Using+Technology+to+Motivate+Students

Heafner, Tina. “Using Technology to Motivate Students to Learn Social Studies.” //Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher education// v. 4 no. 1 (2004). []

Tina Heafner, author of “Using Technology to Motivate Students to Learn Social Studies,” suggests the incorporation of technology in the classroom as one way to increase student learning. Unfortunately, students frequently describe Social Studies classrooms as “boring” and “uninteresting.” Students associate these feelings with the course’s importance, or lack their of. Heafner argues that technology can encourage students to participate and engage in the learning process in ways traditional instructional methods cannot. This is because these instructional tools are familiar to students, and therefore can increase their self-worth. Heafner argues that this potential is related to the “expectancy-value model of motivation.” This model incorporates three areas of motivational theory. The first is value: students’ beliefs about the importance or merit of the activity. The second deals with expectancy: students’ beliefs about their own ability to accomplish the task. The third area is affective: the emotional reactions to the activity and the personal evaluation of one’s self-worth. In other words, a students’ motivation to attempt an academic task is directly related to their own self-confidence in their ability to complete the task successfully and the perceived value of the task. Heafner conducted a study to prove the effects of technology in increasing student motivation. Students interviewed claimed it allowed them to complete their work more easily and quicker. One student said, “I like using computers, the Internet, and PowerPoint because it is fun, fresh, and invigorating” (Heafner). Another student was quoted saying “I like using technology to do my work because you can do more with technology. You can make a really cool presentation that wouldn’t be possible without the technology” (Heafner). Another benefit students reported was that using technology in the classroom allowed them to better organize their own thoughts, in addition to better relate (and understand) what was being discussed in class. More importantly, students overwhelmingly reported that being able to use technology to complete tasks “allowed them to work with skills they already possessed… [or] to take those skills to the next level” (Heafner).