Verified Document

Smartboard Affects Social Studies Core Literature Review

However, some success has already been reported anecdotally. Byrd (2005) stated "this new wave of teaching is so much more hands-on, integrated and thematic instead of worksheet and drill-oriented." (p. 12) in teaching social studies content at Byrd's school, Liberty Drive Elementary in Thomasville, North Carolina, teachers retrieve maps and images from a database; teachers and students alike can use Smart Board highlighters to note geographic features.

Similarly, in a study sponsored by the University of Michigan-Dearborn, social studies teachers reported that students were more engaged in lessons delivered with the use of technology and the level of student achievement increased. Taylor and Duran (2006) were not surprised by this finding and noted "the positive effects which the use of computers has on student achievement in history have been documented by the United States Department of Education." (p. 10)

The use of technology in the social studies classroom is not a brand-new phenomenon. Even ten years ago, White (2000) concluded that

Social Studies has experienced a tremendous transformation regarding the integration of technology. Despite remaining a discipline whose status in schools and society is much less than adequate, professional social studies educators are engaging in dynamic technology oriented projects. These projects not only have a very positive influence on the discipline of social studies itself, but we are also witnessing a greater impact on our students. (p.1)

Ten years hence, technology has evolved in ways that White, indeed any of us, could scarcely imagine. While there is no data that tells us exactly how many classrooms nationwide are equipped with Smart Boards (and how many of those are being used on a regular basis), there is evidence that there are a good number of teachers of social studies who are using Smart Boards. The Smart Exchange, a free website sponsored by Smart Technologies, invites teachers within all disciplines to post lessons they have created. Anyone can download lessons to use "as is" or...

As of the writing of this paper, there were nearly eight hundred social studies lessons posted. A simple Google search, using the terms "smart board" and "social studies" revealed that a number of school and district websites are repositories for lessons created by teachers and made available for use by others.
Conclusion

Research indicates that today's students are technologically savvy and expect that technology will be used in the classroom. Research also indicates that students are more engaged in lessons in which they can actively participate, using technology as a learning tool. It seems reasonable to expect that Smart Board technology will be effective for teaching social studies to a group of fifth graders with diverse learning styles and abilities. It seems reasonable to expect that greater engagement will facilitate understanding of the content, as reflected in scores on end-of-chapter tests, a measure used by all the fifth grade classrooms school-wide.

References

Byrd, D. (January-February, 2005). Sixteen whiteboards capture students' attention. Media & Methods, 41(4), 11-12.

Chapman, E. (2003). Practical assessment, research and evaluation. Retrieved from http://pareonline.net/getvn.asp?v=8&n=13

Olson, C.A. (February, 2010). Making the tech connection. Teaching Music. 17(5), 30-35.

Smart Exchange. Retrieved from http://exchange.smarttech.com/search.html

q=social%20studies

Tally, B. (2007, Spring). Digital technology and the end of social studies education. Theory and Research in Social Education, 35(2) 305-321.

Taylor, J.A., & Duran, M. (2006, November). Teaching social studies with technology: New research on collaborative approaches. History Teacher, 40(1) 9-25.

White, C. ed.. (2000). Society for information technology and teacher education international conference: Proceedings of SITE 2000 (11th, San Diego, California, February 8-12, 2000). Retrieved from http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED444562.pdf

Sources used in this document:
References

Byrd, D. (January-February, 2005). Sixteen whiteboards capture students' attention. Media & Methods, 41(4), 11-12.

Chapman, E. (2003). Practical assessment, research and evaluation. Retrieved from http://pareonline.net/getvn.asp?v=8&n=13

Olson, C.A. (February, 2010). Making the tech connection. Teaching Music. 17(5), 30-35.

Smart Exchange. Retrieved from http://exchange.smarttech.com/search.html
White, C. ed.. (2000). Society for information technology and teacher education international conference: Proceedings of SITE 2000 (11th, San Diego, California, February 8-12, 2000). Retrieved from http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED444562.pdf
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Technology in Learning of Elementary
Words: 10688 Length: 39 Document Type: Thesis

For the purposes of this review, Web-based instruction is considered to be any educational or training program distributed over the Internet or an intranet and conveyed through a browser, such as Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator. Java applet-based instruction is a special form of Web-based instruction. Although there is very little research on comparing the effectiveness of Java applet-based instruction to the traditional face-to-face offering. However Web-based instruction has received enough

Reading Comprehension and Reading
Words: 1990 Length: 5 Document Type: Case Study

Learning Disability Student ESL There is an urgent necessity to help reading-disabled pupils read, since weak reading skills are linked to serious consequences. Children who fail at reading properly will be prone to dropping out of school and facing pervasive scholastic issues. To add to this scenario's urgency, standard instruction does not aid most pupils who fail to grasp adequate reading skills during their early elementary years even till they

Goal of Indiana Students Reading
Words: 3549 Length: 13 Document Type: Term Paper

Clickers/Responses Phonics Lesson Phonics Long Vowel - Silent e Lesson Plan for Special Education Objectives: Students will recognize and say words that follow the c-v-c-e and v-c-e rule where the first vowel is a long vowel and the final e is silent. By using the Clickers/Responses as a classroom game they will utilize them after hearing the correct sounds. Students with the will be able to spell and write out some basic long vowel

Curriculum Evaluation Plan Essay
Words: 2648 Length: Document Type: Essays

Introduction This evaluation plan provides a description concerning how the curriculum committee will collaborate to achieve an improved language arts curriculum for grades 6 through 8 at Haddonfield Middle School (hereinafter alternatively “Haddonfield” or “the school”), a public school located in Haddonfield, New Jersey.The Middletown Township Public Schools recognize the need for ongoing curricular evaluation. Based on its stated mission (described below), Haddonfield’s educators are committed to providing the highest quality

Observation Portfolio Classroom of Special Education
Words: 3573 Length: 12 Document Type: Essay

Observation Portfolio – Special Education Classroom Introduction This observation portfolio paper presents a summary of my experience and knowledge gained from analyzing four observation sessions in a special education classroom setting. Observation 1 and 2 was conducted in the morning, observation 3 of 4 took place during lunch break, and observation 4 of 4 was conducted in the afternoon. Each of the four observation sessions is discussed below. Observation 1 of 4 Observation Summary The

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now