Anchoring a Social Studies Teaching and Learning Experience with Digital Video: The Impact of a Collaborative Recursive Model for Teacher Education

Introduction

While teacher preparation programs continue to grapple with issues of technology access, effective technology-enhanced instruction, meaningful technology integration in field experiences and candidate assessment, standards associated with technology-enhanced pedagogy for PK12 students (21^st Century Skills, 2008; National Educational Technology Standards for Students, 2007) move the bar higher for teacher educators and serve as guidelines, as well as reminders, that teachers are responsible for ensuring all students are not just facile with technology tools but are capable of discerning and using appropriate tools to complete a variety of tasks. Driven by a national concern for global economic competitiveness, the tasks 21^st century students must be able to perform involve far more interaction with each other and with resources beyond the walls of the school. Expectations for PK12 student performance create an urgency for adjusting instructional methods to ensure all students are developing a solid base of content knowledge while simultaneously becoming facile with a skill set preparing them for full participation in a technology driven workforce demanding adaptability, flexibility, innovation, and problem-solving.

The rumble of bricks and mortar as education institutions morph to address 21^st century anytime/anyplace asynchronous instruction is just the beginning of a profound period of change for higher education. The impact of a generation of digital natives and modern technology tools on instructional delivery in PK12 classrooms are now engendering profound changes in what teacher educators deliver. All 21^st century teachers need to introduce, model, and develop attitudes and skills associated with a workplace that is asynchronous, international, and reliant on workers who are innovative, creative, collaborative and adaptive. While there will invariably be a variety of responses to this phenomenon, for teacher preparation there is only one acceptable and immediate response. This chapter outlines one teacher preparation program’s model to teach, support, and facilitate the development of candidates within the content domain of elementary social studies who value collaboration, facilitate inquiry instruction, and integrate technology in meaningful and relevant ways.