Social studies examples

Examples of technology in a social studies classroom

Concept mapping

In junior and senior high, students use outlining and mapping to organize information and plan ideas.
In junior and senior high, students create a concept map with multimedia components to represent their understanding of concepts.

Multimedia

In junior high, students use presentation software to communicate Japanese cultural transitions to an audience of their peers.
In senior high, students create a multimedia portfolio or report of a concept with supporting graphics, animation, video, and audio.
In junior and senior high, students use scanners, digital cameras and software to integrate both photographs and print.

Internet

In junior high, students explore attitudes about language, culture, and recreation by accessing Internet sites that provide information about the regions of Canada or by communicating electronically with students in other schools to formulate discussion questions on language and culture policy.
In junior high, students make a virtual tour of an immigrant's homeland by visiting sites on the internet and thereby, creating respect for immigrants.
In senior high, students access alternative think tanks and lobby group sites in order to understand opposing positions and lobby group dynamics.
In junior and senior high, students refine and expand search skills by the use of a variety of search engines, each with its own unique qualities.
In junior and senior high, students use the Internet to collaborate with other students across Canada and the world on common projects.
In junior high, students use online geography sites to construct required and relevant maps.
In senior high, students identify data discrepancies among data sources such as print, non-print, and electronic sources, and determine the possible reasons for such differences.
In senior high, students develop increased awareness and geographical knowledge through the use of map and cartography sites with "layering" capacities.
In senior high, students use government sites for viewing press releases and evaluating them for government policy and direction.

Spreadsheet

In junior high ,students create charts to compare 'material' and 'nonmaterial' cultural components or artifacts, plotting data on X-Y axis for visual interpretation.
In junior high, students explore environmental responsibilities, through charting of viewpoints, under headings such as 'Jobs vs. Parks', Preservation vs. Use' and 'Protection vs. Development'.
In senior high, students convert numerical data to make generalizations about standard of living, life expectancy, infant mortality, and indices of development.
In senior high, students practice multi-variant analysis, by plotting variables in a socio-political event to determine degrees of causality.

Database

In junior high, students use online data banks, such as those maintained by Statistics Canada and Industry Canada, to make judgments about technology and trade as they relate to NAFTA.
In senior high, students use online data banks, such as those maintained by Statistics Canada and Industry Canada, to identify patterns and make generalizations about such data as population, income, voting patterns, export trade figures, etc.
In junior high, students engage in model-making and electronic data collection by following the performance of a selected portfolio of stocks.
In senior high, students create a tourism data bank and use it in an examination of the tourism industry in a selected Canadian region.

Software

In junior high, students use atlas software to construct required and relevant maps.
In junior high, students use multimedia resources that promote cross-cultural awareness and sensitivity to cultures.
In senior high, students acquire skills in judging bias in content of focus or in the choice of inclusion and exclusion of information while comparing different CD-ROM's that explore the same topic.
In junior and senior high, students explore and review a new CD-ROM to examine its effectiveness to provide overview or depth to a topic under study.