© H. Jurgen Combs Hawaii International Conference on Education – January 2012 1

Hawaii International Conference on EducationH. Jurgen Combs, Ed. D.

Professor, School of Education & Human Development

Shenandoah University

Technology use in Middle School Social Studies Classes

© H. Jurgen Combs Hawaii International Conference on Education – January 2012 2

Agenda Purpose of study Demographics of teachers Technology use Why should this be of concern? Summary of findings

© H. Jurgen Combs Hawaii International Conference on Education – January 2012 3

Age and Characteristics of County and Teachers

Table 1Licens

e other than social studie

s

Non-traditio

nal entry

Male

Female

Ethnicity

Asian Black

Native American/other

Caucasian

Hispanic

Other  

Middle School

31% 27% 39% 55% 0% 1% 0% 98% 0% * 0% *  

High School

10% 32% 61% 45% 2% 9% 2% 88% 0% * 0% *  

Age & Race Characteristics of County 5% 7% 5% 78% 6% 5%  

© H. Jurgen Combs Hawaii International Conference on Education – January 2012 4

Teaching Social Studies but not licensed

Table 2 – Teaching Social Studies but not licensed in Social Studies

SCHOOL DIVISION IN

STUDY

NATIONAL *

TRADITIONAL

NON-TRADITI

ONAL

1987-1988

1999-2000

Middle School

30% 33% 61% 51%

High School

10% 13% 41% 39%

© H. Jurgen CombsHawaii International Conference on Education – January 2012 5

Technology Use by Students as Part of Instruction

0%

10%20%

30%40%

50%60%

70%

MULTI -MEDIA

WEB PAGES

WORD PROCESSING

SPREADSHEET

DATABASES

PRESENTATION PROGRAMSINTERNET

Type of Technology

% U

sing

NEVERYEARLYMONTHLYWEEKLYDAILY

Tech use

© H. Jurgen Combs Hawaii International Conference on Education – January 2012 6

Teacher’s Use

0%10%20%30%40%50%

% O

f Use

Frequency

Teacher Use of Technology

COMPUTERS

WORD PROCESSING

SPREADSHEET

DATABASES

PRESENTATION PROGRAMS

© H. Jurgen Combs Hawaii International Conference on Education – January 2012 7

Experience & Tech UseYears of Experience 0-3 4-6 7-9 10-12 13-15 16+Frequency of UseNever 0.0% 0.0% 50.0% 0.0% 50.0% 0.0%Yearly 24.1% 24.1% 10.3% 0.0% 0.0% 41.4%Monthly 22.2% 33.3% 22.2% 0.0% 0.0% 22.2%Weekly 42.9% 35.7% 7.1% 0.0% 0.0% 7.1%Daily 7.7% 30.8% 15.4% 7.7% 7.7% 30.8%

© H. Jurgen Combs Hawaii International Conference on Education – January 2012 8

Tech use by degreeTechnology Use by Degree

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

BA MA/ED

Degree

Freq

uenc

y of

Use

Frequently

Infrequently/Never

© H. Jurgen Combs Hawaii International Conference on Education – January 2012 9

Traditional v non traditional

Daily/weekly Monthly/yearly NeverTraditional 35% 64% 0%Non-traditional

36% 45% 18%

© H. Jurgen Combs Hawaii International Conference on Education – January 2012 10

Why tech is not usedCategory of teacher

Lack internet access

Lack software

Lack sufficient knowledge

Lack administrative support

Lack good hardware

Lack student interest

Lack knowledge of software

Lack support of colleages

Traditional20% 20% 18% 2% 27% 4% 4% 4%

Untraditional30% 0 0 0 60% 10% 0 0

© H. Jurgen Combs Hawaii International Conference on Education – January 2012 11

Hours of Prof development

© H. Jurgen Combs Hawaii International Conference on Education – January 2012 12

Is there a value to tech use? Social Studies teachers are probably least

likely to use technology Excellent for writing process Tech can be used to make the complexity of

social studies more manageable Most strongly felt in area of student

motivation Can help level the playing field with ever

increasing diversity

© H. Jurgen Combs Hawaii International Conference on Education – January 2012 13

Thus in conclusion: The use of technology in social studies is still

limited. Teachers tend to use technology most for their

own purposes/needs. Novice teachers tend to use technology more

than experienced teachers. There was no significant difference between

teachers with grad & under grad degree in tech use.

Non-traditionally prepared teachers tend to use tech less than traditionally prepared teachers.

© H. Jurgen Combs Hawaii International Conference on Education – January 2012 14

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