Chapter 2: Using Technology to Support Relational Cosmopolitanism For Social Education

New media and Web 2.0 technologies continue to escalate and intensify, imbuing our lives with ever-expanding opportunities for interconnectedness, primarily through the creation and distribution of digital texts and “content.” We are learning more about how adolescents and youth are consuming and producing new media. However, much of this learning is focused on practices outside of schools (Ito et al., 2008). We know less about the ways students are working with social studies teachers to successfully integrate new media in classrooms. And we know even less about the ways new media can be used in social studies classrooms in ways that promote new perspectives and ideals of citizenship in the global society, such as those that call for forms of citizenship that include the cosmopolitan and progressive values of open-mindedness, a commitment to public deliberation and dialogue, a capacity for critical reflection (including self-reflection), and a willingness to skillfully act in the face of injustices (Baildon & Damico, 2011).