Who Are They? National Study on the Status of Social Studies Teachers Reveals a Profile of High Frequency

Technology Users

National Council for the Social Studies CUFA Nov. 15, 2012Gayle Y. Thieman, Joseph E. O’Brien,

Phillip J. VanFossen, & Michael J. Berson

Prelude: Teens & Technology• 95% of teens are online• Internet-using teens ages 12-17

– 37% video chat– 27% record & upload video to Internet– 13% stream video live to Internet for others to watch(Pew Internet & American Life Project, Teens & Online Behavior, 2012)

• 31% of 14-17 year olds own smartphones• Median teen texters send 60 texts/day

(Pew Internet & American Life Project, Teens, Smartphones & Texting, 2012)

While we know what teachers should do, what is less clear is what they report doing

Given the digital nature of today’s youth, “[teachers] must leverage [technology] to provide engaging and powerful learning experiences and content, as well as resources and assessments that measure student achievement in more complete, authentic, and meaningful ways” (U.S. Department of Education, 2010, p. ix)

We examined data from the Survey on Status of

Social Studies to ask:

• What is the profile of social studies teachers who have been labeled frequent classroom users of digital/Internet technology?

• How does technology used by teachers and students vary across grade levels?

rhetoricalcommons.org

Survey Questions

1. Describe the Internet access in your classroom

2. How often do you use technology to:

• support learner- centered strategies

• develop students' higher order skills and creativity

• address the content standards.http://www.flickr.com/photos/masseoe/

8167753498/lightbox

3. How often do you engage students in lessons that use:

– interactive multi- media presentations

– instructional strategies that utilize digital images/primary sources

– digital media, e.g., digital camera, cell phone, iPod, or digital videohttp://www.flickr.com/photos/

39298497@N03/3613170394/sizes/m/

4. How often do you have students use the Internet during your social studies instruction to:

– find and examine primary source materials

– collect information for reports or project

– complete a Webquest or other inquiry activity

– take a virtual field trip to an online museum

– communicate with others (students, historians)

– Communicate with students from another country

– develop Web 2.0 projects (podcasts, wikis…)

Methods of AnalysisTo determine which teachers were high-frequency users of

digital technology:

• created a simple scale variable by summing responses to the 16 survey items about the frequency of use of digital technology and/or the Internet (VanFossen, 1999-2000).

• conducted analysis on sample of highest & lowest frequency users (n=2,138) (Note: n of total public school teachers in the survey was 10,796)

• explored what differentiates high-frequency users from low-frequency users.

Characteristics of High Frequency Technology Users

Technology Access 55.8% in classroom with fast, reliable Internet connection for computers

35.%% in classroom with slow/no Internet connection for computers

Gender 66% are male 43.9% are female

Educational Degree 72% with doctorate 42.5 % with BA

Teacher Licensure Program 58.6 % in post-baccalaureate program

48.1% in 5 year teacher education program

Years Teaching Experience 52.7% with 6 years or more 40.2% with less than 5 year

Professional intention 53.3% Be a teacher as long as possible

34.4% leave as soon as possible

Primary goal of social studies teach critical thinking & decision-making

51.3% who agree 20.4% who disagree

Coaching 71.3% who do not coach 46.3% who coach

SES of students 71.1% who teach students in upper SES

41.4% who teach students in lower SES

Frequency of Use by Grade Level

Primary – K-3 (n=2295) Intermediate – 4-5 (n= 1637)

Middle – 6-8 (n=2892)High – 9-12 (n=3293)

For some analyses combined primary & intermediate into elementary (n=3932)middle & high into secondary (n=6185)

Elementary versus Secondary Teachers’ Use of Technology

At least weekly teachers… Elementary SecondaryUse computer-based social studies instruction

14% 26%

Use technology to develop higher-order thinking and creativity

19% 54%

Use interactive multimedia presentations

39% 51%

Use digital images and primary sources

37% 57%

Have fast reliable Internet for classroom computers

75% 65%

Students’ Use of Technology

At least weekly students Primary (K-3)

Intermediate (4-5)

Middle School

High School

Use Internet in social studies class

13% 19% 19% 24%

Use Internet to find/examine primary sources

12% 17% 18% 24%

Use internet to collect information for projects

10% 22% 20% 26%

Use Internet to complete a webquest

5% 9% 7% 10%

On some questions primary teachers reported less use of technology than did intermediate, middle or high school teachers.

Discussion: Years of Experience

Tracking data suggests that early career teachers in their 20’s have personal high tech digital profiles: Internet access, use of social networking sites, wireless connectors, and own laptop, iPod or MP3 player, game console, and smart phone (Rainie, 2011).

Why are early career teachers less likely to use technology with their students?

Informal learning gained from such life experiences does not readily translate into academic content and skills (Bull, et al. 2008)

“Most of the [digital] tools weadvocate using…are unwieldyto manage in the classroomand require a great deal ofprior planning to useeffectively. If it takes experiencedteachers who are comfortablewith the technology [four hours]to prepare a successful classroomactivity, how long must it takemore novice teachers?” (Talley,2007, pp. 312-313)

Discussion: Grade Level

Secondary teachers were more likely than elementary teachers to

report using technologyto develop students’higher order thinking skillsand creativity and to usedigital images, primarysources, and interactivemultimedia presentations

More emphasis on lower tech (Web 1.0) than higher tech (Web 2.0)

• What is less certain is whether teachers’ technology use actually promotes critical thinking and how students are engaging with the technology

• Few teachers report students take a virtual field trip, develop Web 2.0 projects or communicate with others

Discussion: Teaching Context

• High frequency users were more likely to work in high SES district than low SES district.

• “Social class appears to influence teacher beliefs about the implementation of instructional uses of computers” (DeWitt, 2007, p. 300). – More opportunity for creativity and higher–order

thinking skills in higher SES schools– Students in higher SES schools had more access to

technology at school and at home

Shift in the digital divide?

Navigating academic web requires skills in searching, summarizing, & evaluating complex information.

Ignoring the literacy demands of new technologies has serious consequences

“Real digital divide will be less about access to technologies and more about who gets to develop human social capital to use these tools” (Talley, 2007, pp. 315-316)

Fate of Web 2.0 in Social Studies—Further Research

• Little use of Web 2.0 technologies. Supports work of Friedman & VanFossen (2010) & Hicks, Doolittle, &

Lee (2004)– How widespread is the use of Web 1.0 technologies in

relation to Web 2.0 technologies?– How are teachers using both forms of technology?– Does use of Web 1.0 technologies better enable teachers

to transmit information in a more efficient & “engaging” manner, reinforcing traditional means of teaching?

Implications for Teacher Preparation—Further Research

• Challenges to technology integration in elementary schools

• How to ensure all students, especially those in lower SES schools, use technology as a tool for learning

References

• Bull, G., Thompson, A., Searson, M., Garofalo, J., Park, J. Young, C. Y Lee, J. (2008). Connecting informal and formal learning: Experiences in the age of participatory media. Contemporary Issues in Technology & Teacher Education, 8 (2), 100-107.

• DeWitt, S.W. (2007). Dividing the digital divide: Instructional use of computers in social studies. Theory and Research in Social Education, 35 (2), 277-304.

• Friedman, A.M. & VanFossen, P.J. (2010). The internet in social studies classrooms: Lost opportunity or unexplored frontier? In Diem & Berson Ieds), Technology in retrospect: Social Studies in the information age 1984-2009.

References

• Hicks, D., Doolittle, P., & Lee, J. (2004) Social studies teachers’ use of classroom-based and web-based historical primary sources. Theory and Research in Social Education, 32, (2), 213-247.

• Pew Internet & American Life Project. (2012). Teens & Online Behavior, http://pewinternet.org/Presentations/2012/July/Teens-2012-Truth-Trends-and-Myths-About-Teen-Online-Behavior.aspx

• Pew Internet & American Life Project, Teens, Smartphones & Texting, 2012) http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2012/Teens-and-smartphones/Summary-of-findings.aspx

References

• Rainie, L. (2011). The new education ecology. Presentation at the 17th Annual Sloan Consortium. http://www.pewinternet.org/Presentations/2011/Nov/The-new-education-ecology.aspx

• Talley, B. (2007). Digital Technology and the End of Social Studies Education. Theory & Research in Social Education, 35(2), 305-321.

• U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Technology. (2010). Transforming American education: Learning powered by technology. Washington, D.C.

• VanFossen, P.J. (1999-2000). An analysis of the use of the Internet and World Wide Web by secondary social studies teachers in Indiana. The International Journal of Social Education, 14(20), 87-109