Enabling and Supporting Young People to be effective Digital Citizens

(an article I wrote for Children in Wales Magazine - Winter 2012 edition)

The last few years have seen a huge and rapid evolution of Internet technologies – from the development of social web services like YouTube, Facebook and Twitter to the development of smart phones, tablet PCs, and now 4G connectivity. All these technologies make it extremely easy to stay connected with friends and family, create and share rich multimedia - publicly or privately, collaborate with peers, access new networks, learning and support.

For those who work with young people, and those involved in policy development in relation to young people’s use of digital technologies, a key issue has been how to address e-safety effectively in the face of these changes. Even as we become more digitally literate, we are aware of incidents of misuse of digital technologies, for example in cases involving cyberbullying and sexting. There are also concerns about issues like addiction in gaming and gambling sites, over-sharing of personal information, loss of privacy and reputation and so on.

Many parents and carers also face the challenge of understanding what constitutes safe use with these technologies. For example, how to manage privacy settings and parental controls, prevent access to adult content, establish time limits for gaming in an increasingly ‘always on’ world.

We also know that young people who are vulnerable offline are more likely to be vulnerable online. Two key recommendations to come out of the ‘Munch Poke and Ping’ report [1] – a piece of research carried out by Stephen Carrick-Davies [2] to consider the risks which vulnerable young people (being taught in a PRU) encounter online are ‘to model very positive use of technology’ and ‘to actively involve students as co-researchers and peer-educators to help other young people understand the risks’.

Additionally, across the globe, effective use of digital and Internet technologies in education is being recognised as a key enabler to improve teaching and learning. The EU has defined ‘digital competence’ as one of 8 key skills needed for lifelong learning [3]. According to the American Knight Commission [4], successful participation in the digital age entails two kinds of skills sets – digital literacy and media literacy. They provide the following definitions: “Digital literacy means learning how to work the information and communication technologies in a networked environment, as well as understanding the social, cultural and ethical issues that go along with the use of these technologies. Media literacy is the ability to access, analyse, evaluate, create, reflect upon, and act with the information products that media disseminate.”

eSafety has traditionally been about specific behaviours, risks and dangers online, measures we can take, and systems and processes we can implement to safeguard young people. Whilst important, a better overarching vision is needed which recognises the very positive and integral role that Internet and digital technologies play, for both society and the individual, as part of a balanced lifestyle.

This requires that educators and professionals supporting young people must themselves engage in and harness the potentials offered by this evolving digital media space – key 21st Century Digital Citizenship Skills. They must understand the role of the Internet and digital technologies in transforming services, education, businesses, socialising and more. The must also understand what these technologies mean to young people themselves – in terms of relationships, identity; peer-pressures, resilience and coping strategies. They need to understand what their gaps in knowledge are; how and where they get support. The must work with young people as co-creators of new programmes of digital leadership. These programmes must not simply stop at ‘safe use’, but must inspire young people to become innovative and effective digital citizens, skilled and able to develop a positive online presence; resilient and kind, so that they are able to use these technologies for the larger good.

[1] Stephen Carrick-Davies www.carrick-davies.com
[2] Much Poke Ping Report and website http://www.carrick-davies.com/mpp
[3] KEY COMPETENCES FOR LIFELONG LEARNING - European Reference Framework
http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/education_culture/publ/pdf/ll-learning/keycomp_en.pdf
[4] Digital and Media Literacy: A Plan of Action
http://www.knightcomm.org/digital-and-media-literacy-a-plan-of-action

Developing a culture of digital citizenship with young people

With thanks to David Wilcox for prompting me to contribute some thoughts to the project he and colleagues Tim Davies and Alex Farrow have been undertaking for the Nominet Trust exploring how digital technologies can support young people to engage socially and economically with their communities. (Twitter hashtag #DTYE).

From my experience over the years of working with young people and the adults who work with or care for them, to help them use the Internet more effectively, innovatively and safely, the following are some of the key issues I think those seeking to engage youth with digital technologies need to consider:

As has been mentioned before youth are not a homogenous group, and therefore, one of the first things I would say is we need to understand where young people are at – listening to them, understanding their motivations and behaviour, their particular ‘youth culture’. This varies according to many factors including age, regions, socio-economic status etc.

We also need to be able to assess their digital competency and knowledge, skills and confidence, and work with them to co-create programmes which help them develop their interests – and which also develop their digital literacy skills (as defined by the Knight Commission):

Digital literacy means learning how to work the information and communication technologies in a networked environment, as well as understanding the social, cultural and ethical issues that go along with the use of these technologies. Media literacy is the ability to access, analyse, evaluate, create, reflect upon, and act with the information products that media disseminate.

The Knight Commission have identified digital and media literacy as essential for democracy and civic engagement and believe that successful participation in the digital age entails two kinds of skills sets – digital literacy and media literacy.

Those seeking to engage youth with digital technologies would also do well to help young people develop a culture of digital citizenship as defined by the ISTE (and the social, emotional, leadership and digital competencies associated with these). From my own work in this area, I feel that digital literacy skills, which should focus on the creative and effective use of digital technologies, also need to explore the topics of ethics, responsible use, appropriate boundaries, privacy and legal issues. Whilst many people think that young people are fairly competent in their use of digital technologies, there are still gaps in this knowledge, which if addressed, could help them use them more effectively.

In the broader sense of digital literacy, we should also be helping young people explore the way changing digital and web technologies are affecting society, culture, politics and more, and mediating the development of skills and competencies to help them develop their own sense of this digital space, and their place in it.

This means that those who seek to engage youth with digital technologies need to develop their own digital literacy skills and develop a good understanding of how businesses and individuals are using digital and web technologies for benefit (or not). It would also be good if they could showcase examples of where youth are already using the web and digital technologies for advocacy, personal and community benefit and developing a positive online presence.