Do terms like virtual reality, cyberspace, the Internet, web pages and servers cause your eyes to glaze over and your minds to freeze? Are you afraid that you will never quite catch hold of the tiger called technology? Do you feel like you're living in thc age of the quill while your colleagues are already planning their millennium celebrations online? Don't panic! You have lots of company.
Although it would be difficult to substantiate, it seems that there is more talk about the educational use of technology than actual practice. Certainly this is true in many American classrooms. Despite the fact that at least a decade has passed since the first computers were introduced into schools, the progress has been slow, especially in the humanities. Let's look at technology -- the good, the bad and the ugly.
The Good
Technology is especially appropriate for the enhancement of global studies. It can bring experiences of other cultures vividly into the classroom. Not only does telecommunications allow for interaction between students, it also encourages creative opportunities to be formed by showing the interrelationships among the social studies, literature, art and music. Multimedia classrooms help students move away from "chalk and talk" classrooms to more engaging and motivating processes which encourage higher order thinking. Teachers can have access to seemingly unlimited resources through the Internet, CD ROMS and videos. Both students and teachers can examine issues from multiple points of view and can learn how to deal with primary source documents. The possibilities are potentially endless and definitely exhausting.
The Bad and The Ugly
So what's the problem? Why aren't our classrooms cruising along the information superhighway more rapidly? The potential benefits from the use of interactive technology are largely unrealized in social studies education (Betts, 1994)1. Furthermore, Ehman and Glenn (1991)2 found, "There is a low use of interactive technology in social studies classrooms and a very thin knowledge base from research about this use." Why is the use of telecommunications still relatively restricted in thousands of classrooms throughout the United States?
Successful integration of technology depends upon four factors: First there are the issues of access and availability. Who gets to use the computers? Do the computer labs (if they exist) "belong" to one department? And finally, is there sufficient equipment for a teacher to use with a class of students? After all, trying to teach students to use information technology and techniques without an adequate number of computer stations and lines is like trying to teach someone to swim on top of the kitchen table.
Don't jump to the conclusion that full implementation is simply a matter of buying and installing more computers and telephone access lines. A second obstacle is user literacy. Are a significant number of faculty members trained to use this equipment appropriately and effectively? We have all visited schools where classrooms filled with expensive, "state of the art" technology are utilized only one or two periods a day because there is only one teacher who has been trained to use the equipment.
Another roadblock to widespread implementation stems from the lack of technical support. All too often, budget is allocated for the acquisition and installation of technology, but not for the necessary repairs and maintenance. Without appropriate technical support, good equipment is often relegated to the junk heap because it can't be fixed or upgraded.
Experiences with teachers have shown us that the real obstacle to implementation results from questions related to functionality. Teachers want to know if the technology serves any real purpose or is it just a ''gimmick.'' Some educators still suspect that computers are being brought in to replace teachers. Others feel that searching the Internet is too time consuming and frequently yields little useful information.
These are all legitimate concerns. Careful planning and ongoing professional development are essential elements in any attempt to bring about systemic reform.
Following are three activities to use in your classrooms using the Internet as a resource.
1 Betts, Frank M. (1994). The Status of Social Education. ASCD. 6.7-6.9.
2 Ehman, L.H., and A.D. Glenn. "Interactive Technology in Social Studies." In Handbook of
Research on Social Studies Teaching or Learning, edited by J. Shaver. New York: MacMillan.