Peter Levine, Director

CIRCLE (Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement)

Three Expertise Keywords:
civic, Civic-Engagement, political

Why Digital Media and Learning?

Young people are using digital media to gain political skills, interests, and power.

Recent Posts:

Description of Current Work:

CIRCLE conducts research on the civic engagement of young Americans. Current priorities include: gaps by social class in the “transition to adulthood” that takes place between ages 18 and 30; voter participation in the 2008 election; how to include civic outcomes in accountability policies for schools; the narrowing of the American curriculum; attitudes of young adults who do not attend college; and an experiment using digital mapping in high school civic courses.

Selected Publications/Projects/Articles/Press:

The Future of Democracy: Developing the Next Generation of American Citizens (Tufts University Press, 2007) “Collective Action, Civic Engagement, and the Knowledge Commons,” chapter in Charlotte Hess and Elinor Ostrom, eds., Understanding Knowledge as a Commons: From Theory to Practice (MIT Press, 2006).  “The Problem of Online Misinformation and the Role of Schools,” Studies in Media & Information Literacy Education, volume 5, issue 1 (February 2005) “Creative Use of the New Media” in Lonnie R. Sherrod, Ron Kassimir, and Connie Flanagan (eds.), Youth Activism: An International Encyclopedia (Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2005)

“A Public Voice for Youth: The Audience Problem in Digital Media and Civic Education”, MacArthur Series Volume Civic Life Online: Learning How Digital Media Can Engage Youth
Download article here: http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/dmal.9780262524827.119