Hard Choices: What Does It Mean ‘to Be Good at ICT’ as a History Educator? a View from England

Abstract

Over the past three decades, developments in new technology and digital communication have led to revolutionary changes to the ways in which history teachers and history teacher educators teach their students about the past. There have also been radical changes in the way that young people get their information about the past outside of formal education, with a much higher proportion of this information being accessed by sources that are not mediated by the university academic, the history textbook‚ or the history teacher in school. During the same period, in England as in many other countries, there have been continuing arguments about the aims and purposes of teaching young people about the past. What are the implications of these developments for those who teach history? The chapter looks at the recent debate about new technology and history education in England, where competence specifications relating to the use of ICT in the teaching of history have fluctuated dramatically over the past two decades. Analysis of the views of policymakers and practitioners—particularly those who are considered to be ‘experts’ in the use of new technology in history education—reveals widely divergent views on what teachers and learners need to know about new technology and digital communication. In the final section of the chapter, some conclusions are drawn, which suggest ways forward in terms of enabling history teachers to make the best use of new technology, in a way that is of maximum benefit to effective history teaching, the good of society and the future well-being of the human race. Although the chapter focuses on the English context, the implications of the study are relevant to many other education systems.