History Class Launches Newspaper Publication
(Incorporating Technology with Social Studies Instruction)

La Vonne (Key) Williams
Texas A&M University – Kingsville

     Of all subjects taught in the modern educational system, the social sciences have lagged behind other fields in the use of technology. The causes for this are varied; tradition may play a part, a lack of emphasis on the discipline, or even fiscal restraints could be blamed. Perhaps the main culprit is the belief that the field does not lend itself to a high-tech environment; i.e., “history should be learned from a history book.” In reality, nothing could be further from the truth. Many opportunities exist for the teacher of social sciences to enhance class work, foster student initiative, and increase the amount of information available for study by utilizing technology. In short, technology can be used to help teachers teach and students learn.

Which Came First – Teach or Learn?

     Look up the meaning of “teach” in a good dictionary. “To impart knowledge...to provide knowledge of” or “to cause to learn” are standard entries, usually followed by a long list of synonyms such as “instruct, train, tutor” (Webster’s II New Riverside University Dictionary, 1984).   Then look up “learn.” Not surprisingly, its meaning is simply the flip side; “to gain knowledge, comprehension or mastery of through study or experience” will likely be the crux of the primary definition (Webster’s II New Riverside University Dictionary, 1984).
     The two words are inextricably linked, much like “cause and effect,” or “action and reaction.” Perhaps the two terms are joined by something less fathomable, such as “the chicken or the egg,” in that one cannot have existed before the other. In any case, teaching and learning are the accepted processes in every culture for enabling its members to conduct their lives in an informed manner. The passing and receiving of information is conducive to the contentment and well-being of the individual, whatever his or her aspirations, and is critical to the success of society as a whole.
Education in a Rut
     The techniques for passing and receiving information went unchanged for thousands of years. Simple hands-on instruction from father to son, mother to daughter, or master to apprentice was sufficient to relay the skills needed for carrying out the duties of a mercantile, agrarian, or military lifestyle. Through the Industrial Age of the nineteenth century and the middle of the twentieth, there was no need to alter the traditional means for relaying knowledge from generation to generation. Even the changes from scrolls and quills to paper and pen to blackboard and chalk were minor innovations, merely different ways for doing the same thing. Indeed, an informed individual (teacher) passing along knowledge to the student (learner) continued with little basic technological change until the latter part of the twentieth century.
     In public education, the knowledge conveyed remained limited by specific criteria defined by school boards and implemented with those bodies’ decisions on textbooks and library content. Requirements for teachers and curricula, similarly restrictive, allowed little leeway in the methods for accumulation, assimilation, and presentation of subject matter. Clearly, the Information Age—the period that began with the space race of the 1950s—had trouble arriving and even more trouble growing. Change, it seemed, was hard.

Time for a Change?

     During the rapid advancement of knowledge that was occurring in the late twentieth century, winds of change were created by the demands of industry, finance, and commerce. World-wide market competition had forced those institutions to turn to new technologies for success and profits. As a result, they began to clamor for a new breed of workforce, one which would be better informed and more accepting of the technological advancements required to keep pace with innovation and competition. Dedicated vocational schools and specialized in-house training provided interim relief, but companies soon tired of the expense and uncertainty of hiring people with little or no specific knowledge of their employer’s business. Criticism flowed, especially in leading nations, and the blame was laid upon the educational system of those countries. Management and shareholders felt they were being saddled with the job educators were supposed to be doing: preparing people by providing them with the latest knowledge, knowledge tailored to real-life situations. The traditional education had failed because it had long advocated a “one size fits all” approach that was of limited value to companies seeking immediate production from new employees.
     Despite the carping and the aptly named “education gap,” educational institutions, as a whole, were slow to react, partially because of fiscal constraints, but also due to some resistance to changing the long-accepted methods of educating society. Even at the university level, tradition and policy played a part in retention of the status quo. Except for a few ivy-covered walls housing the latest in computer technology, many institutions of higher learning held fast to classroom environments based on rote memorization of lectures, and textbooks remained the primary repository of information.

A Web of Change

     The advent of the Internet in the late 1980s—an off-shoot of the internal information network used by the U. S. Defense Department—facilitated a tremendous expansion in the storehouse of information. Using the Internet, it is possible to access a vast collection of computers known as the World Wide Web (“the web”), which “provide immediate access to a galaxy of information on almost every subject” (Chapin, 2006, p. 309). Entire books take up less physical space than the period at the end of this sentence. The information can be entered, catalogued, arranged, and listed with a few keystrokes, then retrieved later with a few more. The result is a convenient, user-friendly resource, a cache of information that has forever changed the way we handle information and glean knowledge from it.
     In addition to increasing the amount of information stored, the web also altered the way information is accessed and used. Perhaps nowhere is that change more noticeable than in the process of education, the product of the two above-mentioned words, “learn” and “teach.” Educators are no longer confined to the limited amount of subject matter between the covers of the required textbook for a given class. The Internet is the doorway to a mammoth collection of information on every subject within man’s sphere of intellect. “Moreover, it is a tool that is being accessed with increased frequency” (Berson, Cruz, Duplass, and Johnston, 2001, p. 7). The information is there in vast quantities, so much that efficiency in finding, evaluating, and using it are among the challenges faced by today’s educators. This paper will provide options to these challenges and answer questions that perplex social studies teachers time and time again when attempting to break the cycle of the “read the book and answer the question at the end of the chapter.”

The Social Studies Teacher’s Quandary

     “What do I do this week that will keep my class interested in learning social studies and retain what they are learning?” How many times have social studies teachers stared at a blank page and asked themselves this question when attempting to create lesson plans that will aid students’ acquisition skills and enjoy learning at the same time? Social studies, specifically history, have been taught over the years as rote memorization of material from a textbook. Students were instructed to read chapter so-and-so and be ready for discussion, quiz, or review. The teacher was expected to expound on the same textbook material via lecture and worksheet. Seldom were other sources consulted by either students or teachers, rendering the process unexciting and lifeless. Clearly, something else was needed to augment the wellspring of information while amplifying the teacher’s efforts to convey the knowledge.
EUREKA!
     That “something else” is available because of modern technology. Technology can be a valuable lesson support for educators, provided it is used efficiently. Note that support “does not mean the central component of a lesson; it can instead be ‘popped’ in as just one among many other strategies” (Bitter and Pierson, 2005, p. 115). By providing an alternative to reading a textbook, students are afforded opportunities to:

• Engage in alternative hands-on group projects
• Utilize Higher Ordered Thinking Skills (HOTS)
• Sharpen their research, organization, and communication skills

All of these activities enhance the learning experience and provide the teacher with a tool to encourage students to self-start.
Guide on the Side
     The use of technology has greatly reduced the need for the teacher to be “the sage on the stage.” But this doesn’t mean the class is simply placed on auto-pilot; instead, the teacher’s function becomes that of the “guide on the side,” an equally important component in the learning process. Without proper guidance, recommendations, and parameters, a technology-based classroom environment can become unproductive or downright chaotic. This may entail varying degrees of instruction on the use of the Internet, depending upon the technological experience of individuals in the class. At the other end of the spectrum, some students will not remain focused on the assignment at hand without firm parameters and “rules of the game.”
Do it in Order
     Use of technology in the classroom can be highly effective if an orderly, logical strategy is implemented before the assignment or project is begun. This will prevent wasting time and ensure that students have a “roadmap” for achieving their goal. However, in addition to diversity of information, flexibility is a major benefit. For example, while looking at the following timeline used in an assignment to create a historically correct newspaper, bear in mind that flexibility can be incorporated into any or all of the steps:
ASSIGNMENT: TO CREATE A HISTORICALLY CORRECT NEWSPAPER (From a particular time in history, a country or region, or built around a popular historical figure)

• Day 1: Students gain the base knowledge from which to work. The details of the assignment must be given clearly and concisely to enable students to begin research. This can be facilitated via lectures, overhead slides, or Socratic Method of questioning.
• Day 2: Review prior day’s information. Questions or concerns may have arisen since last class. This can be facilitated via films, group/class discussions, question and answer sessions.
• Day 3: Group formation When the teacher is satisfied that students have base knowledge to work with, groups need to be formed. The teacher must be mindful of personality conflicts which might interfere with the project. Group composition for this assignment might include “editor,” “copy editor,” “layout person,” “reporter,” and “copy clerk.” (Teacher: don’t forget to reserve the media center for the next class period!)
• Day 4: Data acquisition day(s). Groups spend time acquiring data, recording or printing same for later use. Groups should be cautioned to use this time wisely, reviewing all information they find for relevance to the assignment. It should then be filed or otherwise categorized for ready access at a later time.
• Day 5: Review of acquired data and layout of same in newspaper. Spend a class period or two going over the process of formatting a newspaper. The teacher may wish to assign different publishing philosophies to each group, that is, one group might use the Wall Street Journal and format their paper in “business” format; another might use a popular national daily such as the New York Times or San Francisco Chronicle; still another might incorporate the philosophies found in the Washington Post, Dallas Morning News or Chicago Tribune. This stage may readily lend itself to teaming with an English teacher or journalism teacher.
• Day 6: “Going to print.” Technology has provided us with a multitude of tools; among them are programs that can print journals, periodicals, and newspapers. For the class with access to these types of tools, one more opportunity to utilize technology can be realized within the classroom. If such hardware/software is unavailable, it may be necessary to approach a local printing firm or newspaper office for assistance. Usually, these firms will be happy to assist with the assignment and demonstrate their expertise and equipment at little or no cost. (The offer to “advertise” such a firm in the finished product would be a good idea.) This step may entail a field trip to the accommodating facility; in turn, students can experience the process first-hand and consider the idea of a future career in the reporting, publishing, or printing business.

What Objectives Were Met?

     Every teacher is faced with the above question when composing lesson plans. For the above-described assignment, consider the following:

• Students utilized the Internet, encyclopedias (online or hard copies), and history books to refine their historical research skills.
• Students communicated their ideas in a structured and written format.
• Students discovered what life was like for people of the assigned era or region.
• Students analyzed primary and secondary sources pertaining to the era of study.

     While composition of the lesson plan may or may not be the teacher’s biggest concern, it is a good way to evaluate a particular assignment. There are a lot of pressing matters in education, but the most important is creating an environment that is conducive to learning by using all available tools. In the above assignment, the use of technology was a major force in accomplishing the task at hand. The students were able to access a large amount of information promptly and easily, glean through it for relevance to the assignment, and compile the newspaper in a professional fashion. It is certain that they benefited from the environment afforded by technology and that it was conducive to their learning experience.
     For the teacher, “using all available tools” includes combining traditional means of classroom management, lecture, and discussion, while incorporating innovative ideas into the assignment and using technology to implement those ideas. For the creative educator, utilization of all methods is helpful, but most of all, it must be recognized that the possibilities of the imagination are limitless. How far does your imagination reach?

References

Berson, M. J., Cruz, B. C., Duplass, D. A., & Johnson, J. H. (2001). Social studies on the internet. Upper
              Saddle River, New Jersey: Merrill Prentice Hall.
Bitter, G. G., & Pierson, M. E. (2005). Using technology in the classroom (6th ed.). Boston: Allyn and
              Bacon.
Chapin, J. R. (2006). Elementary social studies (6th ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Webster’s II new riverside university dictionary. (1984). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.