Meeting them where they are : the use of Twitter in youth civic education

Many measures of youth civic engagement indicate that youth participation in civic life has long been in decline; however, some of these measures fail to take into account ways that youth interact and engage with civic life. This qualitative study explored the experiences of five high school social studies teachers who have used the social media platform Twitter with students in their teaching of civics. Data collected during in-depth interviews was analyzed using a two-step coding process: first, an open-coding phase of data analysis allowed for data to emerge without preconceived ideas influencing the data; and second, a theory-based coding phase of data analysis allowed for examination of how the collective perceptions and experiences of participants connected to a proposed model of constructivist teaching of civic education with Twitter. Findings showed that the participants were introduced to Twitter for educational purposes by an influential peer who provided support as teachers considered the affordances of Twitter for their teaching. The study's findings also showed that participants viewed citizenship as moving fluidly between online and offline spaces. Further, participants were concerned about their students' self-worth, and used Twitter as a means of amplifying student voice and foster student agency. These findings contributed to theoretical understanding of the use of social media in K-12 education as well as the use of social media in the teaching of civics. Further implications included suggestions for research on introducing social media for classroom use in both teacher education and professional development programs. Additional implications for research on the other ways in which teachers could support both online and offline civic engagement, the impact of the use of Twitter on student worth, and the impact of student worth on youth civic engagement are discussed. Finally, implications for teachers' adoption and use of social media for education are presented.