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Teaching Social Studies with Technology: New Research on Collaborative Approaches
- Source :
-
History Teacher . Nov 2006 40(1):9-25. - Publication Year :
- 2006
-
Abstract
- Meeting the demands of teaching in the digital age requires the identification of effective types of educational technology and ways of encouraging its use, and that was the aim of a "Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to use Technology (PT3)" grant to the University of Michigan-Dearborn, from the United States Department of Education. This grant funded a four-year program involving not only public school teachers in the Detroit area, but also the faculty in the education and social sciences departments of the university. Dubbed "The MITTEN Program," it explored how the planned integration of new forms of technology affects instruction in social studies in elementary, middle, and high schools. This article presents a report on the outcomes of the project. During each year of the MITTEN program, the University of Michigan-Dearborn had the highest number of recipients of awards from the Consortium for Outstanding Achievement in Teaching with Technology (COATT) in the state of Michigan. Eight awards were given to student teachers in the field of social studies. Fundamental to MITTEN's success as a program were its provision for training in emerging technologies for educators and its facilitation of collaboration between people in different fields. The program provided educators with the opportunity to share resources and learn together. The planned integration of technology positively affected student learning in K-12 classrooms by increasing the level of student interest. The use of electronic resources also improved the quality of the research conducted by both students and teachers. After completing the program, educators reported that they felt better able to use technology to enhance teaching and research. The findings of research on the MITTEN project show that collaborative approaches to teaching social studies with technology can produce optimal results. The following are appended: (1) Lesson Materials; and (2) Mitten Technology Survey. (Contains 23 notes.)
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 0018-2745
- Volume :
- 40
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- ERIC
- Journal :
- History Teacher
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- EJ765239
- Document Type :
- Journal Articles<br />Reports - Descriptive<br />Tests/Questionnaires