Participate.
Tool

Digital Civics Toolkit

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This activity is recommended for the following learner age ranges

Preschool
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Elementary School
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Middle School
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High School
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Resource Summary

The Digital Civics Toolkit: New resources for civic education  
Helping young people develop the skills and dispositions to be thoughtful and effective civic agents in our complex, interconnected world feels more urgent than ever. How do we support them as they investigate issues they care about in an era of “fake news? How do we help them engage in dialogue about public issues in a polarized political climate? How do we help them express their voices in meaningful ways and take action?  These are among the essential questions civic educators are often asking themselves. Good Project researchers and colleagues in the MacArthur Research Network on Youth and Participatory Politics (YPP) have assembled The Digital Civics Toolkit, a collection of resources for educators looking to support youth around these questions.
Drawing on the research from the YPP network, the Toolkit is designed to help youth explore, recognize, and take seriously the civic potentials of digital life. The toolkit contains five modules that each capture a key practice associated with digital civics:
 
  • Participate — Students explore their identities and communities, identify civic issues that matter to them, and consider how they might use digital media for civic participation.
  • Investigate — Students work to understand and analyze civic information online and consider what information they can trust.
  • Dialogue — Students navigate diverse perspectives and exchange ideas about civic issues in our interconnected world.
  • Voice — Students consider how, when, and to what end they can create, remix, and otherwise repurpose content that they share with others in online spaces.
  • Action — Students consider a broad range of tactics and strategies for acting on civic issues.
     

​Explore the Digital Civics Toolkit here: https://www.digitalcivicstoolkit.org/  

If you want to go deeper, explore further YPP resources on the Teaching Channel’s Deep Dive on Educating for Democracy in the Digital Age.
 

Resource Links

Digital Civics Toolkit