Teaching Social Studies with the New Media: Digital Approaches that Make the Grade (Maine Council of Social Studies)


Published:October 18, 2010



On November 12, 2010, the Maine Council of Social Studies (MCSS) will be seeking to change the course of history as they offer Social Studies Teachers from K-12 schools across the state of Maine a new form of professional conference. The MCSS Fall Conference entitled “Teaching Social Studies with the New Media: Digital Approaches that Make the Grade,” will be a blended format of face-to-face and online learning. There will be space for approximately 200 participants who will gather at five campuses within the University System - in Presque Isle, Portland, Lewiston, Orono and Augusta.

Conference planners have come together from the MCSS, the Maine Learning Technology Initiative (MLTI), the Maine State Archives, the University of Maine System, Maine Humanities Council, and other organizations to design this new way of professional learning. With the distribution of technology across the state through the MLTI, access to digital resources and tools to support deeper learning has become a reality, making it critical that Maine educators are supported in improving their use of the resources to become more effective in their instruction.

Kelly Schrum, the Director of Educational Projects at Center for History and New Media will keynote the conference, bringing a national and international perspective on the use of new digital technologies and how they are changing the ways schools and communities interact with their own histories as well as histories from around the world.

In addition, three other digitally distributed sessions will be led by Maine educators who are actively using digital technology and resources to transform teaching and learning in their classrooms. In the local settings, MCSS-identified Social Studies Teacher Leaders will collaborate with MLTI staff to support participants face-to-face as they engage in activities inspired by the digitally distributed presentations.

The presence of the Maine Learning Technology Initiative has helped Maine become uniquely prepared to engage educators from across the state in this bold new type of professional development. There are 70,000 plus Apple MacBooks distributed across Maine schools in Grades 7 - 12 in the third and current iteration of the MLTI, making Maine a prime destination for educators from around the globe seeking to learn more about how 1:1 access to current technology can transform teaching and learning.

The conference fee is $50 and includes morning refreshments, lunch and all materials. Contact hours will be awarded.

Online Registration: http://mcss.wufoo.com/forms/m7x4a3/
Date: November 12, 2010
Location: Various Regional
Times: 8:30 am - 2:30 pm


Please contact Jim Wells at jwells@mlti.org with any questions. You can visit the Maine Council for Social Studies at http://www.memun.org/mcss/

Thank you
The MLTI Team