There are multiple educational tools available to social studies teachers to engage their students in learning activities. The key is finding the appropriate tools, for the appropriate activity and for the needs of the learners. In 1996 the New London Group published a report indicating the need for students to engage in multiliteracy practices, specifically situated learning where they are able to make meaning from content using tools of their choice. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) necessitates choice, on both the part of teachers and students. Through my research, I investigated how UDL can enhance the blog and wiki learning environment. Blogs and wikis encourage mixing and mashing of content and ideas through various activities and integration of external Web 2.0 tools. This will facilitate student development of multiliteracy skills through the application of various design elements (linguistic, visual, audio, gestural, spatial and multimodal), as specified by the New London Group (1996). Key to social studies, is the New London Group’s assertion that “students as meaning-makers, become designers of social futures…transformation is always a new use of old materials, a re-articulation and recombination of the given resources” (1996, p. 76). O’Rouke (2001) expands on this idea indicating students will only be prepared for a multiliterate world if they have an understanding of how meaning is constructed and communicated in society through multiliteracies. A central component of social studies education is preparing students to be active, engaged and contributing citizens to society. It is essential that students also develop the skills necessary to participate in a digital knowledge society.
Tapscott (2008) declares students are no longer content with a lecture; they want to be part of the conversation and contribute to the learning environment. Social studies teachers do not have to rely on traditional teaching practices of lecture and note taking to fulfill curriculum requirements. Rather, their students will be better prepared for the twenty-first century if they teach students to transform content, and create their own understanding of social studies events and concepts through the use of multimedia. Blogs and wikis will provide an environment where social studies students can act as producers (Goldfarb, 2002), designing, constructing and creating meaning out of content, while collaborating with other students and experts.
In my experience, secondary students thrive in an environment rich with choice and technology. I have utilized multiple educational technology tools in my social studies classroom including D2L, SMART technologies, Webquests, Digital Storytelling, and other Web 2.0 tools; however my use of wikis and blogs has been limited to short-term projects. With the development of this vision, I hope to create a sustained approach for e-Learning within my Social Studies department; one that promotes the development of twenty-first century skills while meeting the needs of all learners.
The Prezi below provides further rationale for my e-learning vision, by examining current education trends and the BC Social Studies Curriculum. If you are having troubles viewing the embedded Prezi, please click here.
Proceed to Vision.