Indiana Social Studies S.8.4
The Standard
Describe how the role of the mass media has changed over time and project what changes might occur in the future.
2026 Indiana Academic Standards: K-12 Social Studies
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students track how newspapers, radio, TV, and social feeds spread news about public events. They compare who chooses stories and how audiences respond. They use past shifts to predict a likely next change.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can explain how a TV report gave viewers a shared story, while social feeds let people share and challenge it. They can predict how AI-made videos might change trust in a protest story and support the prediction with a past shift.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think everyone sees the same posts or that social media has no editors because users can post directly. Some assume a viral clip is accurate because many people shared it.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: A protest appears in a 1960s TV report and on a current social feed. Name two differences in how people get or respond to the story, then predict one change by 2035 using a past shift as evidence.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs a newspaper front page and a printed social media feed to mark who selects stories and how readers respond.
Ask students to write: How might AI-made news clips change who people trust, and what past shift supports your answer?
Sort cards labeled newspaper, radio, TV, websites, and social feeds by when they became widespread; match each to a change in audience participation.
Compare a local newspaper headline with its social media post about the same event; ask which invites public replies and what those replies might do.
Free download
Printable S.8.4 Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to S.8.4, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.
PDF, US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white.
Download the worksheetKeep exploring
Related Standards
- USH.7.2
Describe developing trends in science, media, and technology (especially social media, the Internet, and computing), and explain how they impact the lives of Am...
- S.9.2
Describe how social problems have changed over time.
- USG.3.14
Describe the influence of the media and technology on public opinion and public policy.
- S.8.1
Describe how and why societies change over time.
Turn this exact standard into a lesson
Grade, subject, topic, and the complete standard are prefilled. Create one free, no account needed.
Also for this standard:Make a WorksheetMake a QuizMake a Sub Lesson