points to ponder about technology in social studies

I read an article this week entitled "Using Technology for Powerful Social Studies Learning" that asked questions that should be considered when using technology in the social studies classroom based on the NCSS standards.

As I read the article I began to ask the questions to myself of what I've observed in the World Cultures course of the Virtual School.

Powerful Teaching and Learning Questions to Consider

1. Does the technology-based product help promote meaningful social studies?

Students in the virtual school are receiving meaningful information but are also learning meaningful skills through their social studies courses in the virtual school as students learn networks of knowledge, skills, and values that are useful in and out of school.

2. Does the technology-based product help promote social studies that is integrative?

Social studies through the virtual school is integrative as "the curriculum and instruction address a broad range of content, concepts, generalizations and ideas in an interdisciplinary manner. Relevant information is drawn from the social sciences, history, the arts and the humanities. In this context, the web of information resources available on the Internet has considerable potential for integrative learning."

3. Does the technology-based product help promote value based social studies instruction?

The Social Studies standards state that "Social studies is value based when instruction is directed at having students grapple with the ethical and social policy implications of historical and contemporary issues." Students enrolled in social studies courses in the virtual school are asked to connect current events with historical events that combine ethical issues with textbook questions. Free responses and discussions allow student input their understanding of issues and apply their interpretations into the discussions.

4. Does the technology-based product help in planning social studies instruction that is
challenging?

Unlike the confines of many traditional classrooms the virtual school allows students to work at their own pace and provides the ability for students who are especially interested in certain areas to complete additional coursework. For these reasons I think that the virtual school has the ability to provide a challenging form of instruction that the traditional school often is unable to.

5. Does the technology-based product help in designing learning activities that actively engage students in significant social studies content?

Students in the virtual school are able to "construct knowledge so as to develop important social understandings." Students are also given the opportunity to experience social studies first hand through resources such as virtual field trips that can take the student around the world without ever leaving home or by exchanging cultural information with a class on the other side of the globe.


After answering these questions I definitely think that the virtual school meets all the requirements of of the National Council for the Social Studies.

http://members.ncss.org/se/6103/610306.html

learning across cultures

Perhaps the greatest use of technology in the social studies is the ability to learn across cultures through the connection with students who are across the globe. I read an article this week about a teacher in New York City who partnered up with a teacher in a small rural area in New Zealand. The teachers wanted to educate students on the culture of another area but at the same time help them realize the importance of their own culture. The students were able to describe their worlds to people their age in their own words. The teachers "set up frameworks within which students can learn in open-ended and creative ways."

The teachers describe this learning across cultures project: "As a source for learning that “cultures are dynamic and ever-changing,” we made it possible for our students to exchange knowledge with one another. To “demonstrate the value of cultural diversity, as well as cohesion, within and across groups,” we used our two countries as models. Our mutual emphasis on both Maori culture and the family folklore of all our students helped to teach “how language, literature, the arts, architecture, other artifacts, traditions, beliefs, values, and behaviors contribute to the development and transmission of culture.”

To begin the project the students were assigned one local place such as fire stations or parks that were photographed and sent across the globe, rather than sharing about the major tourist attractions, . The students at the other location sent back information about similar places in their country with photographs so that students in each location could compare and contrast the places and cultures. By doing this, the teachers also learned about the lives of their own students.
Students also sent family or local folklore across the globe that taught students about cultural differences and similarities as well as it taught the individual students about their own familial and local culture which they may have been previously unaware of.

Throughout the project, students in both locations learned about indigenous cultures, the importance of preserving language, the importance of understanding new immigrants, and the value of technology.

I think that projects such as these teamed with the virtual school curriculum will ultimately provide the social interaction as well as the personal transmission of knowledge that will help students to grow and understand their culture as well as the culture of others. Technology is opening doors to understanding that have been available before but not as easily accessible.

http://members.ncss.org/se/6302/630202.html

primary sources

For the subject of Social Studies, it is important that students are taught how to find and use primary sources. Students in social studies courses are often uninterested in the textbook approaches. Luckily, with virtual schooling, students have access to primary sources at the click of a button. By teaching students how to locate and incorporate primary sources into their research and education, students are better prepared to meet the demands of college professors in the future.

Primary Source Resources:
One primary source resource that I found this week is the Spartacus Educational website. The website is a tool used by students and teacher in the United Kingdom that provides a list of topics along the left side of the website. When the links are clicked, information provided includes people involved to the historical event as well as many primary resources.
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/

Perhaps the most comprehensive resource for primary documents is the Library of Congress website which I have already included in a previous blog, but the Library of Congress has also created a program for teachers that teaches how to learn with primary sources http://www.loc.gov/teachers/tps/
http://www.eschoolnews.com/funding/funding-news/index.cfm?i=53076;_hbguid=78e814cc-c535-4550-b39c-43445e80aca9

A close second in the running for comprehensive primary source resource is the Primary Source Learning page which is a database of primary resources and links with the Library of Congress. This website helps teachers to identify/locate primary sources that are associated with a specific event or topic that they are teaching.
http://www.primarysourcelearning.org/index.shtml

world cultures

In the article "To Russia With...Technology" Beal explains how using technology can build expectations, create high interest, apply differentiated instruction, and provide alternative assessment opportunities for students. Beal and a team of graduate students work on the Russia Project that created "the ultimate virtual field trip" as Beal and two graduate students blogged and posted photographs of their trek across Russia that was a research based project used to prove that curriculum integration was the answer to how early adolescents learn best.

Beal describes their time in Russia and how the field trip worked: "Each day in Russia, we posted e-mails with digital pictures of the mountains of snow, cultural happenings, and historic buildings. Through word-of-mouth, we gained a following. When we returned, we answered e-mails from a host of sixth-grade teachers and students. Students had questions that we hadn’t addressed in our e-mails. We were asked to visit several classrooms to talk about the trip. Teachers suggested that we might want to broaden the project to involve them and their students."

While it is not possible for every teacher to take an elaborate trip across the globe to create a virtual field trip like Beal and the graduate students did, the resources for students to take the virtual trips that others have created are readily available.

As I observe the virtual school World Cultures class I see how the curriculum lends itself to the supplementary resources of virtual field trips to experience visually the imagery of other people and places. I think it is vital that students learn about the culture of other regions and people groups and it is hard to fully grasp what culture is through text only. I think the idea of virtual field trips will greatly benefit students of the virtual schools that use them as we work on helping students to understand the global culture that is fashioning around them.

http://members.ncss.org/se/6603/660304.shtml

virtual field trips

One of the exciting opportunities that virtual schools can provide students is the ability to travel the world from their computer. Virtual field trips allow students to have access to places they may never be able to go. Whether its the White House or Egypt, student can experience the sites and sounds that have been previously out of reach.

A quick search for virtual field trips pulls up hundreds of resources in any subject area. Students can have behind the scenes access to museums or can learn the history of a specific location. Virtual field trips provide students with the information they would learn from a textbook but it also provides a feeling of exploration and visualization that is often left out of text-based learning. The virtual school can use virtual field trip resources to supplement student learning.

Below are some of the virtual field trip resources I found interesting.


http://www.theteachersguide.com/virtualtours.html
http://www.thinkport.org/Classroom/trips.tp
http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/whtour/
http://www.middleschool.net/curlink/virtual.htm
http://www.techtrekers.com/virtualft.htm


http://members.ncss.org/se/6403/640305.html

technology and social studies

The article "Technology and Social Studies: An Introduction" the author Charles White discusses how technology has and is impacting technology. One important aspect of the impact of technology in social studies, and in any subject for that matter, is that today's students attention is often lost if not visual and technologically stimulated. In classrooms that are strictly textbooks and worksheet based students have little to no desire to learn. The virtual school provides students information through a media that interests them: the internet. Virtual schools, in addition to other technological innovations have provided a way to "attract and hold the attention of a new generation of young computer users, whose expectations for such realism have grown exponentially over the years."

One of the other benefits that the internet provides for social studies that this article mentions is that students are connected globally through newer technologies. White states "students and teachers are put in touch with resources around the world." By having access to people and places around the globe at their fingertips, students are better able to understand world cultures and regions that they may not be able to visit due to location or financial reasons. "Getting connected to distant people, places, and resources is the second great explosion of technology in recent years."

The virtual school that I am observing this semester is attended freely by students all over the state but is available to anyone at a fee. Other virtual schools and courses that I have perused throughout this course have students who attend from around the globe - such as the graduate course in which I am enrolled. Through discussion, blogging, and forums students learn about each other and the places they are from. Thus, culture is shared at the click of a button like never before.


http://members.ncss.org/se/6103/610303.html

Library of Congress Online Resources to Enhance History Teaching

An article published on the National Council for the Social Studies website
provided me with insight to historical resources available at the click of a button. The Library of Congress and the Social Science Education Consortium have digitized collections of photographs, playbills, musical compositions and a wide assortment of other items that place primary sources at a student's fingertips.

In addition to providing these resources, the Library of Congress also has model lessons for teachers to show them how they can incorporate these tools and resources into their lesson plans.

One of the things I noticed in the virtual school this week is that the front course page can be changed to match the course so that when students log in they can be engaged in materials from the first screen. My host said that images and audio could be added to this as well so this would be a good place to incorporate music from a specific location or time period to provide another glimpse into the historical perspective. Links to primary resources throughout the course also help students be able to have a visual connection to the past.

The Library of Congress - American Memory Collection:
The http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html

http://members.ncss.org/se/6203/620303.html

narrowing the search

As I am working to develop an area of "expertise" in virtual schooling I've been searching for articles that are written on virtual schooling and social studies (as a whole) yet my searching has been fairly unsuccessful. There are many articles that discuss technology in general and social science but nothing on virtual schooling. Thus, I have had to narrow down my search to two different areas: connecting students to their technology-based world and social studies resources for students online. My posts over the remainder of the course will relate to articles and websites in these areas and how they connect to what I'm seeing in the World Cultures course I'm observing in the virtual school.

One success of the seemingly unsuccessful search is that I have become a member of the National Council for the Social Studies (http://www.ncss.org/) that provides resources and discussion on the subject of social studies as well as provides teacher education. The NCSS also has an online journal connection called the Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education (CITE) Journal that connects technology (in general) with the core subjects, including Social Studies. (http://www.citejournal.org/)

some observations on assignments

This week one of my assignments from my mentor was to check out the lessons and complete some of the student assignments. I have completed two assignments and I didn't realize that it would immediately provide feedback on the assessment. What a great feature! I also really like the fact that it breaks the course down into three sections in the grade book and that students can see exactly where they stand at all times.

In our last phone conference we talked about integrity being an extremely important aspect of the program. One thing I noticed on the assessments is the warning - "WARNING: You must not leave this exam form! If you try to click back into this exam again prior to submitting, your access to it will be denied!" Just to test the system I wanted to see if in the Mozilla Firefox browser if it would flag something if I opened different tabs with one being the lesson and the other being the assessment. I was surprised that it allowed me to do so and didn't cancel my assessment.

Have any of you tested out features in the virtual school that have caught your attention?

It's too soon to tell

In my search for articles on online learning and virtual schools I have had the opportunity to read articles that came out as virtual schooling was on the horizon. "Is Virtual Schooling a Virtual Reality?" from The Educational Technology Journal in March 2001. This article caught my attention because it initially discussed the idea of the unknown "danger" of change that comes with introducing a new technology, but as I kept reading I found that several of the fears mentioned have been alleviated as technology has been used through virtual schools.

The major concerns that the article mentions are below followed by my comments on what I have observed in the virtual school:

• Students will not develop a deep understanding of their own emotions, or that of others. Without the full bandwidth of face-to-face interaction, understanding of reactions are reduced. Students are able to communicate their emotions in a rational and intelligent manner since they have time to think about exactly what they are feeling.
• The opportunity to form patterns of life-long friendship will be reduced. Children often meet others at school who remain important to them for many years. Students who matriculate through face-to-face educational programs often leave to pursue a variety of paths after they have finished their education and then they lose contact with those with whom they have been friends with for 12-13 years. It is through technology such as email, instant messaging and social networks such as facebook and myspace that those face-to-face relationships are continued. Thus, the possibility of life-long relationships being created and continued are not reduced but are potentially enhanced.
  
• By emphasizing the cognitive domain at the expense of the affective, understanding is reduced. It is much easier to teach facts with the use of a computer than to make people wise. I am not sure the validity of this concern because the school, whether face to face or virtual, is not designed around the goal of making students "wise" but of educating students with knowledge.
  
• As the face-to-face component of subjects is reduced, the school subjects themselves will change, and become less rich. The teaching method will affect the content. I have gone through many of the lessons in the virtual school that I am observing and have found the content to be extremely rich and more in-depth than the traditional classroom because the students have more time to learn the material than the face-to-face classroom that is confined by bell schedules and administrative functions (such as taking role).
  
• Differences in learning styles will mean that some students may learn less effectively than before. Conventional schools do not suit everybody, and it would be very surprising if virtual schools would be satisfactory for everyone Obviously this concern is not solved in the traditional school either. The virtual school that I am observing makes this a well known fact and offers the ability for students to work at different paces.
  
• Virtual schools may be promoted due to the self-interest of the economist, bureaucrat, or on-line entrepreneur, rather than on the evidence of educational research or merit. I have found the business aspect of the virtual school to be interesting but in questioning the teachers about the pressures of the business aspect I have found that the teachers are cognizant of the business pressure but they are not concerned with it. The main focus of the teachers in the virtual school is the student.
  
• Resentment by those who are unhappy with the virtual approach can lead to disruption. Just as some students disrupt their classes because they dislike conventional schools, it is likely that some virtual students will make life difficult for their parents, or for the community where they study. I have asked my mentor about this aspect and she has informed me that this has never been an issue that she has seen in her 8 years of working in a virtual school. If a student is unhappy with the virtual approach they are able to drop the course.
  
• The long-term effect on the relationships of future adults and their society is unknown. It is a possibility that poor socialization will lead to problems in the years ahead. While I think this is an interesting concern, I think that my response to this will have to be the same as the Chinese emperor Mao Tse-tung stated when asked about the effects (or success) of the French Revolution on the Revolution's bicentennial, “It’s too soon to tell.”
  

http://fno.org/mar01/virtualschool.html

at-risk online students

I spoke with my virtual school host yesterday and we discussed the types of students in her course and why the students were taking the course. One of my questions for my host was how effective is online learning for at-risk students who were unsuccessful in the traditional classroom? While all students are different she said that it really the student's success depended on how the student managed their time and how involved the parents were. She stated that she had at-risk students who were very successful in their completion of the course and others who dropped the course or were unsuccessful. Those at-risk students who were unsuccessful were more often than not those who's parents were seemingly uninvolved.

The eSchool News article "Webcast: Virtual school helps at-risk students succeed" discusses the Illinois Virtual High School (IVHS) that initially created The Graduation Recovery and Aptitude Development (eGRAD) program which helped at-risk students complete their high school education. The students involved in this program were parenting or pregnant teens, students who worked during the school day, those who were in jail, or others who failed courses and needed credit to graduate. While the eGRAD program was canceled due to a lack of funding another program was added to the IVHS to help at-risk students.

At-risk students in programs like the one at IVHS and other virtual schools are able to meet graduation requirements due to the support system that the virtual school system offers. The effort (even if it is a required effort) made by teachers to contact students directly and to be in consistent contact with parents throughout the course provides more support than the traditional classroom teacher often can offer to an at-risk student.

The ability to work at one's own pace is definitely another benefit that the virtual school offers to the at-risk student. Perhaps another aspect of the success of at-risk students is the ability to have a voice in the class after having the opportunity to think about what is being asked whereas the traditional classroom is often rushed by short time limits.

While the virtual school may not work for all students, it definitely sounds like it is worth a try for those students who have not found success in the traditional classroom.

is online learning gender biased?

As I continue to look into virtual education's ability to level the playing field I began to question how gender is affected by online learning. In my searching I came across a paper written by two authors from UNITEC Institute of Technology in New Zealand titled "Does Gender Matter in Online Learning?" which immediately caught my attention.

The research in this paper consider questions regarding student motivation, preferred study methods, personal commitments, access to technology, and support methods where the population of the study were first year students in an internet and web design course. The data for the study was collected in pre and post-course surveys, student assessments, and focus groups.

While this study showed that women appear to do better in the course they authors found that it is the study skills that the women who took the course had that helped them complete the course more successfully than the young males encountering the same materials. The mature women who were successful in this course had time management skills and worked when they could avoid distractions and found online learning to be flexible and convenient.

One of the questions that came out of this study that I found to be interesting is whether a course should be offered or required on "how to learn successfully online." I think this is an important aspect that should be considered. In working with my host teacher and reviewing the information that is given to the students as they begin the virtual course they are given study tips during their introduction to the course. As I spoke with my virtual school host this week she emphasized the need for students to possess time management and study skills, which at the middle grades level often has to be reinforced by a very involved parent, no matter what the student's gender is.

Perhaps there should be a short introductory online course offered in virtual schools that teach study skills and time management.

http://hyperdisc.unitec.ac.nz/research/ALTJpaper_9.pdf

customer service is key

This week I had a phone conference with my host teacher and another teacher of the virtual school and they provided me with background information into the virtual school chain of command and set-up. The virtual school is set up more like a corporate intity than a traditional school. Everyone reports ultimately to the CEO but the school is broken up into learning communities (such as humanities, career, math/science, etc) and each learning community has a leader. Under the learning community leader is the instructional leader to whom the teachers directly report to. If a problem or concern arises, the teachers are to talk with an instructional leader and work up the chain of command.

One of the things that I found interesting was the basis for school's funding. The teachers informed me that the virtual school is funded by the state based on the number of students who complete the course. For example, if 200 students start a course and only 125 complete the course then the school is only funded for the 125 students that finished the course. Each of the courses has a goal number of students to complete the course. Thus, the school is funded based on success which causes a "customer service" model where teachers continuation in the position depends both on the number of students to complete their courses and on data from surveys that students complete. Another difference from the traditional classroom is that none of the teachers on continuing contract but everyone is on an annual contract.

As I was searching for information I found that many virtual schools are set up in this fashion which can serve as a benefit to students. Since the traditional public school receives a large portion of funding from property taxes, students in wealthier areas have an advantage over those from poorer areas which leads to the learning gap. A book review of "Costs, Funding and the Provision of Online Education," by Linda Cavalluzzo , states that virtual schooling can benefit students because "the web-based classroom can cross geographic lines, it means a high-quality teacher and curriculum will be available to all students, regardless of their economic status." Yet another win for virtual schools being able to level the playing field!

I am definitely going to order this book and check out what all the author has to say!

http://www.cna.org/news/releases/WebFeature-050629.aspx

leveling the playing field

In discussing virtual schooling on a general level with family and friends one of the questions that has come up more than once is how virtual schools effect student relationships. While I have been learning about student relationships in over the course of my study, a more specific question that I have become curious about is whether or not virtual schools have the ability to close the learning gap, so over the course of the class this will be one of the topics that I blog about.

This week as I was searching about ways that online learning compares and contrasts with face to face learning I came across an article that that mentioned one of the ways that online learning surpasses face to face learning: highly interactive discussions. The article mentioned that students who are intimidated to participate in classroom discussion feel open to the idea of discussion when they are able to comment via forums and discussion boards. Many of the ideas that would have been missed from more introverted students in the traditional classroom are heard through the use of asynchronous discussion boards that require students to comment.

One of the most interesting statements in this article was "many online instructors have also observed that the relative 'anonymity' of online discussions helps create a level playing field for women, homosexuals, students with physical handicaps, and members of other potentially marginalized groups, as they can participate in class activities without being stigmatized." As the NCLB Act has brought great attention to the learning gap and the need to bridge the gap. I think for this reason alone, the idea of online learning being able to help students learn on a level playing field has become a topic of educational policy makers and leaders alike.

I also came across the Virtual School Symposium that will be taking place in Phoenix, AZ in October where the topic is "Bridging the Gap through Online Learning." Have any of you attended the Virtual School Symposium before? Sounds interesting!
http://www.virtualschoolsymposium.org/



Ten Ways Online Education Matches, or Surpasses, Face-to-Face Learning

what an opportunity

I had the opportunity to speak with the virtual school teacher that I will be interning with in our program. She gave me an overview of how her day works and her needs with working from home. While everyone she meets tells her how lucky she is to work from home she said that they are fooled because there are many difficulties associated. Originally desiring to work from home when children were born, the hope to be able to stay home and work with the kids isn't entirely possible. As noted in an article by the New York Times on January 3, 2008, the distractions of working at home can be countless. The teacher I'm working with takes her children to daycare in order to have a quiet time to work.

The other great difficulty she mentioned was that it is hard to step away from work when it is looming on the other side of the room. The NY Times article states "One of the hardest adjustments for those working from home is deciding when to take a break, and when to quit for the day. With the computer always beckoning and the commute measured in the time it takes to cross the living room, there’s always a reason to go back to work — or an excuse to avoid it." I am interested in seeing how the teacher I am observing juggles all of her students and her family life.

While I have spent countless classroom hours learning how to incorporate technology into my curriculum, I am looking forward to this experience where I observe how fully deliver content through technology online.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/03/garden/03nooffice.html?scp=3&sq=working+from+home&st=nyt

the desire to get involved and to learn at the tips of your fingers....

An important part of the classroom education is not just the cognitive growth that a student experiences but also the emotional and social development that occurs in the life of a student. One concern of those who are not supportive of the digital learning environment is that students will not be able to grow in these areas. This week USA Today online published an article regarding the rise of youth volunteerism which is due to the use of the Internet. Through sites such as Myspace and Facebook, students are able to rally support for causes and create bonds with other students having the same concerns. Social networking has not only allowed students to connect with others, but has created an arena for political activism and citizenship action.

As a social studies teacher who longs for students to understand the past in the present, I think such an increase in activism and volunteerism is an excellent method for students to learn about history. Students who are taking a stand are having to learn about the political arena in which they are standing. They have to research the global situation and they learn the global players. They are not only able to identify representatives, but they are contacting political leaders. Students are learning geography of other nations and areas as they are taking a stand. "Robert Rhoads, who teaches a class on the history of student activism at the University of California, Los Angeles. "There's a greater political consciousness among students," he says. "The Internet has played a role in that."'(Koch, 2008) Unlike the 1960s when American students would take protests to the streets the students of today are taken protesting through the written word as was done in the 1770s when the colonies stood against Britain. Volunteering to make a change has been sparked through internet interest groups as students take what they have learned and put it in action. Jeff Berman, Myspace's executive vice president for marketing states that this change that is being seen as volunteerism and activism rises amongst the youth of the country "is all part of the democratization of the world that the Internet offers."(Koch, 2008)

As virtual schooling increases, I truly believe that the connection to student activism will increase student interest in the subject area of social studies and will benefit both our students and our nation. While students are becoming involved in volunteer projects, fundraising, and lobbying they are also growing emotionally and socially as they connect with others who have the same concerns. Chat rooms and forums are filled by students who are discussing how they can change the world. Those who are nonsupporting of the online educational process should review the conversations that are taking place amongst online students that are student lead and examine the rise in youth activism as students are seeking change and realize the benefit of the Internet in the educational process for social networking and growth.

Koch, W (2008, March, 12). Internet spurs upswing in volunteerism. USA Today, Retrieved March 14, 2008, from http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2008-03-12-youthactivism_N.htm

bringing the past to present students...

I am interested in K-12 virtual schooling within the content area of Social Science. As students are growing up in a technology-driven society I think that virtual schooling is the future that is being realized in the present.

I think that the integration and/or the full use of technology to deliver historical content provides a way to engage students with the past through the vast resources that are now available to them.

My goal is to learn how to better use technology to engage and educate students through observation of a virtual classroom. I am very excited about this opportunity!