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Often, we can't visit all of the places we teach about! Although it may be a great opportunity for our students, it's just not always feasible to load 100 kids up on a school bus and drive them to the next town over to take a look around.

These virtual field trips offer 3D walking tours of many historical places in Georgia! Georgia Studies covers several standards relating to the history and lives of Native Americans. Virtual walking tours are offered for the Cherokee Nation Council House, the Cherokee Nation Supreme Court House, as well as a replica of a Native American farmstead. These virtual reality walking tours will allow students to visit places without ever leaving the classroom!

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Games are a great tool to use in the classroom! Georgia: Race Through Time sends students on a historical journey through Georgia's past.

Savannah, the aptly named star of this game, has her Grandmother's magic gift that allows her to see the history of objects by touching them. If she touches a historical artifact, she can see and hear any instances that occurred regarding the artifact. For example, Savannah touches a box given to her by her father and she can see and hear the soldiers and officers that fought over the box's contents over 100 years ago.

Students can join Savannah on her journey to race through Georgia's history as she attempts to win a $100,000 dollar grand prize! Students are tasked with identifying key places and events in Georgia, guiding Savannah's journey by clicking on key places on the map. This game allows students to not only recall important events, places, and people in Georgia's history, but to have fun while doing so!

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Interactive Physical Features of Georgia Map

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Interactive Physical Features of Georgia Map

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This regions of Georgia map allows students to see the physical features of Georgia such as the regions, rivers, mountains, and barrier islands.

The map provides students with the ability to click on individual geographical features of Georgia. In Georgia Studies, students are expected to successfully identify Georgia's five regions as well as major physical features, such as mountains, rivers, the Fall Line, and Georgia's barrier islands. The interactive map gives students a clear understanding of not only where these features are located, but also learn more about them!

By clicking on a specific feature of Georgia's geography, students are able to gain an understanding about that particular feature. Students will then be able to see how the features of Georgia were formed, where they are located, and how they impact the state.

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This video series gives students an inside view into the workings of Georgia's political system. 8th graders are required to describe the foundations of Georgia's government, analyze the role of all three branches of Georgia's government, and the interworking parts of the court systems of Georgia.

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Students can make their own newspaper article using this resource. In my mind, we'd do a lesson or a unit and then, students would complete a culminating activity in which they'd summarize a key event, location, or person in Georgia's history. They could then combine their newspaper articles with the articles created by their peers to make a classroom newspaper, dedicated to Georgia history.

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The videos in this collection relate not only to Georgia, but also to U.S. History. Students would much rather watch videos tailored to their needs than listen to the teacher lecture for hours on end!

A major benefit to utilizing videos in the classroom is that they can be watched, rewatched, and often close-captioned to make them more accessible across the board. Students can rewatch videos as needed to ensure they have a clear understanding of the video's content.

Using videos to supplement teaching resources can help not only students, but also teachers. Teachers may have a certain way of explaining things that may not immediately connect with students, as opposed to a video, that may help students see the content from a different point of view.

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There are several great resources located here. There are videos and games. For teachers, there are a list of resources by standards that can be accessed by teachers, located conveniently in a Google Drive with open access.

For students, there are links to multiple Jeopardy games. My students love to play Jeopardy. We play student against student, team against team, boys against girls, and a lot of other groupings. They're very competitive, so getting that spirit going in the classroom really gets them engaged!

Less fun, but no less important, is the testing review. Although we're not meant to teach to the test, testing is still a big part of our jobs! These review games, study guides, and additional resources make a great starting point for students and teachers when testing season rolls around.

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Digital History in the History/Social Studies Classroom by John K. Lee

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While not specifically related to technology integration with Georgia Studies, this article does give insight into utilizing technology in the social studies classroom. Lee (2002) writes, "One educational area that has greatly benefited from the growth of technology is historical studies" (p. 503-504). Through looking for resources, I've seen tons of things related to history, including U.S. history and world history, that integrates technology. Technology is such a big part of our world today that we need to make sure we're including it in our daily instruction.

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Changing How and What Children Learn in School with Computer-Based Technology by Jeremy M. Roschelle, Roy D. Pea, Christopher M. Hoadley, Douglas N. Gordin, and Barbara M. Means

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Roschelle et al. (2000) offer great insight into the ways in which classrooms of the past differ from classrooms today. Although our classrooms still include desks, students, curriculum, and learning expectations, we also have extremely helpful technology to aid us in teaching. Roschelle et al. (2000) write, "Although active, constructive learning can be integrated in classrooms with or without computers, the characteristics of computer-based technologies make them a particularly useful tool for this type of learning" (p. 79). I can't imagine teaching without the technology that I've gotten so used to!

Roschelle et al. (2000) also discuss the benefits of student engagement via technology, including the ways in which the technology can be used for not only science and mathematics, but also for presentations and other media styles. Technology also allows students to work in groups and learn teamwork strategies and skills, giving them the chance to benefit from exchanging ideas with others.

As always, there are critics on the matter of technology integration in schools. A lot of the negativity surrounding technology being used to enhance education is centered on less teacher to student interaction. While I agree that this could definitely be a problem if teachers are just posting modules like an agenda to be checked off and not actually interacting with their students, I think most teachers use technology in their classrooms as a resource, not a replacement for themselves.

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Teaching Social Studies with Technology: New Research on Collaborative Approaches by Julie Anne Taylor and Mesut Duran

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Taylor and Duran (2006) explain the benefits and challenges of using technology in the classroom, focusing mainly on collaborative approaches between students and teachers. Taylor and Duran (2006) write, "The teachers also found that the assignments which incorporated technology appealed to students with diverse learning styles" (p. 12). All of our students are diverse learners. Incorporating technology into our daily practices ensures that we are meeting the needs of individuals at their levels, as opposed to trying to teach all of them the same way and hope something sticks to at least a few of them.

Challenges with technology in the classroom, as written about by Taylor and Duran (2006) include instances of plagiarism on behalf of the students, lack of computers and internet access in the homes of the students, websites crashing without warning. Any method is going to have challenges, though, whether it's technology oriented or old-fashioned, paper/pencil methods. Nothing works 100% of the time. We've got to be prepared with a list of backup plans when things don't pan out like we hope they will.