Digital History in the History/Social Studies Classroom

HISTORIANS AND CAUSAL OBSERVERS alike will most certainly remember the decade of the 1990s for the euphoric expectations that accompanied the introduction and development of the personal computer and Internet technologies such as the World Wide Web. Pronouncements of a technology revolution echoed through the decade and have followed us into this new century. The hyperbole associated with the assertions of the "digital age" has had an effect on a wide range of educational activities. Evidence of the influence of technology can be seen in the classroom where nationwide there is one computer for every five children.' An ERIC search on the subject of technology will literally yield tens of thousands of articles, papers and monographs.2 Economic activity associated with the development of new technologies also demonstrates the depth of the impact of technology on education. The United States Congress for fiscal year 2001 appropriated $872 million in the area of educational technology and the E-Rate (a federal tax on telephone usage) has, as of February 2001, generated $5.8 billion dollars for wiring schools to the Internet.3 Given the overwhelming sums of money being spent and the public attention that recent technological innovations have received, it is no surprise that researchers expect technology to invigorate many aspects of education.4 One educational area that has greatly benefited from the growth of