I keep seeing the same buzzwords over and over and over and over-
"Unprecedented"
"Now more than ever"
"Challenging times"
2020 has seen its fair share of abnormal goings-on in a number of different arenas. It also seems to be an incredibly politically-charged moment. Of course, I cannot say with any authority that it is "the most politically charged" time in history. I am sure it is not, but it feels like it.
Have politics gotten nastier, or have technological advances given a platform to unheard voices? Are we more politically divided on issues now than a decade ago, or are those just the loudest voices in the room? Why has science become a political issue? Have we lost our humanity? Why couldn't we all do our part like the rest of the world so I would feel safe spending a Saturday in The Most Magical Place on Earth?
The ultimate patriot, Sam Eagle
A 2019 article by Joseph Lahne and Benjamin Bowyer raises this question: Can media literacy education increase digital engagement in politics? The duo states that participatory culture within political realms often fosters problematic behavior such as the spreading of misinformation, echo chambers and incivility via platforms that seek engaged users and not righteous actions. Undoubtedly, students need to learn how to navigate these digital avenues to weed through opinion parading as fact and out-of-context headlines used to prop opposing arguments. The study conducted by Lahne and Bowyer (2019) finds that the concept of the digital native is a fallacy. While a lot of the youth's information and time is dedicated to life online, they are not the messiahs of digital culture (Lahne & Bowyer, 2019.) Their findings overall suggest that if the youth is exposed to digital engagement learning opportunities, they would be more likely to engage in online political activity.
While I agree with their assertion that there is a need for more work in this area, I find the results brought forward by Lahne and Bowyer to be compelling.
After reading this article, I started to think of the student engagement online through the lens of what we have been championing this semester: Web 2.0 tools in education. If an educator teaching a course in a social science or political science unleashed their students to the world-wide web prior to some type of digital literacy, what could the consequences be? Furthermore, in the midst of these political debates of unpolitical issues, how can an educator maintain their neutrality in a politically-motivated environment? That is, if a kerfuffle were to arise between students' opposing viewpoints, could an educator step in a way that completely shielded their bias?
In the words of Sam Eagle, now for my glorious three hour finale conclusion.
(Wait, what? I have 90 seconds? uhh)
I believe that infusing Web 2.0 into the curriculum of these subjects could produce personal development beyond what could be garnered from centuries-old texts, but how? Perhaps you start the class in a shielded environment like a discussion board or Google Classroom prior to encouraging them to move their work to more public arenas?
I suppose there is no one right answer, but I think I may have stumbled upon my topic for our next project which I have been struggling to nail down....
I was thinking about your question of whether or not politics had become nastier and thought about the musical, Hamilton. Burr and Hamilton had a duel. Hamilton died. No tweets possible, but I can imagine there were many conversations and people taking sides, probably even some disinformation.
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