Chapter 6: Toward democracy Social Studies and TPCK

Chapter 6: Toward democracy Social Studies and TPCK

This chapter helped reinforce that I am using technology the right way. Teaching social studies is much more then just content. There are reading levels, IEP plans and personal circumstances that are involved in every class. John K. Lee explains that using the internet has so many opportunities for our students.
Using the internet for resources is a huge part of my class. There is not one particular book that my students are lectured from. Lee is right when he says that it takes an enormous amount of time to sort through materials that are appropriate for my students. This also means that what is appropriate for one class may not work for another class. The primary and secondary sources that are available on the internet give my students a way to become more active in their education.
Lee also talks a lot about how students need technological skills to be competitive in the real world. I am a true believer of this. As an educator we need to help students evaluate resources. What is true? What do I need to know from this source?
Lee also touches upon the idea that with unlimited access to the internet students have potential for plagiarism. The students that I have do not understand the seriousness of plagiarism in August, but when June comes around they know exactly how to cite and turn information into their own words. We assume that they know what plagiarism is. My point being and Lee’s point is that we need to teach our students how to “use” technology correctly.
I really liked the different ways that a social studies classroom could use technology through presentation of their work. Students love using technology to present their finished work. Many of my assessments end with some final product using technology.
How many times have I heard that technology is decreasing human interaction. I always roll my eyes at the people that say this. I really liked what Lee had to say about human interaction using technology. It is the real world and we are in the real world. There are so many issues with harassment using facebook, myspace and texting , but instead of blaming it on technology we need to teach our students and parents how to use this tool for good. Teaching them, “Etiquette, responsibility, rights, safety and security” is the way to go. (Lee, p. 138)
This chapter gave me a great resource for my colleagues that struggle with using and understand the importance of technology. I will be using this chapter in my department meetings as well as the leadership team meetings.