Kristen OMalley

Computer in Education
Dr. Scarlett
Technology and Historical Thinking in the Classroom
As a student, when it comes to historical thinking, I cant imagine doimg it without the
computer. For example, when I have to write a history paper I can go on historical archives and
look through documents from the comfort of my computer. I can only imagine that I will be
implementing technology in my classroom throughout my lessons every day, especially to
emphasize and teach historical thinking. This can include having students analyze documents on
the smartboard, playing games on the smartboard, doing their own research and looking through
archives online like I do now, and most importantly to assess. By using the smartboard and have
students do quizzes through clickers, I will be able to assess how they are doing while also
assessing myself.
In my Education 340 clinical, I would occasionally be in an American government
classroom. The teacher would often use clickers on the smartboard for students to complete
quizzes. After the quiz, they would go over each answer and explain why the correct answer was
truthful. After the class, he had told me that he uses this type of quiz for several reasons. One
reason was it helped him assess how the class was doing. He would also be able to pull up other
classes quiz and compare results. If all the classes were getting a certain question wrong, he
would know he would have to find a new way to reteach it to the classes. He would also give a
class an easier quiz to boost their confidence, or a more difficult one if he felt they were slacking.
Sitting in on his classroom gave me firsthand experience on the importance of technology in the
history classroom.

Clickers wont only be useful for assessing myself and the students, but also making it a
gateway to historical thinking. When going over each answer, students will have the opportunity
to start a discussion on why they chose the answer they did, and their evidence and reasoning
behind it. David J. Voelker, a professor at the University of Wisconsin, has been using clickers in
his classroom and has written articles encouraging it. In his classroom, while discussing answers
it may take 15 minutes or more of class time, but this time is hardly wasted. Even reserved
students who do not talk in front of the whole class can share their ideas with someone sitting
next to them, while more talkative students will test out ideas that they can then share with the
whole class (Voelker). These types of discussions can lead to a better understanding of the topic,
because students have to expand on their answers and defend it to the rest of the class.
It is possible to teach students to historically think without technology. However, in this
day in age, it is important for teachers to use the technology they have to teach their students.
Being able to successfully use all the resources they have can make it easier to reach the students
and have them get a better grasp on the content.

Bibliography
Voelker, Daiv J. "Clicking for Clio: Using Technology to Teach Historical Thinking." Clicking
for Clio: Using Technology to Teach Historical Thinking. American Historical Assosiation, Dec.
2009. Web. 08 Feb. 2016.