Social studies face the transformations of digital education and artificial intelligence

In light of the rapid development in digital tools and artificial intelligence applications, the need emerges to develop teaching methods for this discipline and enhance its capacity to build students' awareness of place and time, while fostering their critical thinking, analysis, and inquiry skills.

Within this framework, educator Qaisar Saleh Al-Gharaibeh stated that contemporary education is witnessing radical transformations that are reshaping the educational landscape. He pointed out that the social studies discipline is among the fields clearly affected by digital and cognitive developments, which calls for a transition from teaching patterns based on memorization and rote learning to more interactive educational practices connected to daily life.

In an interview with "Alrai", he added that this shift is not limited to introducing technology into the classroom, but is based on educational foundations aimed at building spatial and temporal awareness among students, enabling them to understand and analyze historical events and geographical phenomena, rather than merely recalling information contained in textbooks.

Al-Gharaibeh explained that traditional education relies primarily on teacher- and textbook-centered learning through direct explanation, rote learning, memorization of dates, events, and geographical borders, with a focus on written exams as a primary tool for measuring cognitive achievement.

He noted that this educational pattern is characterized by its ability to provide a unified cognitive basis for students, alongside the opportunities direct communication between teacher and student offers to monitor achievement and account for individual differences, in addition to its role in organizing the classroom environment and enhancing discipline.

He pointed out that the challenge lies in the over-reliance on this model, which may limit student participation in knowledge-building and weaken opportunities for developing critical thinking and analysis, especially when historical and geographical information is presented in an abstract manner without being linked to reality or utilizing educational means that aid in understanding and comprehension.

Conversely, Al-Gharaibeh explained that modern education is based on activating the student's role in the learning process through inquiry, research, project-based learning, and problem-solving, making them a partner in acquiring, analyzing, and evaluating knowledge rather than merely receiving it.

He added that teaching social studies according to this approach provides students with broader opportunities to understand events within their historical contexts, analyze spatial, demographic, environmental, and developmental phenomena, and connect them to contemporary issues. This contributes to building a personality capable of independent thinking and making positions based on knowledge and evidence.

He pointed out that employing digital maps, interactive media, and smart boards helps transform abstract concepts into clearer educational experiences. It also allows students to explore locations, analyze data, compare geographical phenomena, and understand the relationships between humans and the environment, thereby enhancing active and participatory learning.

He emphasized the importance of utilizing geographic information systems, remote sensing, educational applications, and digital simulations in developing the teaching of geography in particular, due to the capabilities these tools provide for reading and analyzing spatial data, understanding changes occurring in environments and regions, and exploring natural and human phenomena with greater accuracy and depth.

He noted that employing digital documents and electronically available historical sources can broaden the horizons of history teaching by providing students with the opportunity to examine sources, compare them, and analyze historical narratives, thereby developing their ability to distinguish between reliable and unreliable information and enhancing research, verification, and inference skills.

Regarding the teacher's role, Al-Gharaibeh said that the rapid transformations in education have redefined the duties of the social studies teacher. Their role is no longer limited to transferring information and recounting facts; rather, they have become learning facilitators and designers of educational experiences, helping students ask questions, build hypotheses, analyze evidence, and reach conclusions.

He emphasized that technology, despite its importance, is not an end in itself, but a means to improve learning. Its impact depends on how well it is deployed within clear educational objectives and the teacher's ability to turn digital tools into genuine opportunities for understanding and thinking, while taking into account the varying capacities of students and schools to access technical resources.