How Do You Teach an Election Without Taking a Side?

A student can ask a chatbot about a candidate and get an answer in seconds, but is a fast answer the same as being informed? Elise Blum of TVT Community Day School and Kyle Dell of Vote Smart look back at the 1994 voter hotline they staffed together and explain why Vote Smart’s new Civic Sage chatbot sticks to the facts. Then, journalist April Rubin shares how teachers from fifth grade through high school turned the midterms into a live civics lab, even as 63% of young people say elected officials do not care what they think. Ira Apfel talks with all three guests about preparing students to vote without telling them how.

This episode also includes a sponsored conversation with ConnectED.

To learn more about how to bring ConnectED to your classroom, visit connecteducation.org.

What You’ll LearnWhy Elise Blum says easier access to information does not make students better informed, and what the 1994 voter hotline taught her about handing over facts instead of answers.How Vote Smart spent two years building Civic Sage, an AI chatbot that answers questions about candidates using only its research, and why a question like “Is this candidate good on immigration?” gets a voting record and ratings instead of a verdict.What three teachers did to keep the midterms nonpartisan, from assigning each student an out-of-state race to taking the party labels off candidate profiles.Why more young people plan to vote than in 2024 even though most say elected officials are not listening, and why April Rubin says media literacy belongs in every civics class.

Stories Mentioned in This EpisodeAI, Elections and the Making of an Informed Electorate by Elise BlumHow Teachers Are Turning the Midterms Into a Nonpartisan Civics Lesson by April Rubin

Stay ConnectedSubscribe to EdSurge newsletters at www.edsurge.com/newsletters.

Find the latest education news at edsurge.com/news.

Follow EdSurge on LinkedIn, X, Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram.

Host and ContributorsHost: Ira Apfel, Editorial Director, EdSurge

Featuring:

Elise Blum, Assistant Head of School for TK-12 Programming, TVT Community Day SchoolKyle Dell, Executive Director, Vote SmartApril Rubin, Journalist and ResearcherAvi Posen, Vice President, ConnectED (sponsored segment)