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Conner, J., & Slattery, A. (2014). New Media and the Power of Youth Organizing: Minding the Gaps. Equity & Excellence in Education, 47(1), 14–30. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2014.866868

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Using Technology to Promote Civic Engagement 

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Using Technology to Promote Civic Engagement 

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In my class I would like for students to see how they can use technology to communicate within their community and bring attention to issues that matter to them.

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5 Ways to Increase Civic Engagement with Current Technology

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The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically impacted the ways constituents use technology, learn 5 ways governments can use technology for engagement.

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Why Is Youth Civic Engagement Important?

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Our communities and our democracy become more just and equitable when all people—individually and collectively—get involved and take action.

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Students’ Use of Social Media for Advocacy

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Since a majority of our students are engaging with social media outside the classroom, it makes good sense to integrate …

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The Alliance for Youth Organizing grows progressive people power across America by empowering local young people's organizations to strengthen our democracy, fix our economy, and correct injustices through on-the-ground organizing.
About The Alliance ►

Our Values in Action

The Alliance Network

The Alliance is the Voltron of youth-led local organizations across America. Each has its own local flavor, and each organization answers to its community's young people. But all our groups work together to turn out our generation, and turn up the political voice of young Americans. Check out these magic marvels:

Youth Organizing Partners

Help us make a powerful and lasting impact now - and for years to come.

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Alliance for Youth Organizing - Building young people's political power

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About The Alliance ► The Alliance is the Voltron of youth-led local organizations across America. Each has its own local flavor, and each organization answers to its community's young people. But all our groups work together to turn out our generation, and turn up the political voice of young Americans.

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Using Podcasts for Civic Participation and Engagement 

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Using Podcasts for Civic Participation and Engagement 

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Teaching civic engagement increases students' emotional intelligence and motivates them toward conscientious community action (Bernacki and Jaeger 2008). Research shows students who participate in civic engagement gain interpersonal effectiveness, the ability to collaborate across diverse perspectives, and a sense of self-efficacy for positively impacting individuals, organizations, and communities. How can teachers bring civic engagement to the classroom and build understanding of what it means to be an active participant in American democracy?

Educational podcasts can help to promote critical thinking and civic engagement in your classroom. Teaching with Listenwise can help students learn about civic participation, deepen their understanding of civic issues, and inspire civic action.

Teaching about civic participation
Compelling stories on democratic principles, processes, and structures core to U.S. citizenship can teach students about what civic engagement entails and how it plays out in everyday America.
Key to informed, responsible citizenship is understanding how our democracy functions. Engaging audio stories can help students learn about important civics topics such as the Separation of Powers , the role of the Electoral College , and Gerrymandering in Politics .

The upcoming election presents an excellent opportunity to help students fully understand the importance of exercising one of the most critical rights of citizenship-voting. Students can listen to podcasts to learn about the History of Voting Rights , as well as Why Many Americans Don't Vote and how Campaigns to Fight Election Disinformation are needed in the face of evidence that foreign governments are trying to influence the election.

Deepening understanding of civic issues
Inviting students to think critically and empathically about a variety of contemporary issues and diverse perspectives featured in current events can help to prepare them for active citizenship.
Podcasts can be integrated into lessons that invite students to think critically about relevant contemporary issues such as whether whether the voting age should be lowered , whether students should have a legal right to literacy , or whether mosquitoes should be genetically modified to self-destruct . They can be motivated to think about their roles and responsibilities as citizens, including their role in being critical consumers of social media , and potentially be encouraged to effect positive change in the world by learning from examples, such as NFL players speaking out publicly about issues that matter to them .

Through discussion, debate, writing, and other learning activities in response to those stories, students can deepen their understanding of the issues while sharpening their critical thinking and literacy skills. Our Listenwise Friday debate series is especially well-suited for this purpose. Just search "debate" to find a list of these stories.

Inspiring civic action
Featured stories about individuals who have taken action to make a positive difference in their communities can provide models that spark students' own ideas about what they can do to improve the world around them.
Lessons incorporating podcasts can engage students in considering issues that might affect them, such as , and how they can take action to address those issues. They might act at the local level, for example, to protect the environment by creating urban habitats for monarch butterflies . They might learn about students engaging in national efforts, such as protesting gun violence , or global efforts, such as influencing the straw debate . Stories like The Hate U Give and the Call to Activism can provide fodder for discussion of complex social issues that touch the lives of many students. The immediacy and emotional texture of people's voices can add resonance to their stories, so audio is especially well suited to generating responses that move listeners to action. Listenwise stories feature many examples of people making positive change.

The Listenwise platform incorporates a variety of digital tools to support comprehension, thus including learners at a range of literacy levels in thinking critically about rich, timely stories focused on issues that matter. In addition to using the listening comprehension and discussion questions accompanying each story, as well as the instructional activities and supports provided in lessons, you might be interested in the teaching resources included below. Please let us know if you find any of them useful and/or share others in comments.
Additional Resources Related to Promoting Civic Engagement

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Promoting Civic Engagement with Your Students - Listenwise Blog

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Teaching civic engagement increases students' emotional intelligence and motivates them toward conscientious community action (Bernacki and Jaeger 2008). Research shows students who participate in civic engagement gain interpersonal effectiveness, the ability to collaborate across diverse perspectives, and a sense of self-efficacy for positively impacting individuals, organizations, and communities.