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eCitizenship: New Tools, New Strategies, New Spaces

Topic:

Facebook®, wikis, blogs and a host of other technology-based tools are transforming the ways that citizens interact with others and with government. Indeed, technology is transforming our democracy. How do we begin to understand this transformation and to find ways for colleges and universities to use these tools to prepare informed, engaged citizens.

Goals:

This three-year initiative is a partnership of AASCU and the Center for the Study of Citizenship at Wayne State University. Still in the beginning phases, the participating thirty-five institutions in this initiative will work together to study how emerging technologies, particularly social networks, support and facilitate civic and political engagement. The main goal of the initiative to provide insights into and strategies for engaging undergraduates in the use of social networks and technology tools for civic purposes. Those strategies can then be broadly employed to prepare undergraduates for lives of engagement and participation.

Achievements:

In September 2009, the campuses participated in an online forum discussion about “Promising Practices In Online Engagement” by Scott Bittle, Chris Haller and Alison Kadlec. In November, the campus coordinators for this initiative attended an inaugural institute to officially launch the eCitizenship initiative. A group of eCitizenship campuses are participating in a sub-initiative focused on online community asset mapping. More information about this sub-initiative can be found on the eCitizenship Wiki.