TPCK+Resources+US

=American History and Geography= As Social Studies teachers, most of the history courses we are required to take concern American History. That, coupled with the the level of technology that is readily available makes the mix of history and technology natural and fluid. History is marked by the great technological inventions, and it would only make sense that learning about American history and geography blossoms through technology.

TPCK Resources
It is important to remember that in reference to TPCK, teachers should not think of these sites as just references, but as teaching tools that will not only enhance the learning experience, but also increase technological readiness for the student.

The resources listed on this page should be used in concert with pedagogical tools like Webquests, Social Bookmarking like Diigo, or great blogs that can be created through sites like Edublog. It's not enough to know what's available through technology, but the teacher who truly integrates technology must be able to utilize the tools as a regular part of available teaching strategies. Technology should be integrated seamlessly, not used on special occasions or as a reward.

American History
One of the great benefits of technology would be the emergance of Digital History. In Handbook of Technologyical Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPCK) for Educators, (Lee) it is noted that "Digital history has emerged as a result of new technologies which enable the storage of extensive historical records in electronic form as well as remote access to these resources via the World Wide Web". With the prevalence of digital storage, the number of sites that allow students to examine various historical documents and investigate the history around them should be invaluable to social studies teachers.

> **(it should be noted that [|PBS] is a consistent and useful source for historical information from nearly every time period in American history)**
 * Some examples of great digital archives can be found at:**
 * American History Online - Seems like the natural start for all things that have to do with American History, but is a pretty mediocre source of primary documents.
 * [|Our Documents.gov] - Does a nice job of providing 'hands-on' experience with the great historical documents in American history.
 * [|Looking for Lincoln] - Based on the Abraham Lincoln documentary by Henry Louis Gates Jr., this site goes beyond the video with interactive activities that bring history to the student.
 * [|Library of Congress] - This site features **wonderful** interactive libraries and exhibits. It may take some digging to get into, but almost always presents something useful.
 * [|Today's Front Pages at Newseum] - Presents the front pages of our nation's newspapers in a downloadable PDF, or students can visit the actual site. The archive of past pages is also very useful.

Virtual Explorations of History
Students also can explore times in history and explore what the time period that they were studying would look like, feel like and sound like. Some fine examples of digital exploration of a time period and virtual tours are located at:
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Geography
Its important to remember that geography is more than the placement of mountains and rivers (physical geography), but also includes how humans interact with their environment (human geography), and how past interactions and climate change, war and other factors have affected the planet (historical geography). The links below relate primarily to physical geography, while much of the other links on the page will provide help with the other types of geography.
 * National Geographic - The premier site for geography
 * KidPort Reference Library- Click on a state to learn about it
 * [|Sheppard Software] - A good collection of games for all ages
 * Netstate.com - Information on individual states

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//References//
//Map taken from Lets Meet4 Coffee in the United States of America//