A Systematic Review of ICT Integration in the Teaching and Learning of Social Sciences

Introduction: With the growing trend of technology adoption in teaching and learning, this integration must continuously be studied to track its status. Social Sciences, also known as Social Studies in other countries, is one of the subjects that the South African government has designed to accommodate technology adoption. Therefore, this qualitative review systematically analyses published data on integrating ICT in the teaching and learning of Social Sciences. Understanding the level of ICT integration in teaching Social Sciences in schools will open avenues for designing evidence-based intervention strategies to bridge policy and practice gaps in curriculum implementation.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the attitudes and perceptions, extent of integration and challenges of SS teachers in integrating ICT in their instruction. It is hoped to eventually identify gaps in existing literature and to guide future research.

Methods: The review was guided by the PRISMA guidelines and utilised three search engines, Google Scholar, EBSCOHost and Sabinet, from which a total of 25 records from the last ten years were deemed suitable for the purpose of this study. Thereafter, data were analysed using the thematic analysis method based on the attitudes and perceptions, level of integration and challenges.

Conclusions: Overall, integration is in its infancy, but there is an eagerness to integrate ICT if the challenges are mitigated. This analysis was significant in pointing out areas of future research.