Page 175 - Šolsko polje, XXX, 2019, št. 5-6: Civic, citizenship and rhetorical education in a rapidly changing world, eds. Janja Žmavc and Plamen Mirazchiyski
P. 175
book reviews
where citizens participate, as described in Chapter 2, and the way they
not only shape but also complement each other. Participation online can
evolve into participation in the real world.
The sixth and final chapter draws upon the specific recommenda-
tions for developing digital citizenship education strategies based on the
review in the previous sections of the book. The authors propose two key
directions: implementation strategy and awareness strategy.
One of the issues related to digital citizenship that the authors point
out is the large variety of the existing definitions of the concept in the 14
selected frameworks they scrutinize. This requires alignment of the strat-
egies with these frameworks for effective implementation. Although there
are numerous definitions of digital citizenship, there is an emerging con-
sensus that in the educational context, it is a transversal dimension which
involves values, skills, attitudes, knowledge and critical understanding –
all of them are required by citizens in the digital era. It also relates to the
development of inclusive strategies not only for youth, but for all ages and,
more importantly, for all cultural contexts while balancing different lit-
eracies and all strategies needed to be coherent and long term. The con-
text, as the authors point out, have different values and values are dealt
with in a different way in different contexts. However, going beyond the
content of the book, when it comes to the cultural contexts, we need to re-
late them to the diminishing so-called “nationally bounded membership”
or “legal membership” in a nation-state where the nation-state defines the
civil, social, political rights and responsibilities, i.e. the traditional forms
of citizenship (Choi, 2016). The questions we need to ask ourselves in this
regard is how nationally bounded membership is still valid in an intercon-
nected and global world where national borders start to fade and cultur-
al context is not isolated. A world there is an increasing exchange of infor-
mation, ideas and reactions to events in other countries in the world and
globally.
The reader shall bear in mind that digital citizenship is a new con-
cept and any strategies of teaching and learning, as well as implementing
changes in civic and citizenship education, have to be done carefully. This
will be a long-term process which requires further in-depth definitions,
specifications and discussions of any implementations of digital citizen-
ship education in the curriculum. This is probably why the book does not
prescribe any specific sets of goals or topics. Further developments and
theorizing in this area are needed, especially for the precise definition of
digital citizenship in relation to the way how digitalisation and mediati-
sation in a technological sense can have an impact upon citizenship. In
this regard, several studies (e.g. see Rainie, Smith, Schlozman, Brady and
173
where citizens participate, as described in Chapter 2, and the way they
not only shape but also complement each other. Participation online can
evolve into participation in the real world.
The sixth and final chapter draws upon the specific recommenda-
tions for developing digital citizenship education strategies based on the
review in the previous sections of the book. The authors propose two key
directions: implementation strategy and awareness strategy.
One of the issues related to digital citizenship that the authors point
out is the large variety of the existing definitions of the concept in the 14
selected frameworks they scrutinize. This requires alignment of the strat-
egies with these frameworks for effective implementation. Although there
are numerous definitions of digital citizenship, there is an emerging con-
sensus that in the educational context, it is a transversal dimension which
involves values, skills, attitudes, knowledge and critical understanding –
all of them are required by citizens in the digital era. It also relates to the
development of inclusive strategies not only for youth, but for all ages and,
more importantly, for all cultural contexts while balancing different lit-
eracies and all strategies needed to be coherent and long term. The con-
text, as the authors point out, have different values and values are dealt
with in a different way in different contexts. However, going beyond the
content of the book, when it comes to the cultural contexts, we need to re-
late them to the diminishing so-called “nationally bounded membership”
or “legal membership” in a nation-state where the nation-state defines the
civil, social, political rights and responsibilities, i.e. the traditional forms
of citizenship (Choi, 2016). The questions we need to ask ourselves in this
regard is how nationally bounded membership is still valid in an intercon-
nected and global world where national borders start to fade and cultur-
al context is not isolated. A world there is an increasing exchange of infor-
mation, ideas and reactions to events in other countries in the world and
globally.
The reader shall bear in mind that digital citizenship is a new con-
cept and any strategies of teaching and learning, as well as implementing
changes in civic and citizenship education, have to be done carefully. This
will be a long-term process which requires further in-depth definitions,
specifications and discussions of any implementations of digital citizen-
ship education in the curriculum. This is probably why the book does not
prescribe any specific sets of goals or topics. Further developments and
theorizing in this area are needed, especially for the precise definition of
digital citizenship in relation to the way how digitalisation and mediati-
sation in a technological sense can have an impact upon citizenship. In
this regard, several studies (e.g. see Rainie, Smith, Schlozman, Brady and
173
