Tips for Deciding About Technology Products

Not all technology products are created equal. And using technology products for their own sake in the classroom will send you down plenty of pedagogical blind alleys and up educational dead-end streets. Caveat emptor! Social studies teachers need to select and use these products carefully and wisely. Here are three rules of thumb for doing so.

1. GOALS, GOALS, GOALS: Remember that technology products are tools. Tech activities for their own sake simply will not get you where you want to go. Be sure that you use the digital technology products to support your social studies educational goals. Those goals should hinge on teaching "big ideas" that are connected to the threads we discuss in our book. If the technological products don't fit this first and foremost rule, don't adopt them. As of yet, they can't do your goal planning, thinking, and decision making for you. Make them serve your goals; don't become a slave to their use.
   
   
2. SMART USE: Your time is limited, and many technology products, such as software packages, are complex and can have steep learning curves. That shouldn't scare you away; many of you are already very technological literate. It's just that you need to go slowly, testing out one product at a time, learning its uses and limits, and figuring out if it fits the first criteria, GOALS.
   
   
3. ASK AROUND: Ask your colleagues about products and programs and websites you see that you might like to try out with your students. Find out if anyone you know has used them and what effect these products have had in their classrooms. Be sure to ask your colleagues whether these products served their pedagogical and learning goals.

To learn more about using the Internet for educational purposes, see the book Integrating Technology for Meaningful Learning by Mark and Cindy Grabe, published by Houghton Mifflin. The following four web sites also provide guidelines for selecting reliable and respectable material (for social studies and related topics) from what's available on the Internet:

Center for Media Literacy
http://www.medialit.org

Media Awareness Network
http://www.media-awareness.ca

The WebQuest Page
http://www.webquest.sdsu.edu

History Matters
http://www.historymatters.gmu.edu