Effective Social Studies Teaching Through the Use of Technology

It is known that the use of technology within the scope of teaching activities offers significant benefits in terms of the development of various skills of students. This research aimed to contribute to the development of students' 21st century skills through activities based on the use of Web 2.0 tools in the social studies course. The research is based on action research, one of the qualitative research designs. The 21st century skills of the study group and the development of these skills were measured by the "Comprehensive 21st Century Skills Scale". In the other dimension of the research, face-to-face interviews were made to obtain participants' opinions on the implementations. The research was conducted in the fall semester of the 2022-2023 academic year with 7th-grade students of a public secondary school in Izmir. It was carried out with a total of 22 students over 10 weeks. Libraries in Python programming language were used to analyze the quantitative data collected using the scale. The content analysis method was used to analyze the qualitative data obtained through the interview form. At the end of the research, it was seen that the activities based on Web 2.0 tools contributed to develop participants' 21st century skills such as critical thinking and problem-solving, creativity and innovation, information, communication and technology literacy, entrepreneurship, and self-management skills. Participants' opinions on implementations were positive regarding their contribution to skill development, retention of what was learned, and making lessons more fun. In line with the results of the research, suggestions for educators and researchers on the use of Web 2.0 tools were presented.