High School Debating Takes A Digital Turn (Education Week)
In Phil Miller’s Advanced Placement U.S. History class at Carondelet High, an all-girls Catholic school here, students have a more sophisticated way of communicating with each other during classroom debates than they had in the past. They are going digital.
During a hotly contested debate recently about whether it was a good idea for the United States to annex the Philippine Islands in 1900, students pulled out laptops and logged on to team blogs to tap out ideas for questions and arguments.
While four students from each team made oral arguments, including rebuttals and cross-examinations, the other students on their teams searched online and posted supporting arguments on the blog that Mr. Miller calls “the back door.”
“This type of program includes the entire class,” he said. “I had one girl last year who would rarely raise her hand, but she’s a really good writer and by supporting her debate team, she was able to make public four arguments.” Read more>
