A Staff Development Model for Infusing Technology into the Social Studies Curriculum

This paper describes a cyclical staff development program designed to help teachers, specifically social studies teachers, gain expertise with technology and learn how it can be infused into their classrooms. The cyclical staff development program has three complementary components: (1) skill development; (2)focus on instruction; and (3) material development/individual consultation time. The cycle may be navigated during a single workshop, a month long series of sessions outside school hours, and in several workshops over the school year. The skill development sessions may be divided into introductory, intermediate, and expert-level sessions as needed. The focus on instruction sessions helps teachers begin to design and organize instruction that promotes engaged learning and fosters critical thinking while using technology as support. The third component gives teachers time to develop instructional materials while experts are available for individual