Page 174 - Šolsko polje, XXX, 2019, št. 5-6: Civic, citizenship and rhetorical education in a rapidly changing world, eds. Janja Žmavc and Plamen Mirazchiyski
P. 174
šolsko polje, letnik xxx, številka 5–6
The book “Digital citizenship education: Overview and new per-
spectives”, written by Divina Frau-Meigs, Brian O’Neill, Allesandro So-
riani and Vitor Tomé is the first volume in the series of publications on
digital citizenship education, issued by the European Commission. The
book is a literature review of the literature on this emerging topic which
the authors have even proposed to become part of the civic and citizen-
ship curricula in the EU member states. The book is divided into six ma-
jor chapters.
The first chapter provides an overview of the existing 14 different
definitions and frameworks of the concept of digital citizenship. The con-
cept shall not be understood only as the possession of digital skills and
knowledge but, more importantly, the skill sets for needed participation,
democracy, social engagement and human rights.
The second chapter brings the relationship between the national
policies on the topic and the industry where internet providers and social
media platforms are considered as the main stakeholder in defining and
implementing the policies within digital citizenship education. In par-
ticular for the industry, this is happening in the area of data management,
privacy and safety, which is an important aspect of digital society, but not
the core aspect related to the empowerment of individuals. It is important
to note that using the technology itself represents the “hard skills”, but
it does not represent and is not sufficient to being a digital citizen in the
digital society. A set of socio-emotional and socio-relational competenc-
es (“soft skills”) are required for participating in the digital society and
for being defined as a digital citizen. In addition, the digital space and the
real world coexist and the exchange between them shapes within a cycle
of mutual influence.
The third chapter explores digital citizenship as a “sense-making
practice” and how the digital culture determines practices aiming at long-
term experiential strategies which, in turn, contribute to participatory
and inclusive approaches of digital citizenship education.
The fourth chapter focuses on social literacy and how it relates to the
digital environment, and consequently how it is prioritised in digital citi-
zenship education. The existing frameworks give priority to the social-re-
lational skills and attitudes which narrows the focus towards values like
inclusion, diversity and empathy, which are considered as the base of fos-
tering positive online participation.
The fifth chapter is about the major challenges in the implementa-
tion of digital citizenship education which have to be taken into account
when developing effective strategies on the topic. One of the core issues in
the implementation is the co-existence of the real world and digital space
172
The book “Digital citizenship education: Overview and new per-
spectives”, written by Divina Frau-Meigs, Brian O’Neill, Allesandro So-
riani and Vitor Tomé is the first volume in the series of publications on
digital citizenship education, issued by the European Commission. The
book is a literature review of the literature on this emerging topic which
the authors have even proposed to become part of the civic and citizen-
ship curricula in the EU member states. The book is divided into six ma-
jor chapters.
The first chapter provides an overview of the existing 14 different
definitions and frameworks of the concept of digital citizenship. The con-
cept shall not be understood only as the possession of digital skills and
knowledge but, more importantly, the skill sets for needed participation,
democracy, social engagement and human rights.
The second chapter brings the relationship between the national
policies on the topic and the industry where internet providers and social
media platforms are considered as the main stakeholder in defining and
implementing the policies within digital citizenship education. In par-
ticular for the industry, this is happening in the area of data management,
privacy and safety, which is an important aspect of digital society, but not
the core aspect related to the empowerment of individuals. It is important
to note that using the technology itself represents the “hard skills”, but
it does not represent and is not sufficient to being a digital citizen in the
digital society. A set of socio-emotional and socio-relational competenc-
es (“soft skills”) are required for participating in the digital society and
for being defined as a digital citizen. In addition, the digital space and the
real world coexist and the exchange between them shapes within a cycle
of mutual influence.
The third chapter explores digital citizenship as a “sense-making
practice” and how the digital culture determines practices aiming at long-
term experiential strategies which, in turn, contribute to participatory
and inclusive approaches of digital citizenship education.
The fourth chapter focuses on social literacy and how it relates to the
digital environment, and consequently how it is prioritised in digital citi-
zenship education. The existing frameworks give priority to the social-re-
lational skills and attitudes which narrows the focus towards values like
inclusion, diversity and empathy, which are considered as the base of fos-
tering positive online participation.
The fifth chapter is about the major challenges in the implementa-
tion of digital citizenship education which have to be taken into account
when developing effective strategies on the topic. One of the core issues in
the implementation is the co-existence of the real world and digital space
172
