Chapter 8: Dialogue Across Difference: A Case Study of Facing History and Ourselves’ Digital Media Innovation Network

One of the most troubling demographic phenomena in the United States is the re-segregation of American schools. In urban centers, decades of work to integrate student populations has been rolled backwards, and in suburban and rural areas, students increasingly find themselves living in homogenous neighborhoods. Nurturing robust civic and participatory competencies requires that students develop the capacity to communicate and collaborate across ethnic and class difference, but students’ experience in schools is increasingly one of demographic isolation.

One way to counteract these alarming trends is by connecting diverse students online. Online spaces allow students in homogenous schools to engage with students from widely different life circumstances. Moreover, online platforms allow students to participate in dialogue across difference using the same media practices that are reshaping the civic sphere and defining this generation (Reich, 2008).