Globalizing social justice education: The case of The Global Solidarity Network Study e-Broad Program Yvonne D. Harrison a, ⁎, Kevin Kostic b , Suzanne C. Toton c , Jerome Zurek d a Center for Nonprofit Social Enterprise Management, Institute of Public Service, Seattle University, 901 12th Ave., Seattle, WA, 98122, United States b Catholic Relief Services, 228 W. Lexington St., Baltimore, MD 21201, United States c Christian Ethics, Theology and Religious Studies Department, Villanova University, 800 Lancaster Avenue, Villanova, PA 19085, United States d Communication Department, Cabrini College, Radnor, PA 19087, United States abstract article info Keywords: Global education Cultural competency Social justice Online learning Information system success Community of Practice This paper documents the development, implementation, and evaluation of The Global Solidarity Network Study e-Broad Program (GSNSeBP), an online social justice educational program that is blended into an onsite academic course. This global electronic program, which was developed through a partnership between Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and three Catholic higher education institutions, enhances the traditional relationship by better connecting students and faculty to those who work on the front lines of social injustice in the developing world. At the same time it disrupts the relationship because it introduces a new form of engagement into the global education arena (e.g. classes study ebroad not abroad). Evaluation findings suggest the program resulted in educational benefits at individual (issue knowledge, compassion, feelings of advocacy etc.), course (course concepts, quality, alignment with the university mission etc.) and social levels (network effect of involving others in social justice issues and causes). A number of information and communications technology effectiveness (ICTe) influences accounted for differences in participant engagement and the perceived impact of the program lending support for the claim that success needs to be managed. The paper concludes with the question of the risk of not managing the program for effectiveness. At this stage of the digital and global education revolution in Catholic higher education, a low level of effectiveness is a relatively low level problem. However, for institutions with a global engagement agenda, being digitally deficient puts them at a disadvantage in achieving their goals relative to those who have successfully globalized academic education. Moreover, it is our belief that left unmanaged there will be a widening of the digital effectiveness divide (DED) that is, the creation of a new type of “disadvantaged” academic institution, one that lacks the capacity to use modern tools to develop culturally competent global citizens. © 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction “Think globally, act locally” is a popular mantra from the environ- mental movement. It has not only raised local awareness of serious global issues like climate change but it shifted responsibility from those who work in the field of climate change (direct) to those who could affect climate change (indirect)—making it everyone's problem. This case study describes a similar purpose and process; how Catholic Relief Services (CRS), an International humanitarian NGO, and its US Catholic higher educational partners used modern information and communica- tions technology (ICT) tools to put global social justice issues (e.g. poverty, hunger, peace) into the local consciousness of faculty and students. For CRS, the use of modern ICT tools to deliver social justice education is important on a number of levels. On one level, it raises awareness of CRS's role in the Catholic community to fulfill “the Gospel of Jesus Christ as it pertains to the alleviation of human suffering, the development of people and the fostering of charity and justice in the world” (CRS, 2005, p. 3). Second, it provides a forum to access information and to discuss social justice policy issues of global concern. Access to accurate information is important due to the asymmetry that often results from sensationalized media reports. Unless students are engaged in social justice courses or issue advocacy, they often lack basic knowledge of the issues. On a third level, it provides CRS with an efficient and cost- effective means to engage students and faculty from Catholic higher education in social justice policy conversations (e.g. human migration, food security, peace building etc.) and advocacy efforts. For CRS, the global economic crisis has made it increasingly difficult to deliver social justice education within the traditional “study abroad” model which is labor intensive and expensive to coordinate (e.g. Internship placements and supervision, in-country transportation and housing for interns etc.). From the perspective of the Catholic higher education partners, ICT tools are an efficient and effective academic opportunity to raise awareness of human rights and social justice issues on a global scale in Internet and Higher Education 13 (2010) 115–126 ⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 206 296 5438. E-mail address: yharriso@seattleu.edu (Y.D. Harrison). 1096-7516/$ – see front matter © 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.iheduc.2009.12.005 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Internet and Higher Education