TED TRABzON COLLEGE / 10-B
The Link Between Digital Citizenship and Education
Şevval Gül ŞAHİN
180
Perhaps more than any year in history , 2020 has showcased the power of digitalisation . Recently , countless individuals and organisations have turned to digital technologies for efficient problem-solving . Education is one of the most obviously affected areas . Throughout the year , educators and learners have found themselves into ‘ emergency remote teaching and learning ’. This situation , for many of us , has meant shifting from the traditional classroom to a virtual one which is reliant on electronic devices and online platforms . Because institutions increasingly turn to digital learning solutions to ‘ futureproof ’ their offerings , this accelerated adoption of online education is expected to persist . According to DataReportal ( 2020 ), over 4.5 billion people are now using the Internet , comprising almost 60 % of the world ’ s population ( Eicher , 2020 ).
Long before COVID-19 , digital technologies had already become indispensable for navigating and participating in global society . Without a firm grounding in the ethical and moral questions of digital life , we cannot prepare them for the future . This highlights the ongoing relevance of digital citizenship , which encompasses ‘ the quality of habits , actions , and consumption patterns that impact the ecology of digital content and communities ’ ( Heick , 2020 ).
What is digital citizenship ?
In simple terms , a digital citizen “ is someone who uses digital technologies and engages in the online environment ”.
The Council of Europe provides a broader definition of digital citizenship , as follows :
“ The competent and positive engagement with digital technologies ; participating actively and responsibly in communities at all levels ; being involved in a double process of lifelong learning and continuously defending human dignity .”
It is worth considering Collier ’ s argument that these competencies are by now woven into the fabric of our society . We can perhaps “ drop the word digital ”, because what we are teaching is essentially just citizenship within the Digital Age . However , Ohler suggests that digital citizenship education ‘ is the new character education ’, not replacing but rather supplementing our approach to character formation and ethics in the classroom .