Facilitating Health Policy Civic Engagement Among Undergraduate Students With Collaborative Social Technology

Meaningful action to shape health policy and advocate for patients is a well-established goal of nursing, yet fostering student fluency can be challenging. This article details an innovative classroom approach that successfully created engaged, active learning in health policy and civic engagement, facilitated by a free social media communication tool.

Using a publicly disseminated media bias taxonomy and an app, Slack, students asynchronously monitored news outlets across political persuasions and biases. These posts then were discussed weekly in a classroom setting, with an emphasis on similarities and differences among news sources in content, tone, and theme. Faculty then detailed overarching policy, economics, and political processes.

Students became actively engaged and found policy relatable and relevant.

Social media communication tools can enhance student learning and satisfaction. Suggestions for adoption by nurse educators are offered. [J Nurs Educ. 2020;59(3):163-165.].