Former Justice O'Connor ... Still Making a Difference
(June 2010)
A Current EdLog™ News Feature
 A
bit of Civics, anyone?
By
Holly Sheffield
Staff Writer and EdLog Coordinator
Designed Instruction,
LLC
June 15,
2010
Citing an
ever-narrowing curriculum due to the emphasis placed on mathematics and
reading by No Child Left Behind (NCLB, see
EdLog's past strand on NCLB), former Justice Sandra Day O'Connor is
now fronting an initiative that uses computer games to help middle school
students learn about government and their civic duties, rights, and responsibilities.
Speaking
at a recent conference, O'Connor said that barely one-third of Americans
can even name the three branches of government, much less say what they
do.
"Less
than one-fifth of high school seniors can explain how civic participation
benefits our government," O'Connor said. "Less than that can
say what the Declaration of Independence is, and it's right there in the
title. I'm worried."
The games,
found at iCivics.org, include the
following:
Do I Have
A Right? (The player runs a firm specializing in constitutional law.)
Executive
Command (The player plays president of the United States.)
Supreme
Decision (The player learns about the Supreme Court. Couldn't leave
that one out, could she?)
Branches
of Power (The player controls of all three branches of government.)
LawCraft
(The player is a member of Congress.)
O'Connor,
the project founder and head of the board of iCivics, Inc, a nonprofit,
said that the project actually began in 2007 as OurCourts.org, but that
iCivics is a much expanded version. She also said that the games are free
and teacher-friendly, noting that she herself was an old grandma, not
a techie.
She got a
good round of laughter when she explained that the reason iCivics is aimed
at middle-school students is that "by the time they go to middle
school, the light bulb has turned on if it's going to, and they're eager
to learn, but they're not spoiled rotten teenagers yet."
Comments
or questions? E-mail Holly Sheffield at hsheffield@designedinstruction.com
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