The expansion of technology has provided educators with more opportunities to broaden their instructional methods. Incorporating digital tools into the classroom provides students with easier and more access to primary and secondary sources through things like digital collections. Teaching using digital tools promotes students’ engagement with history and promotes critical thinking. It also allows students to explore digital materials, forming their own opinion of a historical event.
Pros of digital tools: easier access to materials, it can create a more engaging environment for students, materials are free for anyone to use, makes the research process easier, and opens the student up to express their personal opinions.
Cons of digital tools: students can easily be distracted, information can be deemed as false or misleading, have the tendency to be disengaging, it can be a lot to process, have technological difficulties (materials that aren’t accessible to everyone), plagiarism, and students sometimes may not put forth all of their effort into engagement.
Amanda Dodson, Shelby Michael, Olivine Lee, Joshua Joyce, Jacob Swicegood, and Matt Marston
