08-NEB-117 NEJHE Summer 2008_Back 7/9/08 3:36 PM Page 25 FORUM: GOING DIGITAL Using Social Media to Teach Social Media HOWARD RHEINGOLD These media include (but aren’t students’ energetic involvement in oday's population of Digital limited to) blogs, wikis, RSS, tagging forming their identity to their potential Natives learned how to learn and social bookmarking, music-photo- growth as engaged citizens. Moving new kinds of software before they T video sharing, mashups, podcasts, from a private to a public voice can started high school. They carry mobile digital storytelling, virtual communities, help students turn their self-expression phones, media players, game devices, social network services, virtual envi- into a form of public participation. laptop computers and know how to ronments, machinima, and videoblogs. Public voice is learnable, a matter of use them. They know the Internet not These distinctly different media consciously engaging with an active as a transformative new technology, share three common, interrelated public rather than broadcasting to a but as a fixture in their environment. characteristics: passive audience. It is an important These young citizens are both and beneficial learning outcome, and self-guided and in need of guidance. • Many-to-many media make it possible it is also fundamental to democracy. Accordingly, the Social Media Virtual for every person connected to the Classroom project, with funding from network to broadcast as well as to The public voice of individuals, the HASTAC/MacArthur Foundation receive text, images, audio, video, aggregated and in dialogue with the Digital Media & Learning Competition, software, data, discussions, transac- voices of others, is the building block of “public opinion.” When public opinion has the power and freedom to influence By showing students how to use Web-based channels policy, it can be an essential instru- to inform publics, advocate positions, contest claims, ment of democratic self-governance. and organize action around issues they care about, Deliberation is only one important part of public discourse. Investigation, participatory media education can influence civic advocacy, criticism, debate, persuasion, behavior positively throughout their lives. and politicking are also important. With citizen journalist communities is in the process of creating an online tions, computations, tags, or links like Assignment Zero and citizen news social media classroom, detailed syllabi to and from every other person. The critic communities like NewsTrust, for teaching participatory media theory asymmetry between broadcaster and YouTube political debates, netroots and practice, a community of practice audience that was dictated by the bloggers and organizational Meetups, and a series of instructional videos structure of pre-digital technologies the tools for revitalizing democracy detailing how and why to use social has changed radically. are widely available. What is needed at this crucial time is not just basic media to learn about social media. • Participatory media are social media knowledge of how to use digital tools, The Internet provides digital whose power emerges from the active but also widespread knowledge of production tools and information participation of many people. Value what these tools mean. distribution networks that have derives not just from the size of the By showing students how to use enabled people to mobilize new audience, but also from their power types of collective action. Community Web-based channels to inform publics, to connect to each other, to form a production and sharing of knowledge advocate positions, contest claims, community as well as a market. (Wikipedia), culture (YouTube, Flickr, and organize action around issues the blogosphere), tools (free and • Social networks, when amplified by they care about, participatory media open source software), markets information and communication education can influence civic behav- (eBay and Craigslist), education (Open networks, enable broader, faster, and ior positively throughout their lives. Educational Resources), journalism lower cost coordination of activities; Participatory media literacy is (citizen journalism) and political orga- participatory media can help necessarily a hands-on enterprise, nization (meetups, netroots activism, coordinate action in the physical requiring active use of digital media smart mobs) are early manifestations world on scales and at paces never by students; for this reason the Social of social changes that could continue before possible. Media Virtual Classroom syllabus will to bloom as more become literate “Voice,” the unique style of personal involve student use of multiple online in participatory media — or could fail expression that distinguishes one’s media in their exploration of the to take root if those literacies are communications from those of others, syllabus texts, and a video blog will available only to elites. can be called upon to help connect provide instruction and real world THE NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF HIGHER EDUCATION SUMMER 2008 25 08-NEB-117 NEJHE Summer 2008_Back 7/9/08 3:36 PM Page 26 FORUM: GOING DIGITAL Moving from a private to a public voice can help students those acquired skills to the processes of civil society, scientific or scholarly turn their self-expression into a form of public participation. innovation, or economic production. It is an important and beneficial learning outcome, and it is A successfully implemented Social also fundamental to democracy. Media Virtual Classroom can bridge that disconnect and prepare students to participate in society as engaged and empowered citizens. examples. At the same time, knowledge system (CMS). Videos and wikis will of the skills needed to use digital tools document the complete process of Howard Rheingold teaches digital is uniform but lacks a familiarity leasing an inexpensive server, installing journalism at Stanford University with the scientific discourse regarding and configuring the CMS, finding and and virtual community/social media community, collective action, social installing modules to make a social at UC Berkeley. An Internet pioneer, networks and the public sphere. media online classroom. The videos Hence, the syllabus will be grounded and online resources should enable Rheingold is the author a number in traditional texts from sociology, any educator or student to create a of books including Smart Mobs: computer science, economics, and social media online classroom and The Next Social Revolution and The political science. put it to use. Virtual Community: Homesteading on In order to give students a private, Although a willingness to learn the Electronic Frontier. The author easy-to-use, flexible environment for new media through point-and-click welcomes educators to join the practice blogging, chatting and aggregating their exploration might come naturally to community around the social media social bookmarks, we will use a free today’s student cohort, there is nothing classroom. E-mail: howard@rhein- and open source content management innate about knowing how to apply gold.com. 26 NEW ENGLAND BOARD OF HIGHER EDUCATION.