Social Education 70(5), pg 329–332
©2006 National Council for the Social Studies
NCSS Position Statement
Technology Position
Statement and Guidelines
Electronic portfolios and digital
projects are old ideas in technological
clothing. Handhelds, virtual reality,
and the merging of wireless forms
of communication are examples of
technologies that are changing life
in and outside of the classroom, and
are raising questions about what and
how our students learn social studies.
In turn, emerging information and
communication technologies have the
potential to reshape how the National
Council for the Social Studies and its
members seek to fulfill the mission to
prepare young people “to fulfill the
duties of citizenship in a participatory
democracy.” As Fairey, Lee, and Bennett
concluded:
Technology and the social
studies has the power to become
a ‘dynamic and forceful agent
for change in the social studies
curriculum’ (Martorella, 1997),
but only if the academic subject
matter is enriched by a clear
and comprehensive rationale
for integrating technology with
social studies.1
Articulating such a rationale, though,
is a two-edged sword, which is why this
statement is designed both to provide
guidance to social studies educators
and to raise questions about the relation
between technology and social studies.
A rationale for integrating technology
with social studies arises from the
purpose of social studies, the role of
technology in the lives of our students,
and the nature of technology in the
social studies curriculum. As concluded
in the report, Toward A New Golden
Age In American Education: How the
Internet, the Law and Today’s Students
are Revolutionizing Expectations:
There is no dispute over the
need for America’s students
to have the knowledge and
competence to compete in
an increasingly technology-
driven world economy. This
need demands new models
of education facilitated by
educational technology.2
A similar argument holds true for
students as they gain an understanding
of democratic principles and values,
as well as acquire the skills necessary
for life in our civic society. As we as a
democracy move into the electronic
age, what might this mean for how we
prepare our youth as citizens? One
concern is how technological advances
are changing how we politically and
socially interact with one another.
Will the arrival of online campaigning,
for example, change significantly
the process we now use to elect our
political leaders? Will instantaneous
access to news worldwide affect our
ability both to digest and to reflect upon
national and global policy matters? In
turn, how might these technological
September 2006
329
changes influence how we conceive of
citizenship? Will citizenship take on
both national and global dimensions?
Will it be connected to one’s ability
to have access to the newest forms of
technology? Obviously, there are no
ready answers to such questions; but
by considering such questions, NCSS
seeks to better enable social studies
educators to prepare their students for
life in a technologically-oriented civic
society.
While such preparation is a long-
term goal, students often are unable
to see that far into the future. This is
why we need to consider the role of
technology in students’ daily lives and
its implication for classroom practice.
How closely, for example, should stu-
dents’ worlds outside of the classroom
match what occurs in the classroom?
The ability of a student to send a friend
a text message as opposed to a paper
note represents the simplest example of
cell phone capability. In turn, access to
newer and newer forms of technology
adds a new dimension to the idea of the
digital divide as affluent students, for
example, can surround themselves with
technology that enables them to com-
municate instantly with friends nation-
wide by sending them, [for example]
digitized videos of last weekend’s social
highlights. Now, imagine moving from
this digitally connected environment
to what for many seems like the lifeless
and adult-centered world known as a
classroom, where learning means spend-
ing time gathering information by read-
ing a book! In an age of standards and
accountability, teachers need to include
the realities of students’ lives, technol-
ogy use in students’ everyday lives, and
the role and use of technology when
planning for instruction. How well do
standards, which tend to focus on a static
body of knowledge, align with students’
growing abilities to access information
in a way that enables them to manipu-
late and generate their own knowledge?
As Mason, et, al., noted, “[T]echnology
opens the door to learning social studies
skills and content in ways impossible in
the traditional classroom.”3 We need to
capitalize on many students’ ubiquitous,
yet social, use of such technology and
demonstrate the technology’s power as
a tool for learning.
We can accomplish this end by seam-
lessly weaving technology into the social
studies curriculum. As Berson and Baylta
observed:
[T]he discipline of social studies
has had a precarious relationship
with technology, simultaneously
touting its potential benefits
and critiquing its limitations
in facilitating social studies
practice.4
As an organization, we continually
need to demonstrate and research how
effective use of technology enhances
social studies teaching and learning. The
new technologies, for example, enable
users to access, organize, and commu-
nicate information in ways unfathomable
until recently. Imagine the impact that
the digitizing of U.S. history, as exempli-
fied by the National Archives and the
Library of Congress, has had on social
studies instruction. How do we measure
learning when we send students online
to the National Archives “Powers of
Persuasion” exhibit of World War II
posters, where they can investigate the
use of propaganda techniques to secure
support for America’s war effort? How
do we define student leaning when
teachers make use of the Geographic
Information Systems software to build
inquiry-oriented lessons about voting
patterns that draw upon data provided
by the U.S. Census Bureau? An emerging
body of research over the past five years
is beginning to address such questions
and the next step is to more explicitly
link such research to best practice.
In turn, we need to consider the rela-
tion between the standards movement
and the use of such technology, since the
acquisition of knowledge cannot occur
devoid of the learning and assessment of
related skills. How well do the standards
enable teachers to capitalize upon the
growing bodies of online databases and
enable students to demonstrate learning
based on these data? How should we
conceive of research and interpersonal
skills in the classroom? In the past, stu-
dents conducted research in the school
library, where experts had chosen the
books to stock on the shelves. Often,
the media specialist undertook a second
culling by selecting and placing on a cart
those most appropriate for the students
and their topics. Today, many students
begin online searches without these
benefits. What skills are basic as stu-
dents conduct research on the internet?
Discussion boards, online chat rooms,
and e-pals are examples of new tools
available for students to interact with
one another and with people worldwide.
Previously, teacher discussions with stu-
dents on how to interact with a person
from another culture took place in the
abstract; today, those discussions should
be the prelude to initiating an online dis-
cussion. What skills do students need to
engage in extended social and academic
online discussions with culturally differ-
ent individuals?
Finally, in relation to the curriculum,
unlike most other disciplines, those of
us in social studies also have an obliga-
tion to help students learn the relation
of science, technology, and society. As
Mason, et al., noted:
Science and technology have a
complex interrelationship with
society. While technology is
the impetus to advancements
in human development,
technologies also contribute
S o c i a l E d u c at i o n
330
to the perpetuation of existing
imbalances and inequities
in power and diffusion of
knowledge.
This harks back to the prior point
about connecting the use of technology
to the students’ daily lives. As adults, we
are aware of how technological advances
are influencing society and how who we
are as a society affects, in part, the direc-
tion that such advances take. How obvi-
ous, though, are such relations to young
people? Just as we as an organization
continually stress the need to connect
knowledge and skills, so too we need
to emphasize the links between the use
of technology as a teaching and learn-
ing tool and the effects of the relation
between technology and society.
As an organization we are not only
obligated to assist social studies educa-
tors today, but also to realize that our
mission obligates us to prepare young
people for tomorrow. This requires us
to consider how best to position NCSS
for schooling in the twenty-first century.
While we cannot predict the future, we
can anticipate where the emerging com-
munication and information technolo-
gies might take us and start discussing
how best to prepare ourselves and our
students for what might occur.
Guidelines
While Mason et. al., offered the following
principles as “guides for the appropriate
infusion of technology in social studies
teacher preparation programs,” they
also serve as an excellent foundation on
which to base K-12 social studies teach-
ing and learning and have thus shaped
the formation of the guidelines that fol-
low. The guidelines are divided into five
distinct areas, and are intended to serve
as an overview of how technology may
be integrated into the social studies in a
variety of means and methods.
1. “Extend learning beyond what could
be done without technology.” One
way to extend learning in a meaning-
ful way is to use digital archives of
primary sources to engage students
in historical inquiry.
2. “Introduce technology in context.”
 Students should use technology as
a tool for learning social studies
content and skills, rather than using
technology for its own sake.
3. “Include opportunities for students
to study relationships among science,
technology, and society.” Science and
technology cannot be separated from
their impact on society. Teachers and
students should examine the benefits
and risks of new technologies includ-
ing the digital divide, the opportunity
for global understanding, and con-
cerns about inappropriate informa-
tion and online behavior.
4. “Foster the development of the skills,
knowledge, and participation as
good citizens in a democratic society.”
Research suggests that many social
studies teachers do not use technolo-
gy’s potential to revitalize citizenship
education. In particular the internet’s
capacity to provide multiple current
perspectives on controversial issues
can promote the development of per-
sonal civic beliefs. Moreover, sites
that provide opportunities for social
and political action can help students
develop the capacity for civic action
both locally and globally.
5. “Contribute to the research and
evaluation of social studies and
technology.” Educators should take
advantage of the ways in which tech-
nologies advance the purposes of
social studies education.
As a final thought, this position paper
and guidelines are grounded in the theory
that content must come before technol-
ogy. In other words, technology should
be thought of in terms of its effect on the
teaching and learning of social studies,
and should be considered for use only
if it will provide an improvement in one
(or both) of these areas. NCSS offers the
following guidelines to technology use,
and these are intended as a way both
to guide social studies educators when
making instructional and curricular deci-
sions related to the use and study of tech-
nology, and to help frame the discussion
over the questions raised above.5
Effective Use of Instructional
Technology: Guidelines for K-16
Social Studies Educators
Overview: These guidelines, drawn
from the National Educational
Technology Standards, are to provide
guidance on how to integrate the use
of instructional technology into one’s
practice. A rationale for the guidelines is
provided in a complementary position
statement. The National Council
for the Social Studies is identifying
resources to aid social studies educators
in implementing the guidelines.
Technology Operations and
Concepts: Social Studies Educators
• demonstrate a sound understanding
of technology operations and con-
cepts as they relate to social studies
education;
• demonstrate introductory knowl-
edge, skills, and understanding of
concepts related to technology;
• demonstrate continual growth in
technology knowledge and skills to

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 stay abreast of current and emerg- social studies; • model and teach legal and ethical
ing technologies. • facilitate technology-enhanced practice related to technology use.
experiences that address content • apply technology resources to enable
Planning and Designing Learning standards and student technology and empower learners with diverse
Environments and Experiences: standards; backgrounds, characteristics, and
Social Studies Educators • use technology to support learner- abilities.
• plan and design effective social centered strategies that address the • identify and use technology
studies learning environments diverse needs of students; resources that affirm diversity
and experiences supported by • apply technology to develop • promote safe and healthy use of tech-
technology; students’ higher order skills and nology resources.
• design developmentally appro- creativity; • facilitate equitable access to technol-
priate learning opportunities • manage student-learning activities ogy resources for all students.
that apply technology-enhanced in a technology-enhanced envi-
instructional strategies to support ronment. Notes
1. Chad Fairey, John K. Lee, and Clifford Bennett,
the diverse needs of learners; “Technology and Social Studies: A Conceptual Model
• apply current research on teach- Assessment and Evaluation: Social for Integration,” Journal of Social Studies Research
ing and learning with technology Studies Educators 24, no. 2 (2000): 3–9; P. Martorella, Interactive
Technologies on the Social Studies: Emerging Issues
when planning learning environ- • apply technology through a variety and Applications (Albany: State University of New
ments and experiences; of strategies to assess and evaluate York Press, 1997).
2. U.S. Department of Education, Toward A New Golden
• identify and locate technology student learning in social studies; Age In American Education: How the Internet, the
resources and evaluate them for • apply technology in assessing Law and Today’s Students are Revolutionizing
accuracy and suitability; student learning of subject matter Expectations (Washington, D.C., 2004), 45.
3. Cheryl Mason, Michael Berson, Richard Diem,
• plan for the management of tech- using a variety of assessment tech- David Hicks, and Tony Dralle, “Guidelines for Using
nology resources within the con- niques; Technology to Prepare Social Studies Teachers,”
Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher
text of learning activities; • use technology resources to collect Education 1, no. 1, www.citejournal.org/vol1/iss1/cur-
• plan strategies to manage student and analyze data, interpret results, rentissues/socialstudies/article1.htm .
learning in a technology-enhanced and communicate findings to 4. Michael Berson and Peter Balyta, “Technological
Thinking and Practice in the Social Studies:
environment. improve instructional practice and Transcending the Tumultuous Adolescence of Reform,”
Teaching, Learning, and the maximize student learning; Journal of Computing in Education 20, no. 4 (2004):
141.
Curriculum: Social Studies • apply multiple methods of evalua-
5. Retrieved from cnets.iste.org/currstands/cstands-netst.
Educators tion to determine students’ appro- html on March 8, 2005.
• teachers implement curriculum priate use of technology resources.
plans that include methods and This position statement, which was
strategies for applying technology Social, Ethical, Legal, and Human
prepared by the Technology Select
to maximize student learning in Issues: Social Studies Educators
Subcommittee, was approved by the
NCSS board of directors.

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