technology with intention
Digital communication and social media in Egypt
8th grade students took time during Tech class and also Integrated Human Sciences to dig deep into the latest news from Egypt and the unrest of the last weeks. In Tech class, we looked at the impact of social media on this event, and the Egyptian government’s attempts to block communication by reducing internet connectivity.
Students worked in small teams to read and analyze several news stories, and then presented to the rest of the class. Here are links to the headlines we used:
- How Journalists Are Using Social Media to Report on the Egyptian Demonstrations – Mashable.com
- Some weekend work that will (hopefully) enable more Egyptians to be heard – Official Google Blog
- Old technology finds role in Egyptian protests – BBC News
- Egypt Forced Cell Phone Company to Send Pro-Government Text Messages During Protests – GeekOSystem.com
To many students this seemed like a story out of a movie – something that is hard to imagine from our location and upbringing in the US. We ended the class by learning about a news story that ties the chain of events in Egypt to our country:
- Internet ‘Kill Switch’ Legislation Back in Play – Wired.com
More information about Egypt’s media war can be found on Meedan.net. Thanks to 8th grade teacher Rebecca’s coordination and resources for this joint learning experience.
Unrest in Egypt - photo by James Buck
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Esam Mudeer, abdouam, Osama Alassiry, lo2lo2a, NHorizon and others. NHorizon said: أين نحن منهم RT @sfatani طلبة الصف الثامن بأحد المدارس الأمريكية يدرسون ثورة مصر وتأثير الانترنت ويحللونها http://bit.ly/huzTrU [...]
Kudos to you and your tech team for creating such a fantastic blog for your students to be involved in. My generation’s voice was only heard in the form of physical protests, now the new generation can give voice from around the world in the comfort of their own homes, thanks to the social media.
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