Case+3

__Case Title:__ “Social Studies Instruction: Changing Teacher Confidence in Classrooms Enhanced by Technology”
“This study sought to determine to what extent seasoned educators perceived confidence, competence, and resultant content-specific self-efficacy could be altered as a result of three different workshops geared toward the use of technology in social studies classrooms.” (Shriner, 2010) The problem that made this into a study was that being compared to other core teachers, social studies teachers are not offered the opportunities through given technologies. This study was made possible through a Federal Teacher Quality Enhancement Grant awarded to the Indiana State University Professional Development Schools Partnership. The group decided on the following workshops after the 2008-09 textbook adoption cycle for the state of Indiana.
 * Case Study Description: **

This study pulled teachers from grades K-12 and from about twenty schools in Indiana. These schools were chosen based on the highest priorities in social studies; needs regarding other content area; and feedback regarding potentially overlooked workshop ideas. From this criterion, the workshops were decided upon as virtual field trips to enhance service learning, using various resources and approaches to social studies instruction; and using resources and approaches to teaching geography and history of the world.

The first workshop spanned over three days in five-hour shifts. It was presented to teachers in any content area grades K-12. The virtual field trip workshop was designed to provide teachers with instruction as well as hands-on action-oriented projects to teach social studies. In the workshop, the teachers learned how to locate virtual field trips and how to utilize them as instructional tools to promote student engagement. After participants noted the elements included in the virtual field trip that made them most useful, they were introduced to the skills needed to create their own. These teachers also learned how to insert navigational buttons and hyperlinks into a PowerPoint presentation, they learned how to insert pictures and movies, and experimented with recording their own sound to narrate their virtual field trip. During the second session, the teachers used cameras and local resources and then combined multiple sites to teach concepts across multiple disciplines. Then during the third, they explored creating electronic templates and planning lessons in which their own students would create virtual field trips. The second workshop exposed the teachers to a variety of technological resources and hands-on activities designed to make social studies instruction exciting, interesting, and fun for all students in the classroom. The teachers had to identify the appropriate classroom technologies, specifically link them to delivery in the classroom, and decide what technology would work better with each lesson. The teachers then assimilated as students so they could create their own activities and lesson plans for their classroom and then shared them with the group. Through this, the teachers were introduced to new resources, strategies, and enhanced strategies for using familiar technology.

In the last workshop, the setting was created out of desperation to help the Indiana teachers with creating material for a newly passed class by the state. It took two days and the teachers were given specific resources needed to provide historical examples with geography concepts. The presenters offered teachers suggestions for implementing sound inquiry-based lessons. Mainly, the teachers were able to create several hands-on assignments for this class that did not even come equipped with a textbook.

The data for this study was based on a before and after survey, containing similar questions. The participants were currently teaching in a professional development school associate with the college of Education at Indiana State University. The final evaluation for the first workshop had thirty-three teachers from elementary schools, twenty-two teachers from middle school, twenty-six from high school, and eleven that would be elective type classes. The second workshop had fourteen for elementary, ten for middle school, seven high school and then eight elective teachers. The final workshop had fifteen middle school, twenty-one high school and ten elective teachers.

According to the surveys completed, all of the teachers felt more comfortable teaching social studies with technology. They were not only comfortable, but also confident that students would be able to take useful information from the lessons learned using technology. The teachers felt there was an advantage to using virtual field trips in comparison to physically going on a field trip. In conclusion, researchers felt there were few opportunities in existence for social studies teachers to obtain professional development regarding their topic of instruction. These workshops were designed to give the teachers the confidence to be familiar with the technology when using it in the classroom.

This study proves the importance of teacher workshops that teach teachers how to use and incorporate technology in the classroom at all grade levels, elementary through high school. Presenting this case study to advise a board on the importance of professional development for all teachers would be very convincing. The before and after evaluation questions show a great increase in teachers' desire to use technology in the classroom after the workshop. The case would be even more useful if it had given the results of classroom grades, participation, and motivation after the teachers implemented their new skills in the classroom. We suggest this study should evaluate the implementation of the use of technology in the classrooms of these teachers.
 * Case evaluation:**


 * References:** Shriner, M. (2010). Social Studies Instruction: Changing Teacher Confidence in Classrooms Enhanced by Technology. //The Social Studies,// 101 (2), 37-45.