Investigating student use of technology for informed and active democratic citizenship in a global and multicultural age

This study undertook a five month qualitative investigation into technology use amongst twelve high school social studies students in two different sites in the Midwestern United States. After looking at the ways in which selected students' use of technology related to their perceptions of democratic citizenship, this study examined any possible relationship between students' use of technology and democratic citizenship education. For this study, technology is defined as any computer mediated device, capable of maintaining an electronic network connection.;Collecting data through semi-structured student, teacher and parent interviews, classroom observations, online-threaded discussions and document analysis, I triangulated findings, and employed a qualitative approach to generate theory from findings. While the research has come a long way in examining how teachers are using technology in the social studies, there has been very little investigation into how the use of technology by students relates to the civic mission of the social studies in a global and multicultural age. The study finds a relationship between digital natives' use of technology and their perceptions of democratic citizenship, and that students' use both mediates and complicates their gaining the skills, understandings, and attitudes necessary for informed and active democratic citizenship in a global and multicultural age. Researchers, educators, and administrators might consider these findings in better understanding how the use of technology by digital natives relates to civic development.