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Implementing New Technologies to Support Social Justice Pedagogy

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Abstract

Our research and development work in classrooms, and with teachers in professional development settings, has convinced us that the use of new technologies can promote critical inquiry and reflective discourse in the classroom in support of social justice pedagogies. In this chapter, we present a set of frames that articulate high-impact practices and instructional moves for facilitating critical inquiry and reflective discourse in secondary classrooms in support of social justice pedagogies. Classroom vignettes demonstrate specific ways that a variety of technologies can be implemented to support enactment of these practices. The following questions guide the organization of this chapter: (1) What is the research base for using new technologies to facilitate critical inquiry and reflective discourse in support of social justice pedagogies? (2) What are some high-impact instructional practices for using new technologies to facilitate critical inquiry and reflective discourse in support of social justice pedagogies? (3) How can teachers use new technologies to enact high-impact practices in support of social justice pedagogies? (4) What are the implications of this work for teacher professional development and instructional capacity building?

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... Therefore, effective utilization of the ICT4D framework for social justice might contribute to the achievement of a just and democratic society (ibid). Similarly, research and development work with teachers in secondary school classrooms indicates that the use of social media tools can promote critical inquiry and reflective discourse in support of social justice pedagogies (O'Hara et al. 2016). Accordingly, Dirkin, Roberts, and Plevinski (2017) discussed the use of a curated list of podcasts with stories and voices from those typically not heard to introduce a social justice educational perspective into history classrooms. ...
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