Integrating Technology into Social Studies

Advantages of Integrating Technology
Social Studies is a subject that according to Roblyer (2016) "presents issues, concepts, or procedures that may be complex and confusing for students" (p. 340). Thinking back to the social studies classes I took part in it is easy to see how this is true. However, by integrating technology into a social studies lesson, one can help the students make sense of what is being taught. By integrating technology into social studies, one can access primary sources, which "foster the visual literacy and historical inquiry of students by making academic content meaningful and building on prior experiences" (p.341). Also by utilizing technology one can have access to "up-to-date information" (p.341) on different topics and have experiences that may not be possible through virtual field trips (p.342).
Below is a video that not discuss simpler advantages for integrating technology into social studies, but in other subjects as well.

Disadvantages of Integrating Technology
Although there are plenty of advantages with integrating technology into social studies, there are also some disadvantages as well. One such disadvantage is the information that students might find about a topic on the internet. According to Roblyer (2016) "many students are drawn to online sites without questioning their accuracy" (p. 339). With the students being drawn to inaccurate websites, it opens the door for students to be misinformed on a topic. Roblyer (2016) points out that "students can find sites that profess Nazi and Ku Klux Klan ideology, treat rumors as fact, and promote conspiracy theories" (p.339). This can lead to contradictions in the information that the textbook and the teacher is trying to provide the students with. Thus requiring the teacher to waste precious time addressing and fixing such matters.
Simpler disadvantages of integrating technology into not only social studies but other content areas as well are discussed in the video below.

Specific Activites, Programs, Etc.

• Primary Sources
• Library of Congress
• National Archives and Records Administration
• Our Documents
• The Oyez Project
• Project Gutenberg
• Virtual Fieldtrips
• Adventure Learning
• Digital Storytelling
• Google Earth
• Global Positioning System (GPS)
• Geocaching
• Simulations

This is just a few examples of how one can integrate technology in order to make Social Studies more meaningful to one's students.

Roblyer, M.D. (2016). Integrating Educational Technology into Teaching (Seventh ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education Inc.

my cool channel. (2012, September 10). advantages of technology in classrooms and schools. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0s5zp99xhg

Lauren Stookey. (2013, September 8). Cons of Tech in the Classroom. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_ownjlFrXs

Instructional Software Tools

Materials Generator

v  A Google add-on that can be used in the classroom is g(math) for Sheets. 

v  Another materials generator is a Free Puzzlemaker-Discovery Education. 

The Google add-on g(Math) for Sheets is used in Google Sheets. This add-on makes it easy to generate equations and even math quizzes on Google Sheets, which can be then inserted into Google Docs. The Free Puzzlemaker from Discovery Education makes it simple for teachers to create crossword puzzles, word searches, and even math puzzles to utilize in the classroom. According to Roblyer (2016) worksheet and puzzle, generators are commonly used to “practice lower level skills, such as math facts, cloze exercises” (p. 147), and “exercises to review words and definitions” (p.147). Both of these add-ons fall match these three uses.

Testing and Grading Tools

v  Two testing and grading Google add-ons are Orange Slice: Teacher Rubric and TP Gradebook.

The Orange Slice: Teacher Rubric is used to generate rubrics that meets the teacher’s needs. TP Gradebook, on the other hand, is used for recording grades. Both of these add-ons make it easier for the teacher to access the grading criteria and the students’ grades from anywhere. According to Roblyer (2016) one of the most time-consuming task that a teacher does is producing test and other assessments (p. 155) Both of the Add-ons make grading and making rubrics less time consuming so that teachers can know spend their time where it is better needed elsewhere such as in the classroom.

Graphics Tools

v  Two Google add-ons that can be used to create graphics for a lesson are Pictograph and Lucidchart. 

Roblyer (2016) states that “the skills involved in reading, interpreting, and producing graphs and charts are useful both to the students in school and adults in the workplace” (p.158). Both of these add-ons make it easier for the teacher to harness that skill in students. The Pictograph add-on allows teachers, or students, to create a diagram without having to worry about the copyright of the image used. The Lucidchart makes it easy to insert diagrams such as a flowchart or mind map into a Google Docs. Both of these tools are a great resource for teachers to utilize because of the easy display of content that they provide. Also, students can utilize them to organize their thoughts and even create their own diagrams to study for an upcoming test.

Planning and Organizing Tools

v  Two planning and organizing Google add-ons are Lesson Plan Submit and Highlight Tool

According to Roblyer (2016), planning and organizing tools include “outlining and concept mapping software, lesson planning software, and scheduling/time management tools” (p.160). The Lesson Plan Submit add-on helps with lesson planning because it makes it easier to submit, or share, lesson plans with one’s peers for review. The Highlight Tool allows one to highlight information and then sort it by either color of the highlighter used or by order in which it appeared in the document.

Research and Reference Tools

v  Two research and reference Google add-ons are Thesaurus and Verity Spell

According to Roblyer (2016), research and reference tools include “online encyclopedias, atlases and mapping tools, and dictionaries and thesauruses” (p.162). The Thesaurus add-on is exactly what its name claims it to be, a thesaurus. This add-on provides alternative words for those that are used too often in a document. The Verity Spell add-on not only checks the spelling and grammar of a document but also comes with a dictionary that can be used to search the meaning of unfamiliar words.

Roblyer, M.D. (2016). Integrating Educational Technology into Teaching (Seventh ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Educational Inc

Search Engines, Evaluating Websites, and Internet Safety

Search Engines:

When having the students use any search engine for research it is important for the students to understand how to use the search engine in order to locate the desired information. Therefore one should not limit the students to one search engine and as a teacher, one should teach students how to evaluate the sources that come up when searching for the desired information. According to Roblyer (2016), one should “Teach students to search with keywords, rather than with a questions” (p. 184) and show the students how to narrow down their searches using the advanced search tools that are made available (p. 184). When both the utilization of multiple search engines and proper website evaluation are used, the students will be able to find the desired knowledge they need in order to complete any project to the fullest.

Website Evaluation Video:

Here is a quick video that I would show and discuss with students explaining how to evaluate websites using the five W’s.

Favorite Websites:

One of my favorite professional teaching websites is www.aptiq.org. I enjoy using this website because it has many resources that one can utilize in the classroom. For example, on can find virtual field trips on the site, videos, or even lesson plans on the site. This resource the site has available can help me greatly in the future to better teach my students any subject. Another professional teaching website that can be categorized as a favorite is https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/bookwizard/. This site allows the teacher to find books to utilize in their classroom, along with providing a resource that helps teach the book itself. This can be of great use in my future classroom because by utilizing this website I do not have to start from scratch when writing a lesson for books. According to Roblyer (2016) both of these sites are good to use for professional purposes because they use controlled fonts and type sizes, contrasting colors for the background which make the site easy to read, and navigation tools that allow for easy navigation throughout the sites (p. 198).

Online Safety & Security:

One internet safety topic that stands out to me is online predators. Roblyer (2016) says that “young people tend to believe everything they hear and read” (p.175). He goes on to say that a student talking to someone in an online chatroom may not every think that the person they are talking to might actually be older than he or she says they are (p. 175). With the anonymity that comes from communicating via online, it is so easy for someone to pretend to be someone they are not. This is why it is important to inform students how crucial it is that they never give out personal information to anyone online.  As a teacher, one must not only be sure to inform and remind students of this, but one must also monitor any online socializing that is happening in the class.

Roblyer, M.D. (2016). Integrating Educational Technology into Teaching (Seventh ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Educational Inc

Goldfinch, Ellen. (2014, October 8). Evaluating Websites With the 5 W's. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPI7FVon29k

Basic 'Three' Software and Education

Word Processing Software

     Roblyer (2016) discusses how using available word processing software can benefit teachers in the classroom today (p. 114). A few benefits Roblyer discuss is that word processing software "saves time" (p.114) and "enhances document appearance" (p. 114) and I can not agree more. By using word processing software, a teacher can type up a professional, yet creative, document, such as a weekly letter, thus enhancing the appearance. The time-saving aspect comes in later when a teacher can easily modify the weekly letter to meet the needs for that week, instead of making a new one. One of the issues that Roblyer (2016) gives for using word processing software in the classroom is "inadvertent errors" (p.117). Inadvertent errors are described as typos made by the software as it 'corrects' ones work. Therefore although word processing software can be seen as an advantage for teachers, one should still remember to double check their work before using it the classroom.

Spreadsheet Software

     Spreadsheet software, Roblyer (2016) claims can be used to “increase motivation to work with mathematics” (p.121). According to Roblyer, spreadsheets can help students see how the content works, which in turn can cause students to “express read delight”(p.121) with math itself (p.121). For a teacher making math a topic of interest to students can be hard. Therefore knowing that by integrating spreadsheets into a lesson one can make the lesson more interesting to one's students is a nice piece of information to have for future use. Roblyer (2016) also discusses some disadvantages with using spreadsheet software in the classroom. One of such disadvantages that he discusses lies within the “students’ tendency to fear mathematics” (p.123). He goes on to elaborate that due to this fear, a teacher should provide the proper time for the students to become familiar with this software, before further incorporating math (p.123).

Presentation Software

     According to Roblyer (2016), the benefits to using presentation software in the classroom include that it “helps organize thinking about a topic” (p.127) and “enhances the impact of spoken information” (p.127). To put Roblyer’s benefits into simple terms, when producing a presentation, the presenter needs to consider the order in which the information will be presented and also how the information should be displayed to further drive the point home (p.127). When it comes to presentation software, one issue Roblyer (2016) gives is that the “impact of presentation software on information presented” (p.217), which one can take as simply meaning the slides used for the presentation become the presentation itself instead of being a tool for presenting. In other words, when using presentation software in the class, one should not read word for word from the slides because if one was going to do that then there is really no point for one to even be presenting. Instead, one could just pass out a printed copy of the presentation and call it a day.

Classroom Use-Presentation Software

      As a teacher, I would strive to integrate presentation software into every lesson, especially in Social Studies. During a Social Studies lesson, I would utilize presentation software to create a visual so that my students can easily follow along where I am in the lesson. Also, if I decide to use a resource, such as a video, off of the web, inserting a web link into the presentation can make it easier to access the needed resource.

For information on how to insert a YouTube video into presentation software watch the video below.

Roblyer, M.D. (2016). Intergrating Educational Technology into Teaching (Seventh ed.). Upper Saddle River NJ: Pearson Education Inc.

Cathyinoz.(2011, June 7). Inserting a YouTube Video into Powerpoint 2007. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4plg-iglPQ8

Tada! Welcome to My Blog!

Hi! My name is Elizabeth Price and I am an Elementary Education major at the University of Montevallo. I am currently writing this blog for a technology course I am taking this semester. I decided to be a teacher due to one of my teachers growing up. She was my third-grade teacher and she changed the way I looked at English Language Arts. With one simple lesson, I went from disliking English Language Arts to absolutely loving it. This just showed me that as a teacher, what I teach and how I teach it makes the difference on whether the students enjoy the subject or grow up hating it.

One interesting fact about me is that I am obsessed with Disney. Although I do enjoy practically all of the Disney movies, my favorite is Beauty and the Beast. Thus I can not wait for the live version to come out. Also, in my free time, I like to read and binge watch different TV shows.