Teledeliberative democratic discourse: a case study of high school students' use of Web 2.0

Abstract

Purpose

The paper aims to examine high school students' use of social networking to participate in teledeliberative democratic dialogue and explicates the implications of this dialogue for democratic education that is inclusive of all students.

Design/methodology/approach

The case study analyzes the comments of 111 high school students over ten days following what they perceived to be an injustice committed by the administration against one of their fellow classmates.

Findings

Analysis of student commentary led to the development of three categories of teledeliberative citizenship: the demagogue, the proselyte, and the egalitarian. Together, these categories serve as a spectrum of sophistication along which democratic discourse can be classified.

Research limitations/implications

The primary limitation of this research is a product of the online medium in which it occurs. Though “observing” students' interactions on Web 2.0 application was beneficial for cataloguing conversations, social cues like body language and tone of voice had to be inferred.

Practical implications

Web 2.0 provides students with an opportunity to build a community of shared belief that crosses gender, racial, religious, and cultural divisions.

Originality/value

Teachers could use Web 2.0 as a forum for teledeliberative democratic dialogue in a multicultural democratic educational framework to engage students and encourage a sophisticated, active citizenship.

Citation

Wylie, S. and Marri, A.R. (2010), "Teledeliberative democratic discourse: a case study of high school students' use of Web 2.0", Campus-Wide Information Systems, Vol. 27 No. 4, pp. 193-209. https://doi.org/10.1108/10650741011073815