Science Communication, Critical Thinking, and Social Media: Sparking Student Dialogue

This webinar will address the implementation of social media and simple media production as tools to engage students in civic discourse through KQED's Do Now U project. Through a partnership with SENCER, Do Now U provides students with a platform to discuss current, engaging scientific issues through social media. Students research topics, share their thoughts and respond to each other's ideas. They move from being purely consumers of media to active participants in conversations, often times looking at a national issue through the lens of their local communities.

Participants in this webinar will view examples of Do Now U posts, which each include a short article about a current scientific topic and featured media resources. A range of student responses--including tweets, comments, blog posts and infographics--from classrooms that are currently participating in Do Now U will be reviewed, and webinar participants will be introduced to ways that students can illustrate their viewpoints using a variety of free media-making tools. Best practices for using Do Now U in the classroom with students will also be discussed.

A small pilot group of professors and classrooms in the SENCER community have been working with their students to produce the Do Now U posts for the 2015-2016 school year. This webinar will provide information for others interested in engaging with Do Now U this semester and in the future.

The webinar will be held Friday, February 26 from 1-2 pm (Eastern).

It will be hosted by:

• Andrea Aust (Science Communication Manager, KQED)
• Autumn Marshall (Chair, Nutrition and Kinesiology Professor, Lipscomb University), and
• Jim Speer (Department of Earth and Environmental Systems Professor, Indiana State University).