Beginning Social Studies Teachers' Integration of Technology in the History Classroom

Abstract

This study examined the actual use of computer technology by four beginning social studies teachers in their history courses during their first year in the classroom. Specifically, it involved an assessment of their efforts to use computer technology to teach their students about historical thinking and historical inquiry, in particular the concepts of perspective taking and historical empathy. The findings suggest that the beliefs the beginning social studies teachers in this study brought to the classroom profoundly impacted their students' appreciation of history. During their induction into the profession, these teachers focused on professional concerns, including the lack of effective support for the successful integration of technology in their classroom. Regardless of the resources that were available, each teacher's sense of self-efficacy and their students' dispositions created unique personal responses to the challenges posed by their particular school's technology infrastructure and culture. These teachers also often had difficulty using computers to engage their students in historical inquiry, especially when they tried to help their students grasp the concepts of historical thinking and historical empathy. The experiences they had in their teacher preparation program profoundly impacted these teachers' beliefs about using technology in the classroom as well as their efforts to integrate technology into their curriculum. As they attempted to integrate technology into their curriculum, they developed their own pedagogical content knowledge about teaching with computers.