As I was digging through old posts, I would like to add my thoughts to the topic “setting up student discussions” 18 months ago. I am particularly going to recommend the website www.doodle.com for scheduling.
Scheduling… Read More »
Tag Archives: communication skills
Scheduling a Student Discussion using Doodle
Posted in Education Also tagged citizen discussions, Classroom Discussions, facilitation, Project Discussions, recruiting, student-centered discussion Leave a comment
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Teaching How to Think About Policy
One of the things that the Interactivity Foundation does is to teach people how to think about public policy possibilities. This will sound patronizing only if you misunderstand why, what, and how we do it.
I heard an interview with… Read More »
How to Evaluate an IF Policy Possibility—Part 2
Once you have a basic understanding of the policy possibility—what it says and what it doesn’t—the next step is to understand why someone might actually propose it. In order to do this, you will typically need to go beyond the… Read More »
Posted in Perspectives Also tagged challenges, citizen discussions, creativity, deliberation, personal development, reasoning skills Leave a comment
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How to Evaluate an IF Policy Possibility⎯Part 1
The first step, of course, is to understand the possibility: what it says and what it doesn’t. This almost inevitably means reading the description of the possibility, and the reasoning behind it, and paying attention to the words that describe… Read More »
Posted in Perspectives Also tagged challenges, citizen discussions, discussion process, Public Discussions, reasoning skills Leave a comment
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What Is A Non-Participating Yet ‘Strong’ Facilitator?
One of the core aspects of IF is that our sanctuary projects have non-participating yet ‘strong’ facilitators for their discussions. But what, exactly, is a non-participating yet ‘strong’ facilitator?
The non-participating part is relatively easy. IF facilitators facilitate their panelists’… Read More »
Federal mandate to enhance civic discourse?
The Democracy Imperative’s most recent newsletter has an interesting write-up detailing a
recent forum exploring how federal policies and programs might be expanded to enhance the
civic skills of American citizens.
Exercising the Civic Muscle
Colleague Jeff Prudhomme and I spent this last weekend in Cincinnati, Ohio at the Central States Communication Association Conference at the invitation of 2009 Summer Institute participant Professor Laura Black. We were there to participate in a “beyond the town… Read More »
Posted in Perspectives Also tagged civic engagement, discussion process, facilitation, learning by doing, personal development 1 Comment
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Losing Sight
During the last few weeks of my IF course, I have been struggling to understand just how well students are developing discussion and facilitation skills. Even though students have engaged in several weeks of discussion, some members dominate the conversation… Read More »
All Communication Is Not Created Equal: Observations on the Usefulness of Blogging
Blogging, like most forms of communication, can serve various purposes. It can contribute to both IF’s learning by doing (through recruiting, say) and teaching (by drawing attention to the lessons we have learned by doing).
But it is a fundamental… Read More »
Posted in Perspectives Also tagged citizen discussions, civic engagement, conversations, discussion process 1 Comment
Democratic Deliberations and Self-Interest
I am currently taking a special topics course on Citizenship Learning, Participatory Democracy, and Social Change. Even before starting the course, I knew I would be able to link much of what is studied in the class to things I… Read More »
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