Incorporating social media into civic education requires teaching students how to use social media, including its design and potential for harm (Greenhow et al., 2022). Understanding how social media creates echo chambers, how what is seen can be manipulated by both users and the platforms' algorithms, and the spread of misinformation, disinformation, and deep fakes is now as much an issue for civic education as understanding the three branches of government. To ignore either sets individuals and the country up for a poorly informed and easily manipulated citizenry. Only once students know how social media works and how to use it with intention and care, they are then prepared to use it for civic participation.

These concerns are not reasons to avoid using social media in education; just the opposite. Ignoring issues or events which have harmed students does not increase their capacity or inclination to learn; it certainly does not make them feel that they are being seen, known, and valued (Chapman et al., 2021). Choosing to ignore multiple perspectives is certainly not a best civic education practice, and Toledo and Enright (2021) have rightly argued that it is unethical. Classrooms do not function as a microcosm of society in which young people learn how to be in community if that community does not recognize who they are or functions as an echo chamber. These are reasons for teachers to see teaching *about* social media as necessary for students' civic engagement. Further, if teachers are going to teach with social media for civic education, their teaching must be thoughtful, intentional, and well-planned.

Teachers were scaffolded into their use of Twitter, whether introduced by a peer, or through peer-to-peer conversations in a professional development or graduate school context, or through their own initiative, as a tool which could be used in the classroom, and this introduction came at a time when the teachers had already done some thinking about what they wanted their students to be able to know and do. Thus, teachers were introduced to Twitter as a tool which could meet objectives they had identifed for their students. Teachers could serve in a similar capacity for their students, acting as scaffolders so that students can learn and practice how to use Twitter and how to leverage its affordances for civic engagement. The following chapter will extend this argument to examine how teachers and students can use social media to disrupt oppressive hegemonic systems.

### References

**Open Access** This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence and indicate if changes were made.

The images or other third party material in this chapter are included in the chapter's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the chapter's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.

# The Margins Don't Get Erased by Simply Insisting that the Powers That Be Erase Them: Social Media as a Disrupter

Most of the teachers in this study wanted to use social media with their students to disrupt unjust systems in their communities. Although the teachers were not as successful in changing these inequitable systems as they would have hoped, this chapter presents social media as a potential challenge to those unjust systems. Applying the work of the teachers in this study more broadly, civic education is often traditional, functioning to maintain systems which are currently in place (Apple, 1996; Aronowitz & Giroux, 1993; Fitzgerald et al., 2021). Civic education itself is also impacted by these unequal systems: schools in more affuent areas have stronger civic education programs (Fitzgerald et al., 2021; Hahn, 1999). Consequently, new pedagogical approaches are needed to support young people in critical citizenship work, which seeks to make systemic change to oppressive systems (Chapman & Greenhow, 2021; Logan et al., 2022). Further, students who are marginalized or vulnerable can fnd community and connection via social media, and social media can serve as a tool for civic participation and activism which promotes individual and community thriving. This chapter will also discuss how teachers can support students in using social media for social justice-oriented civic participation.

© The Author(s) 2023 A. L. Chapman, *Social Media for Civic Education*, Palgrave Studies in Educational Media, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-10865-5\_9

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### Civic Education and Social Justice Concerns

There are inherent inequalities in civic education, which have persisted for decades and appear to be increasing (Fitzgerald et al., 2021; Hahn, 1999; Hanson et al., 2018). Academically successful students are not equally and evenly dispersed throughout schools, and both the IEA study (Hahn, 1999) and Niemi and Chapman's (1999) study showed that more academically successful students came from schools with high socioeconomic demographics. This "civic education gap" has not only increased in the last 20 years, and further research has found that disparities between children of different races to be as signifcant as the earlier research around socioeconomic disparities (Hanson et al., 2018).

In national civic assessments (NAEP), research has shown signifcant differences between the civic understanding of Black, Latino, and white students. White students score the highest on measures of civic understanding, and scores for both Black and Latino students are considerably lower, falling between the 10th and 25th percentile of the scores of white students (Hanson et al., 2018). Over a span of 16 years (1998–2014), the difference in median scores on national civic assessments between white and Black students increased, though the gap between white and Latino students decreased slightly over the same time period (Hanson et al., 2018). The gap in civics assessments is also wider than the gaps between the same groups in either math or reading (Hanson et al., 2018).

It is important to note here that just as academically successful students are not evenly distributed among all schools, students of all races are also not evenly distributed among schools in the United States. A long history of racial segregation in housing has resulted in neighborhoods which are not racially diverse (Rothstein, 2015); this de jure segregation has, in many areas, also perpetuated intergenerational poverty (Reardon, 2016). As a result, public schools are also often not diverse, based on race or income, as they are largely and often made up of the population from the surrounding neighborhood (Rothstein, 2015). Thus, the gap between Black, Latino, and white students is not because those students are in the same classes receiving the same civic education but responding differently; rather, it is that schools whose populations are largely made up of students who have historically been marginalized are not providing, or do not have the resources to provide, equivalent civic education for their students.

These fndings are both appalling and deeply troubling for American democracy. In a system of government which relies on the informed and active participation of many, schools are failing to provide civic preparation equal to the task of inheriting democracy for wide swaths of the population. Further, gaps centered on racial and economic differences only serve to continue to perpetuate the lack of equity in political representation for historically minoritized groups as well as continuing to minimize voices which have long been ignored or suppressed. These inequities exist in sharp contrast to the ideals and purpose of American democracy.

### Students Who Are Marginalized or Vulnerable

Perhaps unsurprisingly, these gaps in civic education which exist between students of different races and income levels correspond to a civic engagement gap (Fitzgerald et al., 2021; Levinson, 2012). Just as civic education is not equally and equitably offered to all students due to historical and ongoing marginalization, the opportunities for civic engagement by marginalized students are similarly impacted by structural oppression (Atkins & Hart, 2003; Kirshner, 2015; Sánchez-Jankowski, 2002). As a result, young people who are marginalized or vulnerable—often around racial or economic lines—participate in the civic sphere (in traditional ways in which this is measured) less than white or more affuent students (Fitzgerald et al., 2021). An important caveat is that historically disadvantaged students engage in civic life in ways which are often not measured (e.g., translating for members of their community; Stepick et al., 2008; Suárez-Orozco et al., 2015), these types of civic engagement are also often not supported in civic education in schools (Kirshner & Ginwright, 2012).

This picture sounds bleak, but research has also shown ways in which schools and teachers can foster all students' civic education and include support for a wider range of civic engagement. While there is a wide variety of such activities, such as examining civic issues through a critical lens (Hipolito-Delgado & Zion, 2015), inquiry-based learning (Hipolito-Delgado & Zion, 2015), and transformative relationships with adults (Chapman & Miller, 2022), scholars have argued for the potential of social media as a lever of change for civic education for marginalized youth (Durham, 2019; Garcia et al., 2019). While many young people can and do engage in both civic learning and civic action through social media, historically disadvantaged youth are more likely to do so through out-ofschool methods such as social media (Fitzgerald et al., 2021).

Another component of civic learning which has been effective civic education has been community involvement. From service learning (Bringle & Clayton, 2012) to facilitating conversations about social justice which promote understanding and change (Aldana et al., 2012) to grassroots organizing (Checkoway & Aldana, 2013), working *with* members of the community has been shown to be an important means of civic education. Research has shown that people can form community on Twitter, even among accounts with whom they interact only as consumers of others' posts (Gruzd et al., 2011). Twitter also has played a role in the types of community involvement which engage young people, such as through hashtag movements (Pew, 2012, 2016; Preston, 2011; Shear, 2018). The use of social media in education presents a real opportunity to teach and support youth in engaging in social change.

At the same time, coming of age in the twenty-frst century has not been easy. Opportunities for young people, particularly those who come from historically marginalized communities, have been limited. In the last 20 years, we have been living in a time of increasing social inequality in the United States, which in turn has had political and economic implications (Kaltmeier & Breuer, 2020). For young people, this social upheaval has not been the only disrupter to their transition to adulthood. Sociocultural and identity factors, such as race, gender, class, and sexual orientation, have also infuenced educational and employment prospects (Loader et al., 2014). This context is critical to thinking about how we reform civic education. The experiences of marginalized youth, as well as the need to understand, navigate, and change our politically polarized culture present an opportunity to reimagine civic education as centering on the experiences of those who have been historically excluded from civic life—including young people—as a way of countering social injustice. That civic education needs to be reformed is an idea accepted across the political spectrum (Vasilogambros, 2021); that this should be done by centering on historically marginalized voices is not (Fitzgerald et al., 2021).

### Civic Education Often Perpetuates a More Traditional Worldview

Civic education in the United States has largely functioned to maintain a traditional worldview. Most civic education focuses on providing students with information about the U.S. system of government and military successes (Lopez et al., 2006), and due to these priorities, a lack of time and resources (Hanson et al., 2018) and the importance accorded to civic education compared to STEM felds (U.S. Department of Education, 2019), mainstream civic education has neither changed nor supported societal change. Going back decades, research has shown that the feld of civic education has deliberately avoided examining civic life more critically, favoring instead a more traditional and informational approach which celebrates the American style of government (Apple, 1996; Aronowitz & Giroux, 1993). More recently, a systematic literature review of the research on civic education from 2009 to 2019 found that little research on ways to support the civic education of marginalized populations, calling for further research on pedagogies which might be effective with those who are currently being underserved in regards to their civic education (Fitzgerald et al., 2021). We also know that civic education calls for active civic participation but often does not offer students ways in which to practice acting in the civic sphere (Kahne & Middaugh, 2008).

Despite its critically important function of maintaining democracy, civic education provides students with limited information without providing them with opportunities to meaningfully engage with and use that knowledge to become the active citizens we need, a system which disproportionately impacts those who have been historically and systemically disadvantaged. What seems to have been lost in maintaining this traditional approach to civic education is that one can know how their country is governed, love that country, and want it to fulfll its earliest and highest ideals by promoting the thriving of all at the same time. Consequently, civic education celebrates the promise of America without acknowledging that that promise has yet to be fulflled for some—and that it is our collective job to address that unfulflled promise.

### Applying Social Media to Problems of Civic Education

One of the ways in which the literature bases of civic education and social media in education intersected through the study that is the center of this book was in the way that the concept of *openness*, central to effective civic education, was bolstered by the open nature of social media. Civic education is most successful when classrooms are *open* and *democratic*; this openness described a school and classroom climate in which students felt comfortable asking questions or challenging what teachers are teaching; where discussion of controversial topics was encouraged; where learning occurred through active discussions and debates; where disagreements between students were allowed or encouraged; and that are safe spaces where students can think and question without fear of being shut down or being humiliated (Hahn, 1999). Students from classrooms with these open characteristics scored higher on measures of civic knowledge and civic skills than students from more *closed* classrooms (e.g., classrooms in which the climate did not encourage or allow disagreement or discussion of controversial topics) (Campbell, 2005; Gibson & Levine, 2003; McIntosh et al., 2007; Pasek et al., 2008; Torney-Purta, 2002).

Similarly, the use of social media in education has been shown to break down barriers to learning (Manca & Ranieri, 2013; Manca & Ranieri, 2016). Manca and Ranieri in their review of the research on Facebook as a tool for learning and teaching (Manca & Ranieri, 2013, Manca & Ranieri, 2016) found three main educational affordances of this social media: (1) it combined learning and information sources; (2) increased one's community of learners; and (3) expanded the contexts of learning. In particular, their review showed that social media supported some of the primary methods through which an open classroom climate is practiced: discussion, interaction, and collaboration among students as well as between teachers and students. These affordances could provide students with a safe space to ask questions, discuss controversial topics, disagree with peers or instructors, and raise minority opinions, all of which are components of an open classroom climate which is supportive of effective civic education.

The question then becomes: did the teachers in this study use this previously identifed affordance of social media to create or maintain an open civic classroom climate? There is evidence that they did. The teachers in this study used Twitter to create or maintain an open, democratic classroom climate, as advocated in the civic education literature, and the ways in which they did this resonated with what previous research has found. For instance, they used Twitter to expand the contexts of learning beyond the classroom walls and enhance their students' connection to the community or the larger society. Each of the teachers in this study used Twitter to break down barriers and to promote student thought, student voice, and student agency, hallmarks of open and democratic classrooms.

This fnding is important because a lack of openness in the classroom or school climate has been one of several common problems identifed in the literature as impeding the success of civic education. In previous civic education literature, these climates which hindered effective civic education had policies which prevented discussion or discouraged students from speaking (Hahn, 1999). Each of the teachers in this study used Twitter in some way for discussion, whether as a prompt in class or as an out-of-class activity. Although the teachers in this study did not have diffculty with either classroom climate or fostering student discussion, it is possible to see how a teacher who was working in a school which did not promote student discussion could beneft from using Twitter as a means to have students debate topics and share their ideas.

### Critical Digital Citizenship: Using Twitter to Disrupt Unjust Systems

Social media have further ways to support civic learning and participation in young people. In particular, Twitter can be both a means and a place for critical civic participation. Theorists and researchers have shown that adding a critical lens (Pope, 2014; Seider & Graves, 2020)—one through which we examine the experience of all, but particularly of those whose experiences have been excluded—and justice-oriented citizenship (Westheimer & Kahne, 2004) provide insight on the ways in which civic education can be reformed. At a time when young people have access to engaging in the civic sphere at their fngertips through social media, it is imperative that we understand and teach in ways which promote student civic engagement through this critical lens (Chapman & Greenhow, 2021; Fitzgerald et al., 2021; Logan et al., 2022).

Further, it has been argued that social media can serve as a disruptor or a tool which allows people to engage in social change (Durham, 2019; Fitzgerald et al., 2021). As previously mentioned, teachers and educational technology scholars have been arguing for a turn toward understanding and implementing *critical digital citizenship* as a way of engaging young people as civic actors in ways which acknowledge the potential harms of social media while also leveraging its affordances for social change (Logan et al., 2022). Critical pedagogies honor the experiences and personhood of students and provide them with approaches to challenge unjust systems (Freire, 1972, 74; Ladson-Billings, 1995). Applied to ways in which youth engage online, critical digital citizenship frames young people's use of Twitter and other social media as a means of challenging dominant power structures (Logan et al., 2022).

Although research in this area is nascent, this study and others have found that both teachers and students hope to use Twitter and other social media platforms to disrupt oppressive systems (Chapman & Greenhow, 2021; Xenos et al., 2014). One such study indicated that broadening our understanding of civic participation provided evidence of considerable youth civic engagement (Sloam, 2014). Specifcally looking at the role social media played in protest movements, Sloam found that young people used Twitter to share information about their protests and to voice their own opinions about what they were protesting. Further, the young people who were protesting online brought those protests from the digital civic square to the physical one, employing the blended online/offine critical digital citizenship discussed by the teachers in this study. Consequently, Sloam (2014) argued, being able to use Twitter in this way deepened young people's civic participation. Similarly, another study showed that as students' social media use increased, so too did their engagement with politics (Xenos et al., 2014).

While the teachers in this study were not ultimately effective in engaging students to use Twitter to challenge hegemonic systems, that this was one of their intentions speaks to the potential of Twitter to foster this type of civic education and civic engagement. Several of the teachers in this study observed that their students were marginalized: Donna's students were isolated due to their rural geographic location; Leo believed many of his students went unheard due to their age; and one of Jed's desires was to use Twitter to establish and maintain relationships between his school's predominantly white students and the students who attended the other district high school, who were predominantly Black. Will provided a notable counterexample: from his place of comparative privilege, he did not see a need to disrupt any system, and so his use of Twitter, meant to prepare his students for adulthood, also functioned in ways which maintained their privilege. The results of this study are particularly promising as the results showed that social media use was more impactful upon a young person's civic engagement than was their socioeconomic status (Xenos et al., 2014). While such results need to be repeated, this research points to the possibility of social media as an effective way of encouraging and hearing historically marginalized voices.

Civic education often is limited by presenting only traditional understandings of citizenship and functions to maintain the societal systems which are already in place. As we work to reimagine what civic education can and should be, we would do well to consider any reform from a critical digital citizenship lens. By intentionally seeking out ways to include historically marginalized voices, and by incorporating Twitter as one pedagogical approach, we are better equipping all students to inherit our Republic. However, doing this well will require teachers to be prepared to teach with and about social media. These points will be further addressed in the chapter which follows.

### References

**Open Access** This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence and indicate if changes were made.

The images or other third party material in this chapter are included in the chapter's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the chapter's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.

# Conclusions: My Liberation Is Bound Up with Yours

This book has argued that using Twitter as a pedagogical approach within civic education provides opportunities which are currently underused, particularly for those whose voices are often unheard. Civic education sees students as potential or future citizens, and consequently focuses on preparing them to understand the American system of government. Civic education could be so much more: by recognizing that young people are already civic actors, and that learning more about that role requires both knowledge and practice, civic education could foster lifelong active civic participation. Teaching with Twitter provides both a site for civic action and an opportunity to increase students' understanding of how social media works and the role that it already plays in the civic sphere. Research, including the study presented in this book, has shown both some promise of how such teaching has been done and ideas about how it might be done even more robustly in the future. This chapter offers some conclusions about the imperative of teaching about and with social media in civic education.

### Consequences of Mediocre Civic Education

Effective civic education is critically important to the health of any nation with a participatory government. Civic education provides support and development for civic participation, which is itself a pathway to

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representation and power (Hanson et al., 2018). In a nation with a long history of disenfranchisement, oppression, and inequity, we have a responsibility to support the civic education and engagement of all students. And yet we know that civic education could be far more robust and that it is most inadequate for those whose political voices are often already marginalized. While civic education should be improved for all students, maintaining traditional approaches to civic education only serves to maintain hegemonic power structures, which in turn maintains oppressive systems. Inclusive and expansive civic participation is both necessary for and the goal of the American democratic Republic, but it continues to be an ideal which has not yet been fully realized. Therefore, we must seek new approaches to civic education which support civic engagement in young people, particularly those whose voices have been historically suppressed.

The uptick in research and calls for improvement in civic education have been fueled by recent world and political events (Educating for American Democracy, 2021). Two decades ago, civic education research foreshadowed these events. In a landmark study of civic education in 28 countries, including the United States, roughly 10% of students in fve countries (Australia, England, Finland, Sweden, and the United States) were described as "alienated" (Torney-Purta & Barber, 2011). These students, at age 14, did not trust government institutions and had very negative opinions of immigrants and ethnic groups (Torney-Purta & Barber, 2011). Students with these characteristics were identifed more than a decade before the Brexit vote, the 2016 U.S. presidential election, and the rise of nationalism in other countries in which similar sentiments played a role. This nationalism has only grown since 2016, in and beyond the United States, powered by a fear of all types of diversity (Gusterson, 2017; Judis, 2016; Wilson, 2017). Such fndings invite questions about the role of civic education in helping students to feel that they and others who are not like them are both important parts of the community.

In pluralistic, self-governing societies, where the nature of government depends upon the collective supporting the wellbeing of all, feeling "alienated" runs contrary to the system of government which, as we have seen, can have deleterious effects on society. If the civic education of 20 and 30 years ago had been more participatory and inclusive, would the world be in its current state? Such a question perhaps puts too much pressure on civic education, but at the same time, if we learn how to be citizens through our belonging to the society of school (Dewey, 1897), then how we act as adults in the larger society must have its roots in our civic education.

### Possible Pathways: The Potential of Social Media for Civic Education

We ignore the impact of social media at our own peril: it is already impacting civic life. At the same time, students do not know how to use social media merely as a function of being young; like any other tool or skill, they must be taught how to use it in order to fully understand and make the most of it. Young people are already acting in the civic sphere, but the ways in which they are doing so have been largely unsupported by the civic education that they receive in schools (Fitzgerald et al., 2021; Torney-Purta et al., 2001). Teachers and scholars have been calling for new approaches to civic education to address these gaps, including the use of social media as a pedagogical tool (Durham, 2019; Payne, 2015; Payne et al., 2020). Social media, particularly the platform Twitter, offer affordances for civic learning and civic engagement, such as the ability to connect with others outside of the school, to engage with various viewpoints, and to practice civic skills (Durham, 2019; Gao et al., 2012). It seems like we have arrived at the right moment to see learning *about* social media as a necessary topic to study in civic education, as well as a potential space for civic engagement.

The research on the use of Twitter in education has mostly examined how Twitter is used in higher education settings or by teachers for their own professional development (Greenhow et al., 2020). The research on Twitter for civic education is even further limited, and largely theoretical. Though there have been studies which have shown the benefts of the use of Twitter for youth civic engagement (Loader et al., 2014; Sloam, 2014; Xenos et al., 2014), the use of Twitter in K-12 classrooms for civic education is largely understudied (Chapman & Marich, 2021; Greenhow et al., 2020).

The purpose of this study was to examine high-school social studies teachers' use of the social media platform Twitter in order to understand how a teacher's context, objectives, and experience factored into their reasons and practices of using Twitter to teach civics. The fve teachers who participated in this study came from different contexts, had different objectives, and dealt with different issues, but taken together, their experiences provided a vibrant picture of teaching civics with Twitter. The analysis of these cases revealed common themes: the importance of teachers' initial prompts to use Twitter and their process of incorporating it into their teaching; the teachers' conceptions of citizenship as occurring fuidly in both online and offine spaces; and the use of Twitter to refect and support student worth.

These fndings add to the prior literature base through its examination of high-school teachers' use of Twitter as a pedagogical approach to civic education. While the teachers in this study varied in how and why they used Twitter with their students, each of the teachers used Twitter to support students' inherent worth. Most of the teachers saw student worth because they felt that their students needed to see themselves as civic actors and to be recognized as such by the community. Further, most of the teachers in this study used Twitter because of their conceptualization of citizenship and civic education. Teachers observed that the civic sphere is a blend of online and offine spaces, and they felt that Twitter could help their students to navigate that fuidity well. These fndings have implications for future theoretical work, as well as for research and teaching practice.

### Implications

This study has implications for educational theory, research, and practice. This study contributes to two felds of educational theory and research: civic education and social media; in particular, it updates the literature base on civic education to include how social media can be used for civic education, and it increases the body of literature on the use of Twitter in K-12 education, a subfeld which is currently limited. This study also contributes to the conceptualization of the use of social media in education more broadly and also offers a strong critique of Bennett's framework of citizenship within the feld of education and advocates for using a critical digital citizenship framework instead. Finally, this study has implications for teacher education programs in both social studies teaching methods and educational technology. In terms of teaching practice, this study showed how Twitter is currently being used in civics education classrooms, which provides a lens into how teachers are thinking and teaching about citizenship. Each of these implications is explored in the sections which follow.

### Implications for Theory

Based on the experiences of the teachers in this study, some work should be done to revise the framework of citizenship with new media developed by Bennett and his colleagues (Bennett, 2008; Bennett et al., 2009; Bennett et al., 2010; Bennett et al., 2012). The teachers who participated in this study conceived of citizenship more broadly than the binary categories of *Actualizing Citizenship* and *Dutiful Citizenship* theorized by Bennett. The teachers also thought that civic engagement, as seen in particular civic actions, was more fuid than Bennett had conceived. Given the common concern over low levels of youth civic participation and this study's fnding that citizenship exists in both online and offine spaces concurrently and in similar ways, further theoretical work should be conducted in order to better account for the breadth of understanding of citizenship as experienced by the teachers in this study.

This reframing of a theoretical understanding of how social media supports civic education should be grounded in *critical digital citizenship.* The concept of critical digital citizenship requires further development, and it is an important theoretical framework through which to further our understanding of how people learn with social media. This study showed that the participants in this study used Twitter in their classes in focused and particular ways; part of their success with the platform may be tied to how its use was tied to their objectives. One of the objectives for most of the teachers in this study was to address issues of marginalization which they saw in their communities. While three of the fve teachers in this study, and theorists and researchers beyond this study (Logan et al., 2022; Sloam, 2014; Xenos et al., 2014), have argued that social media could provide a platform for marginalized students' voices, the teachers in this study had not yet been able to leverage Twitter for that purpose. Future research should further explore how critical digital citizenship, applied to the use of social media as a pedagogical tool in classrooms, impacts students' civic learning and engagement.

### Implications for Research

In addition to future theoretical work, this study has several implications for future research on civics education and social media. The fndings of this study have implications for initial and ongoing development of teachers as well as implications for future research on other tools for civic education which blend online and offine forms of citizenship, the effects of technological tools on student civic participation, and the effects of technological tools on student worth and of increased student worth on civic participation.

This study's fndings pertaining to the prompt and process of teachers' choosing to use Twitter have implications for future research in teacher education. One of this study's fndings was that teachers used Twitter as a means of convincing students of their worth and agency, particularly in the civic sphere. We know about the critical importance of the relationship between teachers and students, particularly in adolescence (Chapman et al., 2021; Chapman et al., 2023). The teacher-student relationship can be transformative, particularly around issues of student worth, but creating these types of relationships is intentional (Chapman et al., 2021). Future research should evaluate the effects of social media on student worth should be assessed, as well as what other tools, activities, or elements of school culture could foster students' sense of self-worth. Research should be conducted which evaluates the effect of student worth on civic engagement. Finally, teacher education programs and teacher professional development should include means of supporting students' inherent worth in the classroom. It would be important for this research to be approached through a social justice lens; issues of student worth are often bound up in students' identities and the need to be seen, known, and valued for who they are (Chapman et al., 2021).

This study's fndings pertaining to the prompt and process of teachers' choosing to use Twitter have implications for future research in teacher education. One of this study's fndings was the key role played by a slightly more technologically savvy peer in a teacher's adoption of Twitter. Additionally, a teacher's introduction to Twitter came at a time when the teacher had specifc objectives for student learning or goals for student connection. A second, related fnding was the process through which teachers chose to use Twitter, considering both student preferences and the affordances of Twitter in making their decisions about how to use the social media platform.

Similarly, another implication of these fndings is the need for further research on the teaching of and about social media in teacher education and professional development programs. Given the fnding that teachers' adoption of Twitter was connected to their awareness of what they wanted to do with their students, future research could evaluate the best ways in which to prepare pre-service teachers to be effectively introduced to social media for use in the classroom and to incorporate it thoughtfully into their teaching practice. Further, what supports should be in place in teacher education around the use of social media for learning? There is a parallel research implication for teacher professional development: how might teachers be supported most effectively through professional development in their incorporation of social media into the classroom? Can this be designed in order to include an exploration of teachers' objectives? Answering any of these questions should come through a critical digital citizenship lens, so that as teachers learn about using social media in their classrooms, they are best prepared to address its less virtuous aspects with their students. Further, applying a critical digital citizenship lens to teachers' use of social media in the classroom broadens the type of civic actions which can be supported through formal civic education.

This study's fndings also have implications for research into the student experience of civic education with social media. One of this study's fndings pertained to the goals that teachers have for students, namely: teaching civics in ways that incorporated both online and offine experiences of citizenship. Further research should be done to examine the ways and tools that teachers are using to teach citizenship in ways that blend online and offine civic practices (one example: civic education games; see Chang et al., 2020 for more information). Research should also be done to assess the effectiveness of these blended practices on student civic knowledge and civic participation, both during their time in school and later into adulthood. A critical digital citizenship lens can be applied here, as well, to best understand the ways in which such approaches can work toward systemic change.

### Implications for Practice

This study also has several implications for civics teachers and for any teachers who are interested in using social media in their classrooms. One of the common themes which emerged from this study was that the participants came to use Twitter in their classes because they were introduced to Twitter by peers who were also using the platform in their classrooms. Importantly, the participants in this study also had ideas about what they wanted to do in their classrooms when they were introduced to Twitter. Teachers who are curious about using social media in their classrooms should fnd a colleague or peer who is already using social media for educational purposes; this person could help the teacher to learn the social media platform as well as provide support as the teacher begins to implement its use in his or her own classroom. Additionally, teachers should refect upon their goals for their students as they consider adopting social media in their classrooms. A second fnding of this study was that teachers' process of choosing to use Twitter considered both their students' social media preferences as well as the affordances of Twitter and their alignment with the teachers' intentions for using social media in class. Teachers who want to use social media in their classrooms should refect on both their students' preferences and the affordances of any social media platform they consider.

The objectives of the teachers who participated in this study also have implications for other teachers. Based on this study's fnding that teachers are incorporating elements of both online and offine citizenship into their teaching, teachers should think broadly about the civic skills and civic actions they teach. The teachers in this study did not think it benefcial to separate online and offine civic practices, choosing instead to see them as parts of the whole that made up civic engagement. Other teachers might consider doing the same as a way of inviting all students to fnd ways to participate in civic life.

Finally, the teachers in this study were concerned about student worth. Young people matter to their community, and teachers used Twitter as a tool to convey students' value to and impact on the community and students' the civic sphere. This is a practice that other teachers could adopt and could also serve as a prompt for teachers to think about other ways that they could attend to student worth through their teaching.

### Limitations

This study has several limitations which may have implications for future research. Each of the participants in this study had positive experiences with using Twitter for civic education, and each participant intended to continue to use Twitter in their classrooms. Although qualitative research does not aim to generalizable its fndings about a phenomenon (Hoyt & Bhati, 2007), there is no counterpoint in this study to the participants who support using Twitter in their classrooms. Therefore, a limitation of this study is that it did not include the voices of teachers who have used Twitter for civic education and who no longer do so because it did not work for them. Having these voices in this study would have presented a fuller picture of what it means to teach civics with Twitter. Including these voices should be a consideration of future research. Another limitation of this study is that there are aspects of civic education, such as democratic values and knowledge of the U.S. Constitution, which are not addressed in Bennett's model (Bennett, 2008; Bennett et al., 2009; Bennett et al., 2010). Because this study focused on the aspects of civic education that Bennett did address, this study does not address all of the complexities of civic education. Finally, despite an awareness of the potential threats to validity and the steps taken to avoid them referenced in Chap. 4, it is possible that not all of these threats were entirely avoided. In spite of reviewing my data analysis with two other researchers, it is possible that my analysis was infuenced by my positionality about civic education, social media, or the importance of youth civic participation.

### Conclusions

Overall, the study presented in this book contributes much to the conversation happening around rates of youth civic participation and offers directions for future research and suggestions for ways in which the use of social media could be incorporated into civic education. Civic engagement and civic participation among young people have recently been areas of interest and concern. By examining how high school social studies teachers were using the social media platform Twitter to teach civics, this study showed that teachers were prompted to use Twitter by an infuential peer at a time when the teachers could see the affordances of Twitter as benefcial for the goals they had for their students. Teachers chose to use Twitter after consideration of their students' social media preferences because the affordances of Twitter aligned with their objectives, particularly incorporating both online and offine citizenship and increasing student worth.

The results of this study have important implications for researchers and practitioners. This study's fndings show the importance of the manner in which teachers are introduced to and supported in using social media in education. Teachers who participated in this study also conceived of citizenship broadly, in ways that incorporated online and offine civic learning and civic action which are fuid. This understanding of citizenship and its application to teaching have implications for connecting with a wide range of students. Importantly, the study's fndings add to the literature base of the use of social media in K-12 education. This study also showed that teachers were using Twitter to attend to student worth, which is a new insight for this feld.

Through the use of the social media platform Twitter, the teachers in this study sought to introduce their students to a variety of ways of participating in civic life. Although the teachers used Twitter in ways that continued to align with some of the established best practices in civic education, in using Twitter, they broadened the ways in which they taught about citizenship, making it accessible and applicable to as many students as possible. This study showed that teachers were concerned with students knowing that they had a right and responsibility to participate in civic life, because their intrinsic worth made them valuable members of society. Overall, this study provides insights into how teachers are conceiving of civic education in ways that will meet their students where they are and guide them into civic participation.

This can then provide guidance for the remainder of the feld of civic education. Civic education in the United States is in need of reform. This is apparent to people across the political spectrum, as well as to teachers and researchers (Vasilogambros, 2021). After decades of spending educational resources on other subject areas (U.S. Department of Education, 2019) and years of increased political polarization (Payne & Journell, 2019), civic education is in need of attention, revision, and reimagination. What those reforms should be is a matter of some debate.

Throughout this book, I have argued that teaching with and about the social media platform Twitter should be considered as a valuable pedagogical approach to teaching civics. Not only is Twitter a place where students can learn *in vivo* about civic engagement, they can participate on Twitter as civic actors, recognizing the role that young people play in the community *already*, rather than seeing them as citizens-in-training. Further, young people do not know how to use Twitter, or any technology, simply as a function of their age. Teaching with Twitter affords teachers the opportunity to teach about *Twitter* as well. Given the role that Twitter and other social media sites already play in civic life, understanding how these platforms operate is necessary not only for using them well, but for living in a world in which civic life unfolds in both online and offine spaces.

This is the crux of what civic education must be. Those living in any participatory style of government, but particularly those in a democratic Republic "need to know democratic things and do democratic things" (Payne, 2015, p.22). Walter Parker (2008), whom Payne is paraphrasing in her quote, argued eloquently for the important role that diversity plays in civic education:

Diversity matters in both knowing and doing, in both enlightenment and engagement, in both revealing the world and solving its problems. Without the diversity afforded by a varied social environment—such as a school growth is stunted, idiocy encouraged, civic consciousness narrowed, and decisions impoverished. Diversity and shared problems are the essential resources schools afford to the education of democratic citizens. (p. 76)

Diversity and shared problems certainly exist in schools, but schools could foster greater inclusivity and conversation could be by opening the school up through social media. Social media, which already is a site of civic engagement and thus part of the civic sphere, can offer a place for student civic learning and youth civic engagement. Supporting young people in their engagement with others on social media is essential for their knowledge and wellbeing; doing so for civic purposes is imperative for our democracy.

### References

Recognizing embodied civic action. *Education, Citizenship and Social Justice, 15*(1), 35–46.

**Open Access** This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence and indicate if changes were made.

The images or other third party material in this chapter are included in the chapter's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the chapter's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.

### Appendix

### Interview Protocol

I'd like to thank you once again for being willing to participate in the interview aspect of my study. As I have mentioned to you before, my study seeks to understand how teachers and students are teaching and learning about civic education with Twitter. The study also seeks to understand why teachers use Twitter and if and how it is an effective tool for civic education. The aim of this research is to document the possible process of civic learning with Twitter. Our interview today will last approximately one hour during which I will be asking you about your teaching, your decision to use Twitter in class, and the outcomes you hope to see as a result of using Twitter in class. Are you ok with me recording (or not) our conversation today? If yes: Thank you! I will need you to fll out this consent form indicating that I have your permission to audio record our conversation. Please let me know if at any point you want me to turn off the recorder or keep something you said off the record. If no: Thank you for letting me know. I will only take notes of our conversation. Before we begin the interview, do you have any questions? If any questions (or other questions) arise at any point in this study, you can feel free to ask them at any time. I would be more than happy to answer your questions.

© The Author(s) 2023 A. L. Chapman, *Social Media for Civic Education*, Palgrave Studies in Educational Media, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-10865-5

155

### *Grand Tour Question*

Thinking about your experience of teaching civics and of using Twitter to teach civics, can you describe what that has been like?

### *Related to Research Question 1*

### *Related to Research Question 1a, 1b, and 1d*

### *Related to Research Question 1c*

• Are there ways in which students are able to interact with civics content or civics practices in ways they would not have had you not used Twitter? Please describe.

### *Related to Research Question 1d*

### *Final Prompts to Push Past Saturation*

### Index

#### **A**

Affordance, 3, 12, 17, 20, 21, 23, 24, 26–28, 74, 124, 132, 133, 143, 146, 148, 149 Algorithm, ix, 18, 38, 39, 121, 123

### **C**

© The Author(s) 2023 A. L. Chapman, *Social Media for Civic Education*, Palgrave Studies in Educational Media, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-10865-5

159

#### **D**

Democracy, x, 1, 9, 11, 72, 129, 131, 151 Digital citizenship, 47, 48, 79, 91, 93–102

### **E**

Education, 1, 19, 38, 60, 84, 94, 106, 117, 130, 143

### **H**

Hashtag, ix, 18, 22, 38, 39, 60, 74, 77, 100, 101, 107, 130

### **I**

Inherent worth, 105, 113, 144, 146

**L** Lifeworld, 58, 59

### **M**

Marginalized, ix, 4, 8, 10, 78, 79, 107–109, 114, 127–131, 134, 135, 142, 145 Media literacy, 6, 28, 37, 39–40

### **O**

Oppression, 21, 38, 45, 49, 129, 142

### **P**

Pedagogies, 4, 6–7, 28, 40, 45–49, 118, 131, 133 Phenomenology, 58, 65

Political polarization, 37, 40, 44–46, 150 Power, ix, x, 9, 10, 17, 29, 47, 48, 72, 86, 121, 127–135, 142 Professional development, 143, 146, 147 Public good, 41, 42

### **R**

Race, 8, 10, 38, 62, 77, 78, 128–130

### **S**

Self worth, 105, 146 Social justice, 48, 128–130, 146 Social media, ix, x, 2, 3, 11, 12, 17–21, 24–29, 37–49, 57, 59, 60, 62, 63, 65, 71–91, 93, 95–97, 99, 100, 105, 108, 111–114, 117–124, 127–135, 141, 143–151 Socio economic, 8, 9, 28, 38, 60, 128, 134 Students, x, 2–5, 18, 19, 37, 57–59, 71, 72, 93, 105, 117, 120, 127, 129–130, 141, 142, 155 Student worth, 105–114, 123, 144, 146, 148, 149

### **T**

Teacher education, 29, 60, 62, 117, 118, 144, 146, 147 Teachers, x, 2, 4, 6, 19, 38, 40, 57–68, 71–91, 93, 94, 105, 106, 117, 118, 120, 127, 129, 143, 155

Traditional approach, 2, 6, 11, 131, 142 Twitter, 17–29, 38, 57–68, 71, 72, 96, 107, 118, 130, 133–135, 141, 155, 156

**Y**

Youth, 2–4, 9, 12, 17, 21, 25, 26, 28, 29, 48, 98, 120, 129, 130, 133, 134, 143, 145, 149, 151


*3.2. Arene-Enyne Substrates*

In 2016, Sanz et al., reported a gold(I)-catalyzed tandem reaction using *β,β*-diaryl-*o*- (alkynyl)styrenes to synthesize dihydroindeno[2,1-*a*]indene derivatives (Scheme 17) [51]. A 5-*endo*-cyclization was induced by the activation of [Au]+ to the alkyne, which produced carbocationic intermediates (**75**). After proton elimination and protodeauration, benzofulvene intermediates (**77**) were generated. The diene units in intermediates (**77**) were then activated by the gold species to generate allylic carbocationic intermediates (**78**), which were trapped by the neighboring electron-rich aryl group to access products (**79**). In addition, under the condition of 0 ◦C in DCM, benzofulvene intermediates (**77**) were isolated as products.

In 2022, the Sanz lab disclosed a gold-catalyzed domino method for the syntheses of indeno[2,1-*b*]thiochromene derivatives with 21 examples and 70–88% yields (Scheme 18) [52]. Activation of S/Se-substituted alkynes by [Au]<sup>+</sup> triggered the cyclization of alkene to afford cationic intermediates (**81**), the carbocations of which were trapped by the vinyl–gold to produce cyclopropyl gold carbenes (**82**). The cyclopropanes of **82** were attacked by

electron-rich aromatic groups to form ring-opening intermediates (**83**) after rearomatization. Indeno[2,1-*b*]thiochromene derivatives (**84**) containing sulfur or selenium were ultimately obtained by protodeauration. Importantly, when *(S)*-DM-SEGPHOS(AuCl)2, a chiral ligand, was used in the gold-catalyzed reaction, an enantioselective transformation was achieved in up to 80% *ee*.

**Scheme 17.** Gold(I)-catalyzed syntheses of dihydroindeno[2,1-*a*]indene derivatives.

**Scheme 18.** Gold(I)-catalyzed syntheses of indeno[2,1-*b*]thiochromene derivatives.


**4. Crop responses to organic fertilizers**

Conventional farming has evoked fears of pesticide residues in food and declining energy resources [38] and organic fertilizers such as poultry litter and fish emulsions improve crop vigor and yields, increase disease and insect resistance, extend shelf life of produce and enhance microbial activity and soil nutrients [39]. Organic nutrients such as manure or cover crops provide balanced nutrient combinations over a longer period because they are slowly released based on microbial transformation in the soil [40]. Studies on the influence of poultry litter and hydrolyzed fish fertilizer on various vegetable crops to determine impact on yield and quality, phytochemical contents and on soil microbial community, and chemical proper‐ ties in the rhizospheres were conducted. These crops included Vegetable Amaranth (*Amaran‐ thus hybridus*), a leafy vegetable similar to spinach [41], Celosia (*Celosia argentea*) commonly known as lagos spinach, quail grass, soko, celosia, or feather [42], and Gboma eggplant (*Solanum macrocarpon*) is grown for its fruit production as well as its leaves [43]. West African Okra (*Abelmoschus caillei*), a multipurpose herb grown either as an annual [44], Long Bean (*Vigna unguiculata*) popular in Asian countries, African Eggplant (*Solanum aethiopicum*) is high yielding, adaptable and can be grown and harvested in a wide range of climates [44], and sweetpotato [Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.]. (45, 46).

#### **4.1. Materials and methods**

**Figure 7.** Distribution of Bray 1-P in poultry littered (open circle) and nonlittered (open triangle) soils. Adapted from

The USEPA required Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO) to develop and implement Best Management Practices that minimize phosphorus and nitrogen transport from fields to surface waters. The standard requires soil phosphorus not to exceed 200 ppm by 2018 and soil with greater than 400 ppm not to receive any poultry litter applications. It is in light of these requirements of the CAFO regulations that emerged the need to develop a chemical method that would reduce phosphorus content of poultry litter before its application to agricultural land in order to avoid a long-term builds up of phosphorus in soil. An extraction procedure was developed at Tuskegee University and includes steps of equilibrating an amount of chicken litter with an extracting solution [37]. After a contact time, the solution removes a significant amount of the phosphorus from the chicken litter. The chicken litter is

Dotson, 2000.

38 Organic Fertilizers - From Basic Concepts to Applied Outcomes

Experiments were conducted on the Small Model Research Farm at the George Washington Carver Agricultural Experiment Station, Tuskegee University, on Norfolk sandy loam (fine, siliceous, thermic Typic, Paleudults) with a pH of 5.9 and organic matter content of less than 1%. The field was prepared conventionally and soil samples were collected for elemental analysis according to the method of [47] at 15 cm depths in a zig-zag pattern using an auger. The cores were composited and analyzed by the Plant and Soil Testing Laboratory at Auburn University, Alabama, USA, for mineral constituents (Ca, Mg, P, K, and pH).

Seeds for all species (or 15 cm long stem cuttings for sweetpotato) were sown in polystyrene trays filled with moistened Jiffy mix (Ferry Morse Fulton, Kentucky, USA) in a greenhouse. One seed was placed into each cell and covered with approximately 0.6 cm of medium. Trays were watered as needed and fertilized once per week with Peters 20–20–20 at the rate of 15 g per 3.78 L of water. Temperature in the greenhouse averaged about 36°C, and relative humidity and photosynthetic photon flux (PPF) were 40% and 1159 μmol/m2 s, respectively.

#### **4.2. Treatment calculations and planting**

Treatment rates for each of the six species were based on soil test recommendations. Sources of nutrients were ammonium nitrate (34% N), triple superphosphate (46% P), muriate of potash (60% K), poultry litter (54% N), and Megabloom (2% N), a fish protein fertilizer. Organic amendments were calculated based on the total N content.

Poultry litter, unlike commercial fertilizers, is quite variable and according to ref. [48] can vary up to 50% based on animal sources. The available values of litter nutrients using data from Fulhage and Pfost [47] were total N of 54 lb/ton, comprised of 48 lb/ton organic⋅N and 6 lb/ton NH4N, 59 lb/ton P2O5, and 38 lb/ton K2O. In addition, the amount of organic N available was based on days from collection to incorporation, which is 20% beyond 7 days. The calcu‐ lations were based on the following equation:

> 4 crop N - residual N available NH N + available organic N

Ten plants from each species were transplanted into three-row plots 1.2 m × 6 m at the recommended within- and between-row spacing for each species and drip irrigation applied. Fertilizer treatments for each species were based on soil test recommendations and were applied in single bands approximately 15–20 cm away from the plants. Six plants of each species from the middle row only were harvested. Physiological measurements were per‐ formed once per week, starting approximately one week after planting. These included stem diameter, plant height, and leaf area. Plant height and stem diameter were measured on each species starting at 2 cm above the soil stem interface to the terminals (for the former) and at the widest section for the latter, and recorded as cumulative growth over time. Leaf area was determined from leaf samples collected at each harvest every two weeks, using a LICOR-1800 leaf area meter (LI-COR, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA). All species were harvested periodically throughout the growing season (succulent stems of Amaranth and Celosia of approximately 15 cm length were harvested every two weeks) and once over at the end of the season. Fresh weights of harvested samples were recorded and subsamples collected for nutritional analysis. Samples were dried in ovens at 65°C for 72 h and the dry weights recorded. These data were used to estimate fresh and dry biomass yield per unit area.

The sweetpotato study was conducted as a randomized complete block design with a 4 × 4 factorial treatment arrangement in three replications. The treatment factors were conventional NPK fertilizer, poultry litter, Megabloom (fish fertilizer; FSH), and an untreated check (O). The sweetpotato cultivars were J6/66, NCC-58, TU Purple, and Whatley-Loretan. Treatments were split-applied at the rate of 134–67–67 kg/ha NPK equivalent based on soil tests recommenda‐ tions one and four weeks after planting as single bands 15 cm from the plants.

Triplicate rhizosphere soil samples from each plot were taken at harvest, composited and analyzed for pH, organic carbon (SOC), and enzyme activity. pH was determined using 1:2.5 soil/water and SOC using the wet oxidation method [49]. Phosphomonoesterases activity was determined by the method of ref. [50]; β-glucosidase and *N*-acetyl-β-glucosaminidase activity by assay [51, 52]; and whole DNA by Power Soil Extraction Kit and quantified using spectro‐ photometer. Pooled DNA samples were tested for PCR optimization and pyrosequencing analysis (Research and Testing Labs, Lubbock, TX, USA).


**7. Concluding remark**

*Microorganisms*

*6.2.3 Fructose in medicine*

grabbing finding [50].

*6.2.7 Immunomodulatory effect*

with Crohn's illness [52].

*6.2.8 Cancer treatment*

*6.2.9 Antibiotic therapy*

*6.2.10 Antioxidant properties*

ate controls [54].

*6.2.4 Proficient sweetener for diabetics*

excavating its application as a food ingredient [49].

*6.2.6 Dietary intonation of the human colonic microbiota*

by the Butyrate manufactured by FOS and fructose [53].

Fructose is very frequently found as sweetener in cough suppressants, decongestant drops, rubs, and liquids for children and adults. Many pharmaceutical tablets,

Inulinase from *Aspergillus oryzae* carries out hydrolysis liberating fructose and FOSs. Existence of mono to pentasaccharides without toxic microbial metabolites in the hydrolyzed product was assessed with NMR spectroscopy and LC-MS, thus

The retrieval of overall bacterial counts amplified by ingestion of OES and fructose to pigs with acute diarrhea induced by cholera toxin was the most attention

A trifling prebiotic effect with no gastrointestinal distress in pediatric patients

Clinical trials direct that fructose and FOS supplementation can reduce the influx of clinical inflammation, abridged level in cytokine interleukin (IL)-1α, and necrosis factor-α in ulcerative colitis by *Bacillus longum*. A shoot-up in IL10 positive mucosal dendritic due to inulin, fructose, and FOS intake was displayed in patients

Incidence of cancer has been rapidly decreasing due to the use of FOS and fructose. Tumor growth, cell differentiation, and upregulate apoptosis were vetoed

Damage of normal protective intestinal microflora was a common observation found to be accompanied with acute diarrhea after been treatment with penicillin, cephalosporin, and clindamycin antibiotics. Double-blind randomized controlled trials were set, which efficaciously explain that in the course of antibiotic treatment

Mesa and his coworkers studied protein glycation and cross linking along with the effect of elevated temperature and proteolysis on antioxidant properties of the Maillard reaction mixtures of soy protein isolates, FOS, and fructose with appropri-

reoccurrence of diarrhea was shortened in patients ingesting fructose.

syrups, and solutions commonly have fructose as an excipient [48].

*6.2.5 Supplementing oral electrolyte solutions as diarrhea control remedy*

with cancer was found to be induced by FOS, especially fructose [51].

**252**

The current review discloses the elucidations of many global researchers specifically highlighting on the isolation of novel inulinase-producing rhizospheric microbial flora to hydrolyze high inulin content in weeds, thereby serving as a potential, abundant, and profitable avenue of fructose production with vast industrial applications. The food and pharmaceutical preparations with fructose have extended at the top in the market demand list of health conscious modern era. Thereby, the enzyme production expenses linger to be the logjam in understanding its commercial application.

Thus, this review explores the exploitation of inulin containing weeds such as *Tithonia* and *Cosmos* as low-value and efficacious replacement of synthetic inulin as substrates for inulinase production. The research embarked on the health implications of dietary and pharmaceutical fructoses was underlined in the review. Finally, electrifying new uses of fructan polysaccharides such as drug stabilizers, scrupulous release drug delivery systems, and vaccine adjuvants proclaims evolution in pharmaceutical applications of this extremely multipurpose plant-derived sugar.


*2.7. Production of Secondary Metabolites from Trichoderma spp.*

The agar plugs of *Trichoderma* spp., measuring 7 mm in diameter, were taken from actively growing margins of *T. harzianum* (PGT4), *T. reesei* (PGT5) and *T. reesei* (PGT13) cultures grown on PDA media and were inoculated individually: dual cultures (*T. harzianum* (PGT4) and *T. reesei* (PGT5); *T. reesei* (PGT5) and *T. reesei* (PGT13) and *T. reesei* (PGT13) and *T. harzianum* (PGT4)) and co-culture sample PGTA (*T. harzianum*, *T. reesei* and *T. reesei*) were inoculated into 250 mL Erlenmayer flasks containing 100 mL of potato dextrose broth medium (PDB, HIMEDIA) supplemented with chloramphenicol antibiotics, incubated in static condition for 9 days at 25 ◦C [42]. After the incubation period, to avoid fragmentation of the mycelium, it was removed using a microbial loop and the cultures were filtered under vacuum through filter paper (Whatman No. 4). The final filtrate was called a crude extract of secondary metabolites. A control assay was performed to ensure an optimum filtration (to check for the absence of conidia and mycelia) procedure by spreading 30 µL of the final filtrate on petri plates under sterile conditions containing PDA medium. The plates were examined for fungal growth [41].


*2.1. System Components*

The experimental set-up consisted of a thermal camera Testo 882 and a triangulation laser scanner Konica Minolta Vivid 9i, both shown in Figure 1. The Testo 882 has an FPA detector type with 320 × 240 pixel (but image output up to 640 × 480 thanks to the super-resolution feature), a FOV of 32◦ × 23◦ and a range of detected temperature switchable between −20 ◦C and +100 ◦C and 0 ◦C and +350 ◦C (accuracy ±2% of reading for both). The Konica Minolta specifications are 307,200 pixels, three interchangeable lens of focal length 25 mm, 14 mm and 8 mm, and a weight of approximately 15 kg.

**Figure 1.** (**a**) Thermal camera Testo 882. (**b**) Laser scanner Konica Minolta Vivid 9i.

## *2.2. Integration Process Workflow*

The workflow includes the processes for combining spatial data, acquired by the laser scanner in the form of a point cloud (spatial coordinates and normal vectors in each point) and the two-dimensional temperature map provided by the thermal camera, available as a temperature matrix. Before proceeding to the actual integration, it was necessary to have a post-processed point cloud, i.e., the registration of several range maps (by the well-known ICP algorithm) and all the post-processing operations have to be done previously.

There are three main processes characterizing the workflow (see Figure 2): acquisition, geometrical calibration (subdivided into intrinsic and extrinsic calibration) and data fusion. The emphasis of this work was both on the extrinsic calibration and on the data fusion process, which were carried out by Matlab programming (Supplementary Materials).

**Figure 2.** High-level workflow of the integration process.

**.**


**Abstract**

The roles of diet and environment on health have been known since ancient times. Cancer is both a genetic and an epigenetic disease and a complex interplay mechanism of genetic and environmental factors composed of multiple stages in which gene expression, protein and metabolite function operate synchronically. Disruption of epigenetic processes results in life-threatening diseases, in particular, cancer. Epigenetics involves altered gene expression without any change of nucleotide sequences, such as DNA methylation, histone modifications and non-coding RNAs in the regulation of genome. According to current studies, cancer is preventable with appropriate or balanced food and nutrition, in some cases. Nutrient intake is an environmental factor, and dietary components play an importent role in both cancer development and prevention. Due to epigenetic events induce changes in DNA and thus influencing over all gene expression in response to the food components, bioactive compounds and phytochemicals as potent antioxidants and cancer preventive agents have important roles in human diet. Several dietray components can alter cancer cell behavior and cancer risk by influencing key pathways and steps in carcinogenesis, including signaling, apoptosis, differentiation, or inflammation. To date, multiple biologically active food components are strongly suggested to have protective potential against cancer formation, such as methyl-group donors, fatty acids, phytochemicals, flavonoids, isothiocyanates, etc. Diet considered as a source of either carcinogens that are present in certain foods or acting in a protective manner such as vitamins, antioxidants, detoxifying substances, chelating agents etc. Thus, dietary phytochemicals as epigenetic modifiers in cancer and effects of dietary phytochemicals on gene expression and signaling pathways have been widely studied in cancer. In this chapter, current knowledge on interactions between cancer metabolism, epigenetic gene regulation, and how both processes are affected by dietary components are summerized. A comprehensive overview of natural compounds with epigenetic activity on tumorogenesis mechanisms by which natural compounds alter the cancer epigenome is provided. Studies made in epigenetics and cancer research demonstrated that genetic and epigenetic mechanisms are not separate events in cancer; they influence each other during carcinogenesis, highlighting plant-derived anticancer compounds with epigenetic mechanisms of action, and potential use in epigenetic therapy. Recent investigations

involving epigenetic modulations suggest that diet rich in phytochemicals not only reduce the risk of developing cancer, but also affect the treatment outcome.

**Keywords:** diet, cancer, epi-drugs, epigenetic modulation, phytochemicals