Do Our Schools (and We) Need Online Civics Education? Yes!!

Posted on November 13, 2008 by David Gray

UMassOnline CEO David Gray This past weekend while attending the WCET Conference, I had the distinct pleasure and honor of having an “up close and personal” seat to listen to the keynote address given by Supreme Court Justice (retired) Sandra Day O’Connor. Displaying a razor-sharp mind and a keen sense of humor, Justice O’Connor provided the attendees with a passionate account of her most recent project. Concerned by the deterioration of civics education in our public schools (she cited data suggesting that only half the U.S. states require civics education as a high school graduation requirement), Justice O’Connor is teaming with the Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, the College of Teacher Education and Leadership, the Applied Learning Technologies Institute and Georgetown University’s Law Center to unveil a web-based learning environment to teach middle school students about the judiciary and other aspects of government. The web site, which is still under development, is called “Our Courts” and will feature a complete civics curriculum (including model lesson plans for teachers), interactive role-playing scenarios for students, and links to a wide variety of information resources about government at the state and federal levels.

When completed, “Our Courts” will be a model for how to take advantage of the best the web can offer in helping to solve a serious social and educational dilemma. As Justice O’Connor lamented, when two-thirds of all American high school graduates are unable to list the three branches of government, our nation’s democratic foundations are jeopardized. Noting that she has no problem with the current fixation on improving the lackluster state of science and mathematics education in our nation’s schools, she correctly opined that we should not have to choose between adequate science and math education on one hand and civics education on the other. I tip my cap to Justice O’Connor for her determination to correct something that she deems deficient and potentially injurious to the very fabric of our society. Appropriate acknowledgment also needs to be given to Arizona State University for the leadership role they are playing.

If you wish to learn more about this groundbreaking initiative, the following links are good starting points: