Videoconferencing for Global Citizenship Education: Wise Practices for Social Studies Educators

Abstract

While videoconferencing technologies have been available to the larger public since the late 1990s, educational uses of them in the social studies have been both underpracticed and undertheorized. We define videoconferencing as synchronous audio and video communication between participants from two or more geographic sites. In this paper, we draw on our analysis of scholarly, practitioner, and popular sources to offer pedagogical rationales for utilizing videoconferencing as a medium for global citizenship education (GCE). First, we will offer background information for videoconferencing in education, and social studies education in particular. We will then describe and define global citizenship education to provide a lens for considering civic purposes for videoconferencing. We will present three general purposes for videoconferencing -- intercultural experiences, intercultural projects, and learning about cultures -- while providing a variety of examples and options from elementary to higher education. We will share technology requirements and common problems of videoconferences. Finally, we will conclude with implications for educators and researchers.