Use of Web 2.0 tools in teaching cultural heritage topics in the 6th grade social studies lesson

Social Studies is a course that directly deals with human life, blends and associates the past and the future, enables individuals to become social citizens and helps transfer cultural heritage. An important way of effectively and permanently teaching cultural heritage in Social Studies course is technological tools. The main purpose of this study is to reveal the effect of Web 2.0 tools in teaching of cultural heritage in Social Studies education. In accordance with the purpose of the research, embedded mixed design from mixed method research was used. The participant group of the research consists of the students studying at the 6th grade level in a secondary school in the city center of Ardahan in the spring term of the 2022-2023 academic year and the Social Studies teacher working in the same school. The data of the research were obtained with the cultural heritage academic achievement test, semi-structured interview forms prepared for teachers and students, and semi-structured observation forms. Statistical analyzes of the quantitative data obtained during the research process were analyzed with the help of SPSS program with independent t test. The analyzes of qualitative data were analyzed with descriptive and content analysis. It was observed that the course process conducted with Web 2.0 tools in Social Studies education had a significant effect on the teaching cultural heritage in favor of the experimental group. In addition, it was revealed that the students and the participant teacher thought that Web 2.0 tools useful for the Social Studies course and cultural heritage transfer, and as a result of the observations, there were differences between the experimental and control groups. Depending on the results obtained, suggestions regarding the implementation process and further researches are put forth.