Role-Playing as Bloggers

At the NESA2012 Spring Educators Conference, teacher Pilar Quezzaire, of the American Community School in Beirut, presented a short workshop on the use of live simulations. During the workshop, participants practiced with a brief simulation of the Syrian crisis – we randomly selected disparate roles of participants, then provided some statements and responses that would be characteristic of those roles. Ms.Quezzaire added a modern twist to the role-playing by instructing us to act as bloggers. Role-playing allows us to avoid personal conflicts in class, but even so it often engenders empathetic reactions. Blogging our comments provides some emotional distance, and also allows students to research through that very medium – i.e. finding and reading weblogs of people filling each role in the society. Further, the spotlight on blogs allows students to see more directly the isolating nature of the medium, thereby encouraging them to recognize the need to seek out alternative views and converse directly with other participants in order to find solutions – analogous to the real-life situation as well.

At ISG-Jubail School's technology classes I can use the simulation and assigned role-playing as a way of introducing both the use of blogs and the importance of seeking multiple sources of information when searching the internet, of avoiding the filter-bubble (as described by researcher Eli Pariser).

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