THE UTILIZATION OF COMPUTERS IN HIGH SCHOOL HISTORY EDUCATION

This study examined the use of computers in high school history education. It was designed to ascertain attitudes high school history educators had toward use of computers in the discipline of history and in teaching of history, reasons they used or did not use computers in their classes, and their reactions to a list of four recommended practices for using computers in history education. The recommended practices included: developing and storing data (information) bases; retrieving information; presenting data by use of statistical packages; and interacting with simulations and developing models for analyzing simulations.;The research sample consisted of 53 high school history educators from five districts each in Massachusetts and in Oregon. Districts selected included urban, suburban, and rural and proximity to high technology industry. Of the 53 history educators interviewed, 43 were classroom teachers, and ten were department chairs. In addition six district administrators were interviewed.;Analysis of study data revealed that only one history educator from the research sample was using computers for history instruction, though more than half of the classroom teachers in the sample had experience with computers. Reasons reported for not using computers in high school history education differed between those who had computer experience and those without such experience. Those with computer experience offered reasons based on school-centered organization issues, e.g., lack of access to computers in their schools, lack of expectations by district administrators for high school history teachers to use computers for instructional purposes, and lack of adequate software. Those without computer experience offered reasons based upon lack of knowledge about computers and their use in the study of history. The study sample reported that the recommended practices had value for high school history education. In addition there was greater personal use of computers in general, and the recommended practices in particular, by teachers in the Oregon sample than those in the Massachusetts study population.;The results of this study will help trainers develop strategies to enhance the use of computers in high school history education, e.g., content of workshops for high school history educators.