Christine M. Bachen|Chad Raphael|Kathleen-M. Lynn|Kristen A. McKee|Jessica Philippi
Civic Engagement, Pedagogy, and Information Technology on Web Sites for Youth
abstract scholars political socialization paying increasing attention internet might help cure civic disengagement youth content analysis sample 73 usbased civic web sites youth introduces framework evaluating web sites strategies fostering active communication citizenship offer first systematic assessment extent broad range web sites aim develop young peoples abilities use information communication technology ict vehicle civic participation engage ict policy domain encompasses issues freedom speech intellectual property rights shape conditions popular sovereignty online study finds low levels interactive features message boards allow young people share editorial control offering content addition sites employ active pedagogical techniques simulations research suggests effective developing civic knowledge skills participation also find little attention ict policy issues could engage budding citizens debates formative conditions political communication information age conclude suggestions civic web site designers hypotheses user studies test keywords civic engagementinformation technologyworld wide webinternetyouthinteractivitypolitical socializationcontent analysis research funded santa clara universitys center science technology society facultystudent research assistant program notes 1 google kids teens directorygooglecomtopkidsandteens yahoo society culture cultures groups teenagers diryahoocomsocietyandcultureculturesandgroupsteenagers yahoo society culture cultures groups children diryahoocomsocietyandcultureculturesandgroupschildren kidsclick sunsiteberkeleyedukidsclick femina feminacybergrrlcom american library association great sites kids wwwalaorggreatsites circle wwwcivicyouthorgpractitionersorglinkshtm 2 directories included yahoos news media media literacy directory diryahoocomnewsandmediaindustryinformationmedialiteracy including subdirectories culture jammers youth media awareness google directories titled news media media literacy directorygooglecomtopnewsmediamedialiteracy society issues education literacy information literacy directorygooglecomtopsocietyissueseducationliteracyinformationliteracy kids teens computers internet directorygooglecomtopkidsandteenscomputersinternet links lists examined included american coalition media education wwwacmecoalitionorg us department justice cyberethics kids wwwcybercrimegov wwwcybercitizenshiporg kidspace internet public library computers internet wwwiplorgdivkidspace culture modeling media literacy sites girls wwwcultureofmodelingcomlinkshtm mediachannelorg children wwwmediachannelorgaffiliatestopictopic2051shtml kqed media literacy links wwwkqedorgwymcrealitylinkshtml pbs dont buy pbskidsorgdontbuyitwhatyoucandolearnmorehtml national institute media family links media literacy sites wwwmediafamilyorglinksindexshtml 3 included firstgov kids wwwkidsgov edworld social sciences wwweducationworldcomawardspasttopicssocscishtml kidsclick society government sunsiteberkeleyedukidsclicktopsocihtml 4 one site construction time archiving eliminated sample 5 sites coded created adults credits indicated designers 25 years age less twothirds postings interactive areas site appeared created youth 24 younger sites coded created youth indicators suggested site created exclusively 25 sites coded created adults youth credits indicated site created least one youth least one adult youthcreated content made least one third site example ezine created adults mostly featured young peoples writings counted created adults youth 6 sample size limited 73 sites data sites used test intercoder reliability included full sample coder disagreements given variable coding decision shared two three coders used final data set although percentage agreement limitation overestimating reliability correcting chance agreement report statistic provides clearer indication level agreement among coders type data study widely used statistics categories measured absent sites statistics like krippendorffs alpha scotts pi cohens kappa take account number categories associated given variable also probable frequency use little variation sample due nature material coded statistics produce extremely low incalculable reliabilities coders agree category absent present krippendorffs alpha scotts pi cohens kappa essentially incalculable 7 small sample size fact many variables study normally distributed nonparametric statistics used throughout analyses