D.Antonio Cantu - Teaching History in the Digital Classroom

D. Antonio Cantu and
Wilson J. Warrem

with contributions by
John R. Barber
Joseph A. Braun, Jr.
Sandy Cantu
Alex Zukas

First published 2003 by M.E. Sharpe

Published 2015 by Routledge
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Library of Congress Catalogin-in-Publication Data

Cantu, D. Antonio.
Teaching history in the digital classroom / D. Antonio Cantu and Wilson J. Warren; with contributions by John R. Barber [et al.].
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7656-0992-4 (hardcover : alk. paper) ISBN 0-7656-0993-2 (pbk: alk. paper)
1. HistoryComputer network resources. 2. Internet. 3. HistoryComputer-assisted instruction. 4. HistoryStudy and teaching. 5. HistoryMethodology. I. Warren, Wilson J. II. Title

D16.177.C36 2003
90785dc21

2002075861

ISBN 13: 9780765609939 (pbk)
ISBN 13: 9780765609922 (hbk)

Real teaching is never quite as straightforward as textbooks
and research papers would have it. It is always more
complex, more confused, and more idiosyncratic
than anticipated.

William H. Schubert and William C. Ayers

Schubert and Ayers observation is perhaps more valid at the dawn of the twenty-first century than it was at the close of the previous one. In particular, history and social studies teachers are confronted with the complex challenge of preparing the next generations computer- literate and technology-savvy students, with perhaps little or no training in the use of technology. In addition, they are about to spend the next two to three decades teaching in a digital classroom, which many find confusing because they were never taught in one themselves as students and perhaps have yet to see the pedagogical use of technology effectively modeled.

With the growing number of technology and Internet proficient students in middle schools and high schools, referred to by some educational demographers as the I-Generation, the need for digital pedagogues in history classrooms is growing exponentially. In a recent interview, Janet M. Healy, author of Failure to Connect: How Computers Affect Our Childrens Minds for Better or Worse, outlined the potential benefits and shortfalls associated with the integration of computer technology in the classroom:

I am intrigued by the possibilities of technology not only for teaching and learning but also for learning about the learning process. How can we plug in more effectively to kids who are at different stages of development and who experience learning in different ways? I am interested in applications that reach for that goal and dont simply recapitulate the old educational models. We havent found a way yetand I doubt whether we ever willto let machine technology replace human technology in the education process. But through research, we may eventually combine human and machine technologies to discover why children are or are not learning certain things and to present information in a wide variety of modalities.

Yet, the following statement by Thomas Edison in 1922 on the invention of film serves a reminder of the folly often associated with predicting how technology will impact education: [This technology] is destined to revolutionize our educational system and in a few years it will supplant largely, if not entirely, the use of textbooks. Other data on the proliferation of computers in the classroom and on computer and Internet access in student homes, also serve to illustrate the increasingly important role such technology plays in society and schools.

The question, therefore, is not whether computer technology and the Internet will play a role in twenty-first century history education, but how extensive its impact is today on student learning. The critical question remains: What role will incoming history and social studies teachers play in preparing the next generation of students in todays digital and connected classrooms? This is a challenge and opportunity that D. Mark Meyers summarizes as follows:

Unless teachers are confident of their ability to use the computer, they tend to shy away from its use. Instead, they choose something they know they can handle; confronted by innovation, they may choose noninvolvement. Exposing preservice teachers to technology increases their motivation to use technology and also increases the likelihood that they will use technology in their classroom. If preservice teachers develop confidence that they can control and use technology, they can then provide the same service to their students. There it will trickle down into the teaching practices of the schools. Teachers are not convinced by good ideas alone. Instead, it takes good ideas that have worked for someone else. Teachers will borrow successful ideas, not merely use ones they read about that might be good. These changes will involve the development of communities in which students and teachers investigate areas of interest and information is exchanged freely between school, university, and community.

The salient questions, issues, and challenges confronting history and social studies teachers in this information age, as well as the curricular and instructional models, approaches, and strategies that are available to help better prepare individuals to teach in the digital classroom of the twenty-first century, serve as the focus for Teaching History in the Digital Classroom