This is a special episode of TTT, edited from a recording of a session at the National Writing Project's Annual Meeting in Boston on November 21, 2013. In addition to the presenters, listed below, we are joined by Johanna's amazing students and the thoughtful participants in this session.

Here's how we described this session:

B7: Educating for Democracy in the Digital Age

1:30pm - 3:00pm Hynes, Level 1, 104

How do we help youth understand the potential for writing to have impact, leveraging authentic purposes and today’s online platforms? How do we prepare youth to be informed, engaged civic actors—community ready, in other words—and not simply college and career ready? The National Writing Project is partnering with the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) and the Civic Engagement Research Group at Mills College to undertake a district-wide effort called, "Educating for Democracy in the Digital Age." Join Paul Allison of the New York City Writing Project, and Jo Paraiso and Young Whan Choi of the OUSD, as they discuss—in person and virtually—a working partnership that leverages the Youth Voices platform as a means to support civic engagement in schools.

Presenter(s):
Paul Allison, New York City Writing Project 
Paul Oh, National Writing Project 
Johanna Paraiso, Oakland Unified School District 
Young Whan Choi, Oakland Unified School District 

On March 29, 2013 Paul Oh blogged in dComposing

What’s significant to me about the Educating for Democracy in the Digital Age effort, beyond its mission of youth civic engagement, is that OUSD teachers have taken on a great deal of the leadership – so there’s a grassroots, locally informed relevance to the work- and that it joins together in-school and out-of-school educational opportunities. Youth have gotten to work with nearby partners like KQED http://blogs.kqed.org/lowdown/ and far-flung partners like Youth Voices http://youthvoices.net. Ultimately, the hope is that all HS youth before they graduate will be able to engage in a capstone project that demonstrates the skill of issue analysis, the ability to take action, and a reflective stance. As one of my EDDA colleagues from OUSD, Young-Whan Choi, has said, we want our youth to come away from this educational opportunity – and their entire school career – not just college and career ready, but community ready. http://dcomposing.com/2013/03/29/educating-for-democracy-in-the-digital-age/

We are planning a follow-up TTT webcast with Young Whan Choi, Paul Oh, and teachers involved in "Educating for Democracy in the Digital Age" at 9PM Eastern/6PM Pacific on Wednesday, January 22, 2014. Please plan to join us at EdTechTalk/ttt http://edtechtalk.com/ttt

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On this episode of TTT six teachers get together to consider how they might get students more deeply connected on Youth Voices http://youthvoices.net.

Paul Allison http://youthvoices.net/ndss#courses and Chris Sloan http://youthvoices.net/Judge#sloan host:

• Shantanu Saha http://youthvoices.net/bsge#literacy
• Karen Fasimpaur http://youthvoices.net/users/kfasimpaur
• Johanna Paraiso http://youthvoices.net/Fremont#paraiso
• Jake Jacobs https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/112591330525635053958

for this conversation

Here are some of the questions we've been asking recently:

What if students were encouraged to create projects for each other? What's the difference between writing a "Discussion Post" and creating a "Wiki" page on a social network like Youth Voices? How might we consider connecting students more often in spaces like Skype or Hangouts? What would it take to build a "Youth Voices Live" space for young people? How can we engage students in deeper, meaning making in their conversations with each other?

On this episode of TTT, recorded on 12.11.13, join Nikhil Goyal nikhilgoyal.me/about/ , Maurya Couvares @MauryaCouvares , Mia Zamora @MiaZamoraPhD , Kim Douillard @kd0602 , and Stephanie West-Puckett @fieldpeaz as they help us make connections between Hour of Code http://csedweek.org/ and the recent "Dasani: Invisible Child" series in the New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/projects/2013/invisible-child/#/?chapt=1

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Pat Delaney wasn't able to join us but he sent along this provocation: http://weedingthecollection.wordpress.com/2013/12/11/ignoring-what-most-schools-dont-teach/

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Monika Hardy exploreed the juxtaposition of Hour of Code with Dasani, when she wrote in an email:

I think the stories of Leo http://redefineschool.com/leo-grand/ and Marc http://redefineschool.com/marc-roth/ fit in nicely as well.

Freire's - how to have liberation without trust.. esp the story behind Leo and Patrick: Did we trust a homeless black man could code? Did we trust a young white tech entrepreneur wasn't just wanting to look good in his offer?

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ScriptEd's co-founder, Maurya Couvares http://www.scripted.org suggested:

You might want to read this article. One of our students wrote it -- I think it might a good talking point for [this episode of TTT]: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-nyarko/learning-to-computer-program_b_4098707.html

ScriptEd teaches computer programming to students in low resource high schools, and places its students in internships with technology firms.