Research Article
Mohammad Al Bataineh, Sharon Anderson
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 6, Issue 1, pp. 38-61
ABSTRACT
This study used a cross-sectional, ten-point Likert-type scale survey design, to examine the perception of Jordanian seventh to twelfth-grade social studies teachers of the competency needed for technology implementation in their classrooms. The instrument for this study was a modified version of a survey developed by Kelly (2003) called the Technology in Education Survey (TIES). The scale ranged from 1-10, with 1 being the lowest score, indicating not important or not competent, and 10 being the highest score, indicating very important or very competent. Due to the cultural context of the study, the researcher used an Arabic-language version of the survey used by Al Ghazo (2008). The convenience sample (n = 221) was a blend of male (n = 135) and female teachers (n = 86). A significant interaction was found between age and gender of social studies teachers and their perceptions of competency needed to implement technology. Female teachers who were thirty or younger and who were thirty-one to thirty-nine scored the highest mean of perceptions of competency toward implementing technology in social studies classrooms, higher than all male teachers, while male and female teachers who were forty or older scored the same lowest mean (49.5) of perceptions of competency. Female teachers with the least teaching experience had high perceptions of competency for implementing technology in social studies classrooms, while female teachers with the most teaching experience had lower perceptions of competency than male teachers. The result of the study provides useful information to social studies educators, professional development leaders, national policy makers and teachers of social studies who are interested in understanding the factors that affect technology use in social studies classrooms in Jordan
Keywords: Social studies education, Educaional technology implementation, Teacher competency, Technology in the classroom
Research Article
Jyoon Yoon, Lynn Brice
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 2, Issue 3, pp. 250-263
ABSTRACT
This article reports a qualitative study on computer-supported collaborative learning during a multidisciplinary education project on environment. The water project is designed to provide the elementary teacher candidates opportunities to explore issues related to water and find solutions to them through the Internet. As a production of the water project, they created posters and fliers in a photograph application to educate people regarding water issues and discussed how their creations affected people’s awareness of water issues, using a web-discussion tool. The teacher candidates’ reflections revealed that the water project was a meaningful e-learning activity to raise awareness of the global water issues and create an opportunity for them to share their learning, incorporating science and social studies. This water project provided a computer-supported collaborative e-learning model for integrating science and social studies.
Keywords: E-learning, Computer supported learning, Collaborative learning, Integrated education, Science education, Social studies