For this year’s back to school column, I’d like to talkabout civics.
The older you are, the more likely you remember taking acivics class. When I was in school a million years ago, I recall an endlessnumber of films and videos on how a bill becomes a law,the separation of powers, and other topics (see, eLearning of a sort, eventhen). But over the years, many schools dropped civics classes and incorporatedthe content into social studies, history, or humanities curricula. And, as youor your kids may have noticed, the amount of time devoted to civics diminishedas other topics took precedence.
Why civics education?
Aside from the belief that civics education is necessary fora thriving democracy, it is also ideal for an eLearning application that couldbe a wonderful demonstration project on a national scale. There are certainlyother topics that meet this criterion, but unlike many, today, good civicseducation is all too rare. And, for the most part, the content is applicable toa wide and diverse audience. Aside from accommodating some modifications basedon state or region, much of the content is pretty universal. This would allowfor mass distribution and low cost. The program can be enhanced with historicalvideo, commentary by scholars and political leaders, a variety of engagingonline activities, and appropriate assessment features. As an eLearningprofession, we already know how to do this. Very likely, there are manyexamples of online civics education already available, so whether or not a newset of programs needs to be developed depends on what’s currently out there andhow good they are.
Online civics education presents additional implementationopportunities. Although it likely would be targeted to high school students, itwould not have to be scheduled into a traditional high school curriculum. Rather,it could be a graduation requirement, where students take the course sometimeduring their four-year high school experience. Ideally, it might be inconjunction with social studies or history curricula, but that’s not required. Withthis approach, the civics program could be taken when the student has the timeor interest, as long as it’s completed by the end of the senior year. Whoknows, we might see significant upticks in usage before each Election Day. Thisbrings out some of the best features of eLearning, that it can be taken at thelearner’s convenience, and when the need or interest is paramount. Prettyradical for today’s over-scheduled public education routine!
Of course, it wouldn’t be a bad thing if we saw the adultpopulation taking advantage of the program as well, and it would be great tomake it available beyond the schools (for example, to new immigrants preparingfor their citizenship exam). Again, broader access lowers cost.
Finally, moving civics education to eLearning, delivered atthe learner’s convenience, could become a model for how other content areascould be treated down the road.
The real challenge
Let’s assume for a minute that we had one or more greatcivics education online programs. The real challenge would be getting themused. We’d have to influence state education departments, public schooldistricts, and the school media- and textbook-publishing industry. They’d notonly have to agree that civics education is needed, but that eLearning is theway to go. They’d have to come together on the right programs, the content todeliver, and the delivery strategy. And they’d have to provide funding,especially at startup. This will be no easy task.
We have learned through our own experience with eLearningthat the easiest part of the work has always been to acquire or build courseware.Getting organizations and learners to embrace it is where more effort hasalways been needed. But if we are looking for a way to truly make a difference,especially in the minds of young learners just becoming active citizens, thismight be the path of most influence and least resistance. After all, is therereally anyone out there who doesn’t think civics education is a good thing? And,this would be a great way to showcase the large-scale potential of eLearning!
Building aninformed citizenry, something everyone believes in, will take a whole lot morethan an eLearning initiative in civics. But moving in this direction issomething we know how to do, and we can do. It’s not a bad place to start.
