Problem-solving: to identify needs and problems, and to resolve conceptual problems and problem situations in digital

environments; to use digital tools to innovate processes and products; to keep up to date with the digital evolution.

Figure 5. DigComp 2.0 education model of the European Commission

communication, collaboration

information,

data literacy safety

problem-solving

digital content creation

The Council of Europe – a competence-centric, domain-oriented approach

Given its mandate to uphold human rights, democracy and the rule of law, education and empowerment of citizens is central to the actions of the Council of Europe. Since education is the means by which citizens acquire the knowledge, skills, convictions and habits, as well as learn the values needed to be able to fully participate in society, it is essential that education is continually adapted to reflect the transformations and realities of society.

The Council of Europe has for a long time been developing educational tools and strategies for digital citizenship. One example is the first version of its Internet Literacy Handbook, published in 2003.

This was a series of factsheets, each dedicated to a different Internet tool or platform. They meant to provide background and concrete examples of how these solutions worked. The publication was intended for teachers, parents and policy-makers, and provided educational activities, resources and examples of good practice that could be used at home or at school.

The Handbook highlighted, in particular, the educational added value of using various types of digital technology, as well as potential ethical issues raised by each. Already back in 2003, the contents of the Internet Literacy Handbook were at the crossroads of citizenship education and Internet safety, an approach that the Council of Europe has maintained ever since. The recently published fourth version of the Handbook (Richardson et al., 2017)¹⁶ tackles issues as widely diverse as access and social inclusion, online shopping, Artificial Intelligence and data mining. Over the years, all four versions have been created according to a similar format. They provide information and highlight good practices, but ultimately leave it to (well-informed) citizens to decide for themselves when and how digital technology can be appropriately and responsibly used.

The digital citizenship working group that the Council of Europe set up in 2016 went several steps further and created a comprehensive breakdown of digital citizenship into 10 different domains. These are underpinned by the development of 20 competences, with clear examples of requirements for specific domains. These are categorised into three main areas, as follows:

16 Internet Literacy Handbook – online version: bit.ly/2nRDjU3 [access: 20.03.2019].

Figure 6. Ten domains of digital citizenship (Council of Europe)

BEING ONLINE - Access and Inclusion, - Learning and Creativity, - Media and Information Literacy.

RIGHTS ONLINE - Active Participation, - Rights and Responsibilities, - Privacy and Security, - Consumer Awareness.

WELLBEING ONLINE - Ethics and Empathy, - Health and Wellbeing, - ePresence and

Communications.

The Digital Citizenship Handbook (Richardson et al., 2019)¹⁷, defines and describes in a practical way the ten domains, and the multiple dimensions involved in each one. Ways of using digital technology and opinions of educators, parents and policy-makers are described for each domain, which makes it possible to learn of anticipated developments in a given area and their potential impacts on society.

Using a format similar to that of the Internet Literacy Handbook, educational added value in each domain is outlined, and potential ethical issues are investigated. The publication provides lists of resources, ideas for classroom work, good practices and suggested reference materials. The Council of Europe will progressively add resources, teacher training initiatives and other support and evaluation tools over the coming years to facilitate implementation for interested schools and public authorities.

Together, the 20 competences for a democratic culture and their analysis across the 10 domains provides a comprehensive transversal framework that is teachable and measurable. This is intended as a means of ensuring that digital citizenship issues can be easily embedded in curricula, school and community, regardless of the country

17 Digital Citizenship Education Handbook – online version: bit.ly/2Z20z2i [access: 20.03.2019].

or education system, rather than simply being an add-on, as used to be the case of Internet safety. In this way, learning about and with digital technology can become a practical, open process, adaptable to the needs of formal, informal and non-formal learning contexts.

Open educational processes correlate more closely to the “anywhere, anytime” learning preferences of young people nowadays, and leave ample opportunity for families and communities to get involved.

The road ahead

Digital technology has transformed the way people act, interact, obtain information and make decisions. It is, therefore, increasingly important that each and every one of us knows how to use the Internet safely, constructively and competently, and that we are accountable for our actions and the information we post. However, social media have changed the very way people communicate. They have increased people’s desire to connect, and to play a greater role in shaping the world around them through their network of social relationships.

Education is a vector and in some ways a gatekeeper of societal transformation, especially with the progressive breakdown of family and community values which can be observed in Western societies.

At the same time, digital technology has opened us more than ever before to cultural diversity. If we are all to benefit from the changes brought about by digital technology, our education systems have to step up and begin shaping certain new competences, as well as take over those whose development was once the responsibility of family and community. The school curriculum is not freely modifiable, and every subject and every anticipated educational outcome must be carefully defined and monitored to ensure that they reach the goals intended.

Although Internet safety affects the well-being of citizens of all ages, we must acknowledge that it is one of the necessary obligations to be carried out by the education system.

Digital citizenship education aims to ensure that people know how to use today’s communication modes positively and master those competences that will enhance democracy rather than undermine it.

The more people are engaged in finding solutions to the challenges emerging from the development of digital technology, the greater the possibility that societal transformation will benefit a higher percentage of our populations.