by the Discovery Channel.
Because I cover the presidency in my government classes and teach history and political
science to the freshmen, I decided this would be a good springboard for a project using
computer and cable technology.
I first e-mailed Tish Raff, Discovery Channel School subject area mentor
for the "Modern Presidency," and found out what the programs would cover: the
modern-era presidencies of Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Richard
Nixon, Jimmy Carter, and Ronald Reagan (I decided to add FDR and Truman). I also asked her
for feedback about various ideas I was considering for projects. Tish was supportive and
helpful, and even guided me to other Web sites I might use.
I decided that I would have the classes divide themselves into groups;
each group would randomly select a president to research. I also decided that I would have
the groups conduct separate projects. The freshmen would create Web pages based on their
presidents, and the seniors would develop Microsoft Power Point presentations about their
subjects. I distributed guidelines for each class that included requirements such as the
material I wanted and the length of presentation. The classes would not only develop their
projects using computer technology, but also would work to collect a great deal of their
research on the World Wide Web. Most of these students had no previous experience working
with this type of computer technology, but, again, I wanted to raise the bar and see what
they could do. I could always be flexible about what I demanded later. A VCR and
television were also set up in my classroom so that the student groups could view the
"Modern Presidency" segments on their respective chief executives.
The Projects
The freshmen seemed a little apprehensive at first. However, using a
computer connected to a television mounted on the wall in my classroom, I showed them how
easy it was to create a Web page using Netscape Navigator Gold. I didn’t hear much
concern or fear after that. Actually, some of the freshmen raised the bar for me: They
sometimes asked questions about Web-page construction that I had to really research, or
they went beyond the simple HTML requirements I had laid out.
With the senior government classes, I was fortunate to have a helper.
Our media specialist had a student teacher, Mrs. Jeanne Puacz, who was extremely
proficient with Power Point. She offered faculty members an opportunity to have their
classes learn Power Point, so I took her up on the offer. I have used Power Point myself
and taught it to other faculty members, but Jeanne was invaluable in helping the seniors.
She made up handouts about presentations, and even created one on William Henry Harrison
to show the seniors how easily one could be done. She also made herself available nearly
anytime during the school day to help students who had questions. I had planned to meet
with almost 50 seniors each day, teaching them how to place graphics and sounds in Power
Point, but having Jeanne available to help was a lifesaver.
We often worked with the computers in the school media center, but if
they were not available, we simply "shared" files on the school network and
worked wherever we found an available computer. Although this sometimes made things
interesting, they were never impossible. Most presentations and Web pages were completed
well before the November 14, 1997, deadline that I had established
Presentations and pages were done very well, in my estimation. The
students were able to take the initiative and do comprehensive research and then put it
together in either a Web page or multimedia presentation. I evaluated their work this way:
Each group had a "portfolio" (a manila folder provided by me) in which it was to
keep material related to the project. Materials collected were to include storyboards,
hard copies of any and all materials used in research (either photocopied or printed from
the Web), and any other material used. This way I could evaluate the presentations and Web
pages while also making sure each group actually did its own research and did not
plagiarize. Rather than bringing disks with 15 Power Point presentations, each lasting
more than three minutes, I videotaped each presentation and evaluated it using my VCR. I
realized that the students had taken a great deal of effort and pride in their work, and
that I was also very pleased by their efforts, so I tended to grade liberally, even giving
extra credit to freshmen groups that had finished their Web pages before the mid-November
deadline. In this way, I felt that I could bolster the students’ self-esteem.
I’ve explained how technology can work for me. Now, how can it work
for teachers who have not used technology yet, because they are afraid of it, skeptical,
or both? Consider the following five points.
- Be ready to change your teaching style. Traditional, orderly forms
of teaching do not always work well with this sort of technology and in this kind of
setting. You must be prepared to let students guide themselves more than you guide them.
In my case, that could mean having students search for the nearest computer, which might
mean they would not be under my direct supervision. In my opinion and experience, teachers
must recognize that students need to be guided, but students also must understand that
they must show maturity and leadership to be self-driven.
- Be ready to go beyond the basic textbook. My students used the Web
a great deal. In my view, they learned as much about the presidency doing research online
as they would have if I had showed a video or assigned them to read a certain number of
pages in the text. I also believe that this occurs because technology allows students to
be self-motivated and more inquisitive in researching topics and developing concepts. I
was also pleasantly surprised when several students told me that they followed up what
they did in the classroom on their own home computers.
- Be ready to accept diversity. Often, when I saw the output of some
of my student groups, I was surprised at how differently they saw the project than I did.
For example, one group used a WAV file segment of the Steppenwolf song "Born To Be
Wild." Although it wasn’t something I would use in a Power Point presentation
about the presidency, it did show creativity.
- Be ready to accept failure. When I first began using technology, I
was concerned about the possibility of failure. I do not worry about it anymore. My
technology motto goes something like this: "I don’t plan about ‘What if I
fail,’ I simply plan not to fail." I don’t say that because I am above
failure; I simply feel that even when things don’t go as well as I’d like them
to, I can still salvage something. Students still learn, projects still get done, and all
I have to do is "lower the bar" a little. Fortunately, I’ve had to lower
the bar very few times.
- Be ready to accept technology as part of the normal progression of
teaching. For those who are cynical about or fearful of technology in the classroom, I
remind them that technology is simply part of the normal progression of teaching. As I
stated in the beginning, films were important diversions in the 1960s and early 1970s when
I was a student. In the 1980s, as a younger teacher, I used videotape. Computer
technology, cable television, and online service technology are simply part of the next
leap forward, just like these earlier technologies. Certainly these new technologies will
not be the last. I hope teachers in five or ten years who look at my students’
projects will say something like, "We saw what you did with computer technology back
in the mid-90s, and frankly, we’re so much more advanced now." I want to be a
pacesetter, but I don’t want to have the race simply end here.
Conclusion
Technology in the classroom has been extremely rewarding personally and
professionally. Using technology, I have been able to develop lessons that bring social
studies closer to my students and make the lessons more meaningful. It has also brought me
some recognition as a classroom teacher, which simply makes the experience even more
rewarding. Using technology is an important part of my curriculum, and I would not want to
see it be otherwise. The technology use also seems to bind teacher and students more
closely because they work together as a problem-solving team, rather than have me as
teacher dispense knowledge and students act like sponges in soaking up that knowledge.
Working together, students and teacher can find a rapport they might not ever know
otherwise, and all together they can go a great distance in learning.
Readers who wish to view the student-produced Web
pages on the modern presidency are invited to point their Web browsers to This is the
site’s main entry page. Some of the seniors’ Power Point presentations may be
available for download.
E-mail: Michael A. Hutchison
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