The digital dimensions of civic education: Assessing the effects of learning opportunities

This study examines the effects of online and offline civic learning opportunities on offline civic engagement and online political activity. It draws on panel data for high school students in Chicago Public Schools (N = 10,254). Youth who receive digital engagement learning opportunities (opportunities to learn how to create and share digital media tied to societal issues) become more likely to engage in online participatory politics, while youth who receive civically oriented digital consumption learning opportunities (opportunities to learn ways to judge the credibility of online content) become less likely to do so. Digital consumption learning opportunities are positively related to offline civic engagement. Offline civic learning opportunities have positive relationships with both offline civic engagement and online participatory politics. These findings provide evidence of the importance of these varied learning opportunities and of the degree to which these opportunities differ in their relationships with offline and online forms of participation.