Example #2 of Uses of Technology in the Social Studies Classroom: Movies and Documentaries

As I have mentioned before, teaching social studies is being done wrong in many classrooms. As I have also mentioned, technology can help change that. Last post I mentioned the use of podcasts. This post, I am going to talk about movies and documentaries. Movies and documentaries can be educations best friend or worst nightmare. They can be used in a great way, or a terrible way. When it is used correctly, film can be used as supplemental material in an entertaining way. It can help visual learners understand the content better. It can also be a nice educational and useful break from taking notes and lecturing. However, teachers must make sure that the film is accurate, helpful, engaging, and not just an excuse for the teacher to take a break from teaching. I remember I had to watch short clips in eighth grade science class that were probably at least ten years old and incredibly boring. The teacher would not say anything about the clips, she would not have us answer questions on a worksheet, or discuss it after it was done. Lazy teachers love movies, and so do great teachers. So, how does a great teacher utilize film in the classroom?

A teacher should not flip an old camera 

like this on and let the kids watch a movie

with no discussion or supplementary material

Teachers can use documentaries, short films, and movies in the classroom. However, if it is best to not show a long movie or long documentary. I would recommend keeping it under thirty minutes at a time. Films can be used to further explain a historical event that is talked about in class. It can be used as a visual textbook. I think that is the best way to describe what film should be used as in class: a visual textbook. It should not be used as a break for teachers and it should not be used as a reward for some classes and not others. Furthermore, film should have supplemental material with it. For example, students should have to answer some questions during the film or write a reflection paragraph after the film. Another option is to have class discussion or group discussion about how the film related back to the recent lessons.

Another way films can be used in the classroom is by using a flipped classroom format. The largest and most obvious con is the issues of accessibility. However, if a teacher can find a way around that, it is a great way to utilize film in the social studies classroom. This will give more time for students and teachers to work on worksheets about the film in class and discuss the film as a class. 

Example #1 of Uses of Technology in the Social Studies Classroom: Podcasts

As was mentioned in the previous post, technology must come together with history in order to better educate and interest the youth. By doing this, it can allow history to be engaging and interesting, yet still certainly educational. There are plenty of great ways to incorporate technology into education. Unfortunately, there are also many ways to incorporate technology into education that is awful. However, as the world of technology advances at a rapidly increasing rate, better ways of using technology for education are being developed. Uses of short films and documentaries, Google earth, online interactive and collaborative games, virtual reality, and podcasts are starting to show up in classrooms more often than ever before. This post will be discuss of the uses of the last format listed: podcasts.

A podcast microphone.
With Anchor, all you need is a phone.

Podcasts are a great way for students to learn, either by listening to them or by making them themselves. I had to make a podcast for a college history class and really enjoyed it and thought it was a beneficial educational experience. If one is to have their students listen to podcasts, they need to be short podcasts or excerpts from a larger podcast. When students see it is just ten minutes instead of an hour they will be less discouraged to actually listen to it. Furthermore, they can do it on their own time. They can listen to it while working out, driving to or from school, in the hallways between classes, at lunch, etc.

A great and creative way for students to also further their education is to make a podcast themselves. Anchor is a fantastic, and most importantly free, podcast app that can be used by students. It is super simple to use and has basic editing options to make it sound professional. You can also just use your phone to record the podcast. One example how students can use this is to summarize an event in history. Instead of writing a paper, they can make a podcast. Or instead of giving a presentation or another type of project, a podcast can be made. Then the other students would listen to the student’s podcast. I do not want students to use a podcast to avoid presenting to the whole class, because that is an important fear to confront and skill to have. So, I would make sure that if students do make a podcast, the class would have to listen together, or individually and answer some questions about it. The questions would be made up by the student that did the podcast. Another option would be to do a group podcast which could help produce collaborative and team working skills

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The Education of History and How We Can Revitalize It By Use of Technology

Many old boring looking books.
Who wants to study history like this?

Today in American secondary schools, teachers are facing a dilemma of students not caring and not being interested in school. Students would much rather watch Netflix, be on social media, listen to music, or be playing video games. The previous activities listed all have one thing in common: technology. Teachers who were born well before these students are now experiencing a technological divide. Their experience with technology is different, how they use technology is different, and their overall opinions about technology are different. This is an obvious problem for the teacher and the student. This is a problem that needs a solution and needs a solution quickly because students' educations are being affected by it. This problem especially affects history teachers because many students think history is boring. This blog will explain that history is being taught incorrectly. History is being taught by teachers that have their students take notes for an hour from a large powerpoint. After fifteen days of doing this, they take a multiple choice test with two short answers and then its on to the next unit.

This manufacturing of information is not how history is supposed to be taught. It makes students think all history is boring and just bunch of words on a page. This is not what history is. This blog will go to show that the best way to teach history is by using a combination of a traditional lecture style with technological integration that engage the students. Additionally, I am not advocating for virtual schooling. I know the pitfalls of that. I am against virtual schooling, if possible. This blog is about using technology in the classroom and also with a flipped classroom format. Students are using technology already, teachers can either use it too or get left behind.

The reason that I chose this is because I am frustrated with old school educators refusing to adapt to the current times. I am incredibly passionate about history and education. I am one of those students who could sit in a history lecture for an hour and a half and love it. However, I am a realist and realize that most people are not like this. So, I want to create and share ideas about how history teachers can better use technology to teach history. I remember in high school my US History teacher would just lecture for fifty minutes from a powerpoint with bullet points every single day from August to May. I loved the class and thought it was incredibly interesting. How many other students are going to love it like I did though? I would assume not many, so we need to create other mediums of teaching to make sure students are more interested and actually learning the material. The time of your old teacher droning on about George Washington for fifty minutes is gone, and the time of technology integration to teach the past is here.