Discussion 7

What are the "history wars," and what are their implications for technology use in history?

The history wars are the debate about should schools focus on history and civics directly or should take a broader approach and covering a number of social studies topics. Supposedly the information that is provided in textbook is factual and accurate. Teachers that were trained in the past were trained to teach using these resources to supplement traditional historical themes. Now teachers have many more resources and the internet has now become one of the main sources. Critics feel like history has become diluted and focused on too many topics outside of the traditional theme and because of this history are less effective.

With students' ready access to information on the Internet, what might be the concerns of social studies teachers?

The internet provides a wealth of information; so much that teacher may feel like their relationship with the students is altered. In the past teachers were the sources of information. They provided the facts and students trusted their opinions. The textbook describes the teacher as somewhat of a filter. Now students do not have to take the teacher word for it and they don’t have to rely on the textbook for information. If they have questions, concerns, or contradictions they can simply go onto the internet and search for information. With the internet there are no filters, and some of the information they find has the potential of being rumors instead of facts. They are interest in conspiracy theories; they can come across hate group sites without ever questioning the accuracy of the information because it comes from the internet.