This article looks at various interpretations of what Social Studies is and proceeds to consider how these interpretations will determine how computers can be used in teaching Social Studies. Whether various programs are qualitative or quantitative in nature plays a role in making such decisions. The three main philosophical traditions in studying Social Studies fall into the following categories: Social Studies as citizenship transmission, Social Studies as Social Science and Social Studies as reflective inquiry. The use of computers for teaching Social Studies will vary according to which philosophical assumption one is operating on. Brady examines particular software programs to see how they fit the various models.

Social Studies as citizenship transmission sees learning as the process of making a chain of facts into an explanatory theory to provide meaning and understanding. Some features of the programs Brady examines include tutorials, drill-and-practice programs and simulations that help to reinforce concepts or theories that were learned previously. These may all be joined together in the form of a game to make the learning more interesting and motivating. Hierarchical concepts may also be linked in this type of program.

Social Studies as social science sees knowledge as interpreted data that has been derived from empirical investigations and which that discipline's scientific community has validated. The investigator in this discipline stands as an objective observer outside and beyond the realm of beliefs and values, which are deemed irrelevant in the determination of truth. Truth is arrived at through the use of scientific processes and all that is required for learning is learning the discipline's scientific processes and knowledge of how to apply them (See what Neil Postman has to say about this approach.). What is labelled "revelatory software" is utilized to do simulations in this type of inductive discovery learning approach. In one program, called Sim City, the user has to manage a major city. This requires balancing the needs and desires of the citizens with the available resources and time. Another type of software, called "emancipatory software," does not instruct, it merely frees the learner from the repetitive processes required in the learning task (See what Roger Schank has to say about this.).

Social Studies as reflective inquiry envisions the learner as someone engaged in the construction of context-specific knowledge. This goes beyond the previously described model of Social Studies as social science and deals with several levels of uncertainty in relation to knowledge-in-practice. Thinking and doing are carried out in tandem as the learner comes to a decision, thus making knowledge a context-specific intellectual artifact. The computer software for this type of Social Studies is known as "conjectural software." It helps students to formulate and test their hypotheses. Most important for this model of Social Studies inquiry is the development of hypertext and hypermedia systems that connect information in the form of text, video and digitized audio into one knowledge source, allowing users to build knowledge-bases. Whereas print privileges a linear structure of text (Note Robert D. Romanyshyn's comments on linear thought.), hypersystems allow multiple perspectives on an egalitarian basis, which, according to Cognitive Flexibility Theory, are important for developing deep understanding. Hypersystems may contain a hierarchy but they may also reject this hierarchical structure and linear order. This makes for a better analogy with contemporary views of nature, as in today's world, nature is frequently seen as a network of independent species and systems, rather than as a hierarchy.

Understanding the common epistemology among certain interpretations of Social Studies, designs of inquiring system employed and designs of software is important the development, employment and selection of software within Social Studies. Software developers and teachers must understand these issues. Hopefully such an understanding will result in improved computer-based systems for Social Studies.

Certainly these types of approaches to Social Studies do exist. Teachers will not make effective use of computers in the classroom if they have not understood these concepts and their implications in the choice of computer programs. The other consideration is knowing how to pick software that is compatible with the teacher's own interests. This will require exploring the programs in some depth before undertaking to utilize them in the classroom. The program Sim City is still around and in use. When I did my practicum in grade 9 the Social Studies teacher across the hall had this program on more than one computer in his classroom. I would like to go back and discuss this article with him to see if he uses it because it exemplifies the approach that he takes to teaching Social Studies or whether it was supplied by the New Brunswick Department of Education, in which case that may say something about the persons in the Department who purchased the program and their views on what Social Studies is all about. Or maybe they just got a good deal on the program. Enquiring minds want to know.