A volume in Research Methods in Educational Technology Series Editor
Walter F. Heinecke, University of Virginia Despite technology's presence
in virtually every public school, its documented familiarity and use by
youth outside of school, and the wealth of resources it provides for
teaching social studies, there has been relatively little empirical
research on its effectiveness for the teaching and learning of social
studies. In an effort to begin to fill this gap in research literature,
this book focuses on research on technology in social studies education.
The objectives of this volume are threefold: to describe research
frameworks, provide examples of empirical research, and chart a course
for future research endeavors. Accordingly, the volume is divided into
three overarching sections: research constructs and contexts, research
reports, and research reviews. The need for research is particularly
acute within the field of social studies and technology. As the primary
purpose of social studies is to prepare the young people of today to be
the citizens of tomorrow, it is necessary to examine how technology
tools impact, improve, and otherwise affect teaching and learning in
social studies. Given these circumstances, we have prepared this
collection of research conceptualizations, reports, and reviews to
achieve three goals. 1. Put forward reports on how research is being
conducted in the field 2. Present findings from well-designed research
studies that provide evidence of how specific applications of technology
are affecting teaching and learning in social studies. 3. Showcase
reviews of research in social studies It is with this framework that we
edited this volume, Research on Technology and Social Studies Education,
as an effort to address emerging concerns related to theorizing about
the field and reporting research in social studies and technology. The
book is divided into four sections. The first section of the book
includes three descriptions of research constructs and contexts in
social studies and technology. The second section is focused on research
reports from studies of student learning in social studies with
technology. The third section contains research reports on teachers'
pedagogical considerations for using technology in social studies. In
the fourth and final section, we present work that broadly reviews and
critiques research in focused areas of social studies and technology.
This volume contains twelve chapters, each of which focuses on social
studies content and pedagogy and how the field is affected and enhanced
with technology. The volume includes research and theoretical works on
various topics, including digital history, digital video, geography,
technology use in the K-12 social studies classroom, and artificial
intelligence.
