Trekking Through Virginia with Technology Technology Integration in the Social Studies Classroom Cheryl Phillips Philip Michael Pennington Traditional School Prince William County, VA

Why Use Technology? Social Studies is learning about the world around us and the how people across the world function and live. Technology allows students instant access to explore and experience the world in a ways that our forefathers could only have imagined!

The Incredible Internet Students can now communicate instantly with international students by way of skype, , messengers, instagram, facebook and more! There are places to explore thanks to some amazing new technology tools that take students inside a historic tomb, Alcatraz Island, Ancient Greece, field trip to Mars, to name a few. With Google Earth, students can see satellite geographic locations, visit space, explore the ocean, walk through a pyramid and even go visit Disney World! The internet has provided a way for social studies teachers and students explore primary sources through online databases like the Library of Congress, the National Archive's Database, Early American Newspapers and a the list goes on.

Integrate! Webquests: webquests allow for more independence. Students surf the web to find out and explore information on their own based on an authentic problem. Slide Show presentations: Students create slideshow presentations to enhance class presentations and there are many presentation programs available! Brochures/Flyers: Students create brochures or flyers to display their knowledge using the power of persuasion. TV Studio/ Video Camera: Lights, camera, action! Don’t forget the use of a digital camera! Let your students bring historic characters to life either with classmates or puppets! Animation programs are also a great way to showoff those creative skills! Student website Students can create their own websites that post information about their topic.

Integrate! Podcasts: With many schools now adopting BYOD, this gives students the perfect opportunity to put their i-pods to work creating their own podcast using the information that they researched in class. Blogs: Though many schools block blogs, many school sites (such as School Fusion) allow students and teachers to use the blog tool. Teachers can get a class discussion going about curricular concepts. E-Pals: There are many sites popping up that allow teachers to refine their classroom search for their class to students in a country that they are studying. Videoconferencing: What a great way to invite a guest into your class and allow students to talk to him/her (who normally wouldn’t be able to come to the actual school.) Sample Gnomes Ducks

Create, Communicate, Publish! Glogster: is always a fan favorite since they can add music video and images all in one project. This virtual poster site is always one that I see multiple times a year.Glogster Photo Story 3: has become a big hit over the past year and a half. This is a simple video creator that allows students to take a series of images place them in any order and then narrate each image and/or add text to each image. It then generates a movie adding in transitions and panning automatically to the video. It is simple and creates great short informational videos. They do also have a mac version.Photo Story 3: Museum Box: This is a great site for history classes. Students place items in a box that would help describe a person or event. They can add video, audio, images and text. This site has led to some great projects.Museum Box Goanimate: takes a bit of learning but is a animated video creator that students love to create their projects with. It generates great animated cartoons that my students have used to explain many different historical events.Goanimate Google Search Stories: is a great video creator for quick informational video clips. It uses the Google search engine and results to tell a story or explain and event.Google Search Stories:

Picture A Story:Picture A Story: allows students to tell stories about history, explain topics or concepts using preloaded images characters and objects. FlixtimeFlixtime: Is another video creator that allows students to take a series of images ad create great videos to explain concepts or historical events. Poster 4 TeachersPoster 4 Teachers: Is a free program that allows students to create online projects and reports in a poster format. It also allows them to create simple websites to explain or discuss topics presented in class. SliderollSlideroll: This site allows kids to create simple slide shows to tell a digital story. AnimotoAnimoto: This site allows students o create professional looking videos projects. This site is easy and fun for students to use. Alice.OrgAlice.Org: A animated story creator. That also teaches programming. I have had a few students really get into programming after using this application. Digital Story Teller:Digital Story Teller: This is similar to Photo Story 3 students can add text and audio to their digital stories. Kerpoof:Kerpoof: Always a favorite site for students to create movies and other digital media. Fotobabble:Fotobabble: This is really a card creator but students have used it in a variety of ways to narrate a digital story and have used it a segment in other digital projects.

Resources Virtual Tours and Electronic Field Trips Google Earth user guide Google Earth for Educators Google Earth YouTube Channel Google Lit Trips Example of Google Earth 3DExample of Google Earth 3D (Rome) Edublog Primary sources Primary sources are items created during the time you are studying (such as newspapers, diaries, and letters Secondary sources Secondary sources are histories, or stories about the past based on primary sources (such as scholarly articles and scholarly monographs). Great Teacher ResourcesGreat Teacher Resources – more presentation tools Lessons

Fun History Games Flags of the World Playing History Think About History Fling the Teacher Scavenger Hunt Through History Learning Together Owl and Mouse Educational SoftwareOwl and Mouse Educational Software Traveler IQ Challenge Geosense Planet In Action Dare to Compare School Times GamesSchool Times Games Branches of Government Game Playing History Sheppards Software Neok12 Our Courts Games