Dialogue Across Difference: A Case Study of the Facing History and Ourselves Digital Media Innovation Network

• In Event: Educating for Democracy in the Digital Age: Possibilities and Challenges for Innovation in Democratic Education

Abstract

Objectives or purposes

One of the most troubling demographic phenomena in the United States is the re-segregation of schools. In urban centers, decades of integration work have been rolled backwards, and in suburban and rural areas, students increasingly find themselves living in homogenous neighborhoods (Orfield & Lee, 2005). Developing robust civic competencies requires that students learn how to communicate and collaborate across ethnic and class differences (Kahne, Middaugh, Lee, & Feezell, 2012), and demographic isolation inhibits this development. Online communities are one powerful approach to counteract these alarming trends. Online spaces allow students in homogenous neighborhoods to engage with peers from widely different circumstances.

This paper presents a case study of the Digital Media and Innovation Network (DMIN), a network of educators and students facilitated by Facing History and Ourselves. Facing History is an organization whose mission is to engage students of diverse backgrounds in an examination of racism, prejudice, and antisemitism in order to promote a more humane and informed citizenry (Barr & Bardige, 2012). In that spirit, DMIN was designed to bring together learners from around the world to explore media literacy, perspective-taking skills, and related civic competencies, through a close examination of Reporter, a documentary about Nicholas Kristof. Teachers received extensive training on media literacy, media production, and online collaborative practice. They then worked intensively with their students to create digital projects and share them in a global online community.

Perspective(s) or theoretical framework

In this paper, we examine the inaugural DMIN project through the lens of design research (Dede, 2005). Design research is a method commonly used in the learning sciences for the study of innovative education technology where effective pedagogical practices are not well developed. The DMIN project was developed with a series of design principles reflecting Facing History’s core pedagogical stances, and then rigorously assessed by Facing History’s evaluation team, internal to the organization, but independent from the practitioners leading the DMIN project.

Methods and Data

This study draws on two types of data. First, we have the log records of the DMIN online learning environment, which allows us to analyze all interactions on the platform. Second, we surveyed students about a series of self-reported outcomes. In this paper, we conduct a close discourse analysis on one threaded discussion related the concept of “forgiveness. ” We pair these analyses of student work with student self-reported outcomes, including responses to a series of open-ended survey questions that probed students about what they learned and valued from their experience.

Results and scholarly significance of the study or work

Our evaluation shows evidence of DMIN’s positive impact on students’ media literacy, perspective-taking, and openness to difference. In particular, students expressed a deepened respect for both the differences that emerged in the diverse online community and the values that were shared across these geographic and social divides. Our paper concludes with an assessment of the vital role that online communities will play in nurturing civic competencies in the years to come.

Authors

• Justin Fire Reich, Harvard University

• Anna L. Romer, Evaluation Dept., Facing History and Ourselves

• Dennis Barr, Facing History and Ourselves