DIGITALCITIZENSHIPEDUCATIONHANDBOOKn 2: WELLBEING ONLINE

What children say?

Section 3: WELLBEING ONLINE

What teachers say?

What parents say?

Being online
Well-being online
Rights online
What children say?

What teachers say?

What parents say?

DIGITALCITIZENSHIPEDUCATIONHANDBOOK
Being online
Well-being online
Rights online

Council of Europe

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Contents
FOREWORDACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
INTRODUCTION
How to use this guide
A conceptual model for digital citizenship
Living digital citizenship

SECTION 1 – BEING ONLINE
Dimension 1: Access and inclusion
Fact sheet 1: Access and inclusion
Dimension 2: Learning and creativity
Fact sheet 2: Learning and creativity
Dimension 3: Media and information literacy
Fact sheet 3: Media and information literacy

SECTION 2 – WELL-BEING ONLINE
Dimension 4: Ethics and empathy
Fact sheet 4: Ethics and empathy
Dimension 5: Health and well-being
Fact sheet 5: Health and well-being
Dimension 6: e-Presence and communications
Fact sheet 6: e-Presence and communications

SECTION 3 – RIGHTS ONLINE
Dimension 7: Active participation
Fact sheet 7: Active participation
Dimension 8: Rights and responsibilities
Fact sheet 8: Rights and responsibilities
Dimension 9: Privacy and security
Fact sheet 9: Privacy and security
Dimension 10: Consumer awarenessFact sheet 10: Consumer awareness

GLOSSARYABOUT THE AUTHORS

Page 3

ForewordChildren today live in a rapidly changing world with expanding horizons. Technology
has brought not only new experiences for them to enjoy, but a whole new dimension to their daily life in an ethereal world that we know as “being online”. Of course,
adults are free to participate in online life and a great many do, but not many of them
are ready to integrate technology into their lives in the same way as children. They were
not born “digital natives” and do not have the same automatic acceptance of the digital
environment as a natural, fundamental and unquestioned dimension of their existence.
■ Adults, however, are aware of many of the dangers that children will face as
they grow up and make their way through life. It is their responsibility to prepare
young people for the trials that inevitably lie ahead. They now have the added taskof making sure they prepare children for not only the physical world, but the digitalworld as well: education for life online as well as offline.
■ From the adult perspective, a lot of work has already been done to set up pol-icies to protect children online. Such work is valid and indeed absolutely necessary
but the time has now come to move from measures to protect children to thosethat actively empower them. So far, many efforts to do this have been of an informal
nature. What is needed now is a structural approach to provide children and young
people with the competences they need to become healthy and responsible citizens
in the online environment.

■ Where should children obtain these competences? The Council of Europe

believes that it is part of the role of formal education to consider children’s online
and offline lives as parts of a whole. The digital revolution has not so much broken
down as erased physical barriers. The online world takes no account of classroom
boundaries or school walls, just as it ignores local, regional or national frontiers.
Children bring their digital lives and experiences into school with them and it is ourduty to assimilate this new reality into our education systems.

■ This consideration was the starting point for the Education Department’s

Digital Citizenship Education project. In order to guide its action, it identified three
aspects of online life – being on line, well-being online and rights online – in which
it can promote the Council of Europe’s fundamental principles of democracy, humanrights and the rule of law. These principles apply just as much to human relations
and behaviour in the digital environment as they do in the physical world. Each
person’s responsibility as a citizen is the same.

Page 5

■ However, the online world does present challenges to democratic citizenshipin a new context and this Digital citizenship education handbook is designed to help
educators and other interested adults understand and deal with them. It builds on
the Council of Europe’s Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture
and the achievements of our longstanding Education for Democratic Citizenshipprogramme, and complements the Internet literacy handbook as part of a coherent
approach to educating citizens for the society of the future.

■ In a time of rapid change, this future is largely unknown to us, but the chal-lenges we are facing today with emerging technology are not. Providing the next
generations with the competences they need to live together as equals in culturally
diverse democratic societies is still our goal, whatever dimension they will live in.
Snežana Samardžić-Marković
Council of Europe
Director General for Democracy

Page 6

Acknowledgements
Authors■ The Digital citizenship education handbook was written by Janice Richardsonand Elizabeth Milovidov.

Contributors■ The authors would like to thank their fellow members of the Council of Europe’s

Digital Citizenship Education Expert Group for their invaluable contributions:ff

Divina Frau-Meigs, Vitor Tomé, Brian O’Neill, Pascale Raulin-Serrier,Martin Schmalzried and Alessandro Soriani

Council of Europe Education Department
ff Head of Department: Sjur Bergan
ff Head of Education Policy Division: Villano Qiriazi
ff Project Managers: Christopher Reynolds, Ahmet-Murat Kilic
ff Assistants: Claudine Martin-Ostwald, Corinne Colin

Page 7

IntroductionT

he Council of Europe has, over the past quarter of a century, striven to protect
children’s rights and foster educational and cultural opportunities for them inthe digital environment. More recently it has complemented this work withactions designed to empower children as active digital citizens within a framework
closely linked to the competences for democratic culture, which aims to prepare
citizens for “Living together as equals in culturally diverse democratic societies”.

■ To that end, the Steering Committee for Education Policy and Practice set up

a Digital Citizenship Education Expert Group in 2016, comprising eight members
from half a dozen different countries and wide-ranging backgrounds, to undertake
several tasks over the coming years. The work of this group has been underpinned
by a literature review on digital citizenship,1 and a multistakeholder consultation2
investigating good practice in digital citizenship education as well as the gaps andchallenges in formal and informal learning contexts.
■ One major challenge highlighted in the consultation report is the lack ofawareness among educators of the importance of digital citizenship competencedevelopment for the well-being of young people growing up in today’s highly digitised
world, and the limited number of suitably targeted pedagogical resources available.
A closer look at competence development projects and resources reveals that there
seems to exist considerable confusion among experts and educators between what
is generally referred to as “internet safety” and the multidimensional, more proactive
development of citizenship “Values, Attitudes, Skills and Knowledge and criticalunderstanding”. These are the four areas of the Council of Europe’s competences for
democratic culture and a highly relevant framework for fostering digital citizenship.
■ Although this competence framework decrypts the end goals of digital citizen-

ship into a language that easily resonates with educators, families and education
policy makers, several essential ingredients are missing to facilitate adoption into
education practice. This is the aim of the Digital citizenship education handbook.
It strives to build on the digital citizenship education framework concept, glossary
1. “Digital Citizenship Education: Overview and new perspective”: www.coe.int/en/web/digitalcitizenship-education/a-review-of-existing-literature-on-the-concept-of-digital-citizenship, accessedon 19 December 2018.
2. “Digital Citizenship Education: Multi-stakeholder consultation report www.coe.int/en/web/digitalcitizenship-education/a-multi-stakeholder-consultation, accessed on 19 December 2018.

Page 9of terms and policy guidelines that have been developed by the Digital Citizenship
Education Expert Group since 2016 and draws on the resources and good practices
highlighted in its activities. The handbook is intended to be a practical publicationthat will deepen understanding of the importance of digital citizenship for our futuresociety, and spark ideas for classroom practice.
■ To facilitate discussion on the issues and challenges digital citizens encounterin the online world, the Digital Citizenship Education Expert Group divided online
activity into 10 digital domains. Each domain is analysed in the “dimensions” areasof the handbook from a multifaceted perspective, underlining aspects related toeducation and citizenship. The dimensions are completed by 10 fact sheets that lookat ethical issues and guide users through creative, collaborative citizenship-oriented
ideas and activities aimed at supporting educators and empowering young citizens,and encouraging learners to explore the on- and offline communities around them.
ff “It takes a village to raise a child” is a proverb much quoted in the world of
education. However, it is important to reflect that the reverse is true too. The
prosperity and well-being of a village, or community, can be measured by thelevel of active contribution of each of its citizens towards shared goals withina democratic culture.
■ The Digital citizenship education handbook endeavours to enhance this process.

Page 10 Digital citizenship education handbook

HOW TO USE THIS GUIDE?
■ This guide is divided into three sections:ff Section 1: Being online – Information related to how we engage and exist
online, it comprises three digital domains: access and inclusion, learning andcreativity and media and information literacy.
ff Section 2: Well-being online – Information related to how we feel online,
comprising another three digital domains: ethics and empathy, health andwell-being, and e-presence and communications.
ff Section 3: Rights online – Information related to being accountable online,
comprising the final four digital domains: active participation, rights andresponsibilities, privacy and security and consumer awareness.
■ In each section, domains are further divided into dimensions and fact sheets.
The two are meant to be complementary, as the dimensions provide the theoreticaland historical background to the issues, whereas the fact sheets provide scenariosand situations that can be used in classrooms or within families. Dimensions andfact sheets are cross-referenced to ensure that the information provided is done soin the most effective manner.
■ Dimensions provide the fundamentals to help you understand the “why”

before you use the fact sheets to help you “do”. Dimensions explain the domains andprovide other definitions to further help your understanding of the digital domain.
Dimensions may cover one or more of the following key points:
ff
ff
ff
ff

definition of the theme
how it works
personal development
educational and citizenship value.

■ Fact sheets provide activities for school classes, families and other scenarios

where children can participate outside of classrooms. They present information andresources and may cover one or more of the following key points:
ff
ff
ff
ff

ethical considerations and risks
ideas for classroom work
good practice/living digital citizenshipfurther information and resources.

■ A glossary is provided at the end of the guide with references to dimensions

and fact sheets.

A CONCEPTUAL MODEL FOR DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP
Digital citizenship defined■ A digital citizen is someone who, through the development of a broad rangeof competences, is able to actively, positively and responsibly engage in both onand offline communities, whether local, national or global. As digital technologies
are disruptive in nature and constantly evolving, competence building is a lifelong
Page 11

process that should begin from earliest childhood at home and at school, in formal,
informal and non-formal educational settings.
■ Digital citizenship and engagement involves a wide range of activities, fromcreating, consuming, sharing, playing and socialising, to investigating, communicating, learning and working. Competent digital citizens are able to respond to newand everyday challenges related to learning, work, employability, leisure, inclusionand participation in society,3 respecting human rights and intercultural differences.

Competences for democratic culture■ The Council of Europe’s competences for democratic culture (CDCs),4 illustrated

in Figure 1 below, provides a simplified overview of the competences which citizens
need to acquire if they are to participate effectively in a culture of democracy. These
are not acquired automatically but instead need to be learned and practised. In this,the role of education is key. The 20 competences for democratic culture, frequently
referred to as the CDC “butterfly”, cover four key areas: values, attitudes, skills andknowledge and critical understanding.
Figure 1: The 20 competences for democratic culture
Attitudes

Values– Valuing human dignity and humanrights– Valuing cultural diversity– Valuing democracy, justice, fairness,equality and the rule of law– Openness to cultural otherness and toother beliefs, world views and practices– Respect– Civic-mindedness– Responsibility– Self-eﬃcacy– Tolerance of ambiguity

Competence
–
–
–
–
–
–

Autonomous learning skills
Analytical and critical thinking skills
Skills of listening and observing
EmpathyFlexibility and adaptability
Linguistic, communicative andplurilingual skills– Co-operation skills– Conﬂict-resolution skills

Skills– Knowledge and critical understandingof the self
– Knowledge and critical understandingof language and communication– Knowledge and critical understanding of
the world: politics, law, human rights,
culture, cultures, religions, history, media,
economies, environment, sustainability

Knowledge andcritical understanding

3. “DIGCOMP: A Framework for Developing and Understanding Digital Competence in Europe”,
Author: Anusca Ferrari, Editors: Yves Punie and Barbara N. Brečko, (2013), European Commission,
Joint Research Centre, Institute for Prospective Technological Studies.
4. Competences for democratic culture – Living together as equals in culturally diverse democratic societies(2016), Council of Europe, Strasbourg.
Page 12 Digital citizenship education handbook

From 20 CDC competences to 10 digital domains■ To place these competences into the digital environment in which young

people grow up today, and drawing on research from frequently cited experts andorganisations in the field,5 a set of 10 digital domains have been defined as underpinning the overall concept of digital citizenship. These are divided into three areas,
which correspond to the three sections of this publication: Being online, Well-being
online and Rights online. The domains are described as follows.

Being online
ff Access and inclusion concerns access to the digital environment and includes
a range of competences that relate not only to overcoming different forms ofdigital exclusion but also to the skills needed by future citizens to participate indigital spaces that are open to every kind of minority and diversity of opinion.
ff Learning and creativity refers to the willingness and the attitude of citizens
towards learning in digital environments over their life course, both to develop
and express different forms of creativity, with different tools, in different contexts.
It covers the development of personal and professional competences as citizens
prepare for the challenges of technology-rich societies with confidence andin innovative ways.
ff Media and information literacy concerns the ability to interpret, understandand express creativity through digital media, as critical thinkers. Being media
and information literate is something that needs to be developed througheducation and through a constant exchange with the environment around us.
It is essential to go beyond simply “being able to” use one or another media,
for example, or simply to “be informed” about something. A digital citizen has
to maintain an attitude relying on critical thinking as a basis for meaningful
and effective participation in his/her community.

Well-being online
ff Ethics and empathy concerns online ethical behaviour and interaction withothers based on skills such as the ability to recognise and understand the feelingsand perspectives of others. Empathy constitutes an essential requirement for
positive online interaction and for realising the possibilities that the digitalworld affords.
ff Health and well-being relates to the fact that digital citizens inhabit both
virtual and real spaces. For this reason, the basic skills of digital competencealone are not sufficient. Individuals also require a set of attitudes, skills, values
and knowledge that render them more aware of issues related to health andwell-being. In a digitally rich world, health and well-being imply being aware
5. An initial listing of sources examined include Mike Ribble (www.digitalcitizenship.net), Edutopia(www.edutopia.org/article/digital-citizenship-resources), Common Sense Media (www.
commonsensemedia.org/educators/curriculum), Council of Europe (www.digitalcitizenship.
net), Australia NSW government (www.digitalcitizenship.nsw.edu.au), Global Citizen (https://globaldigitalcitizen.org), Media Smarts (http://mediasmarts.ca/digital-media-literacy) and referencesfrom the French Data Regulatory Authority, CNiL.

Page 13of challenges and opportunities that can affect wellness, including but notlimited to online addiction, ergonomics and posture, and excessive use ofdigital and mobile devices.
ff e-Presence and communications refers to the development of the personal andinterpersonal qualities that support digital citizens in building and maintaining
an online presence and identity as well as online interactions that are positive,
coherent and consistent. It covers competences such as online communicationand interaction with others in virtual social spaces, as well as the managementof one’s data and traces.

Rights online
ff Active participation relates to the competences that citizens need to be fully
aware of when they interact within the digital environments they inhabit inorder to make responsible decisions, while participating actively and positively
in the democratic cultures in which they live.
ff Rights and responsibilities are something citizens enjoy in the physicalworld, and digital citizens in the online world also have certain rights andresponsibilities. Digital citizens can enjoy rights of privacy, security, access andinclusion, freedom of expression and more. However, with those rights comecertain responsibilities, such as ethics and empathy and other responsibilities
to ensure a safe and responsible digital environment for all.
ff Privacy and security includes two different concepts: privacy concerns
mainly the personal protection of one’s own and others’ online information,
while security is related more to one’s own awareness of online actions andbehaviour. It covers competences such as information management and online
safety issues (including the use of navigation filters, passwords, anti-virus andfirewall software) to deal with and avoid dangerous or unpleasant situations.
ff Consumer awareness relates to the fact that the World Wide Web, with its
broad dimensions, such as social media and other virtual social spaces, is anenvironment where often the fact of being a digital citizen also means being a
consumer. Understanding the implications of the commercial reality of online
spaces is one of the competences that individuals will have to deal with inorder to maintain their autonomy as digital citizens.

Developing digital citizenship competences acrossthe 10 digital domains■ Five constructs emerge as being essential in developing effective digitalcitizenship practices. These are depicted as pillars in the temple-like structure in
Figure 2 below. While the competences for democratic culture lay the foundation for
digital citizenship, the five pillars uphold the whole structure of digital citizenshipdevelopment. Policy and evaluation constitute the two framing pillars of the model.
Indeed, progress in education-related fields is, to a large extent, shaped by policy
and good practice and this can only really be analysed and eventually replicatedthrough the use of effective monitoring and evaluation methodology.
Page 14 Digital citizenship education handbook

■ Between these “framing” pillars, the stakeholders – from teachers and learners

to content and policy makers – and the resources and infrastructure available, willplay a major role in the level of success achieved. At the core of the model lie thestrategies that will guide implementation practices aimed at enabling learners of
all ages to develop their full potential as active citizens in the democracies of today
and tomorrow.
Figure 2: The Council of Europe model for digital competence development

DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP

Evaluation

Infrastructuresand resources

Strategies

Stakeholders

Policies

10 DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP DOMAINSCOMPETENCES FOR DEMOCRATIC CULTURE
Values, attitudes, skills, knowledge and critical understanding

A lifelong path towards digital citizenship■ Building on core competences such as listening, observing and valuing humandignity and human rights, we learn to value cultural diversity and develop a criticalunderstanding of language and communication, for example, illustrated in Figure
3 below as an intermediary layer. Digital citizenship education aims to provide
opportunities to every individual to master the full range of citizenship competences.

Page 15

Figure 3: The spiral progression of competence building from earliest
childhood
ValuesAttitudes
Valuing democracy, justice, fairness,equality and the rule of law

Civil mindedness

Openness to cultural otherness, other
Valuing cultural diversity beliefs, world views and practices
Self-efficacy
Tolerance of ambiguity
Valuing human dignity
and human rights
Skills of listening and observing
Empathy and co-operation skills

Responsibility

Respect

Knowledge and critical understanding of self

Flexibility and adaptability Knowledge and critical understanding
Linguistic, communication, plurilingual skills Language and communication
Autonomous learning

SkillsKnowledge and critical understanding
Analytical and critical thinking skillsof the world, politics, law, human rights, culture,
Conflict resolution
cultures, religions, history, media, economies,
environment, sustainability

Knowledge and critical understanding

LIVING DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP■ A digital citizen, as defined above, is a person able to actively, responsibly

and continuously engage in community life. Such engagement is dependent on
contextual, informational and organisational criteria that constitute the guiding
principles underpinning the societal and educational progression towards digitalcitizenship. This progression will be facilitated or impeded by the level of implicationof a range of stakeholders, from family and local and on- and offline communities
to teachers, schools, decision makers and the very industry that provides online
tools and platforms.
Table 1: Stakeholders and implication for policy and practice
Stakeholders

Implication for policy or practiceStudents

ff educate and protect themselves
ff organise genuine participation
ff develop empowerment in terms of competences

Parents

ff get involved in internet and citizenship debate
ff help children balance the social and interpersonal
implication of using online technology
ff regulary communicate with their children andschools in order to help develop the skills of
involved and informed digital citizens

Page 16 Digital citizenship education handbook

Teachers

ff increase their knowledge and teaching practices
in parallel to the interactive tools used by theirstudents
ff equip teachers with the competences required for
implementing and assessing CDC
ff rethink the role of teachers in the digital era

Schoolmanagement

ff c onsiders all options of best practices with regards
to internet policy
ff includes parents, teachers, students, administratorsand school board members as part of the decisionmaking process for safe, legal and ethical use ofdigital information and technology within theclass environment

Academia

ff p
 roduces resources and research in pedagogy anddidactics in the field of digital citizenshipff locally develops resources, where possible, in orderto ensure the most engagement and implication

Private sector
actorsff p
 articipate in new areas of co-operation througha multistakeholder and cross-media approach
relating to the empowerment of users and theprotection of minors
ff support a multistakeholder approach with shared
responsibility to create appropriate conditions for
effective digital citizenshipff need to substantially revise terms and conditions ina more child-friendly manner and push resources
to parents and schools

Civil sector
actorsff d
 evelop the ability to provide new directions for
future orientations in digital citizenship education

Local educating
communities

ff d evelop formal, non-formal and informal education
systems to shape children’s digital literacy practices
ff consider the emergence of so called “civic tech”,
which uses technology to address various aspects
of digital citizenship

Regulatory
authorities

 etermine that children’s rights are respected
ff dwithin their competences
ff actively encourage education authorities to
educate citizens in the digital area

National/
international
authorities

 romote fundamental rights and democratic
ff pvalues through multistakeholder governancestructures

Page 17

■ All digital citizenship development initiatives are defined and shaped by thenine guiding principles defined below, which can also serve as reference points or
benchmarks for the assessment of progress. They can be described as three types:
contextual, informational and organisational.

Contextual principles considered as “preconditions” for digitalcitizenship1. Access to digital technology is important. Without it, even non-digital democratic citizenship has become difficult as information and communication technology(ICT) is an integral part of everyday life in today’s society. Although most families
aim to provide digital tools in the home, balanced use of age-appropriate technology
is important, and equality of access for all children depends largely on provision ofaccess in schools.
2. Basic functional and digital literacy skills are a second precondition, without
which citizens are unable to access, read, write, input and upload information, participate in polls or express themselves in a manner permitting them to digitallyengage in their community. School is generally accepted as the key stakeholder inthis area; however, policy makers play a large role in ensuring that teachers benefit
from the required tools and training, that the curriculum encourages the use ofdigital technology in learning and that sufficient high-quality resources are available
to support classroom practice.
3. A secure technical infrastructure that enables citizens of all ages to have sufficient confidence and trust to digitally engage in online community activities isanother precondition. This third precondition completes the first level of core guiding
principles for digital citizenship. Although the onus was traditionally on device
owners or users and ICT co-ordinators to safeguard data through protective softwareand personal good practice, platform providers and mobile operators are ultimately
responsible for providing safer digital environments and simplifying security
measures.

Informational – Three further principles
4. Knowledge of rights and responsibilities is key to actively engaging as a digitalcitizen. This knowledge, which shapes and is shaped by values and attitudes, isimplicitly and explicitly developed at home, at school and in all on- and offline
environments in which we learn, live and interact. Both capacity-building efficacy
and outcomes are difficult to measure with this principle, given the huge variety ofcontexts in which they will be applied.
5. Reliable information sources are essential for positive active participation incommunity life. Without reliable information sources, digital citizenship can morph
into extremism, discourage participation and even prevent certain sectors of the
population from practising their digital citizenship rights. While schools and families
play an important role in fostering discernment through critical thinking and educational practices, digital platforms and mobile providers have a large part to play
too, in ensuring the reliability of information sources.
6. Participation skills depend on a range of cognitive and practical skills, thedevelopment of which begins at home, then continues at home and school from avery early age. These skills combine knowing when and how to speak out, empathy
and cultural understanding to fully grasp meaning, critical thinking and oral andwritten expression skills.
Page 18 Digital citizenship education handbook

Organisational principles relating to “living digital citizenship” at apersonal and societal level
7. Flexible thinking and problem solving are higher cognitive skills that call on
a broader combination of all four areas of the CDC “butterfly” than any of the previous
principles. Problem solving requires understanding of the issues at hand, analysis,
synthesis, induction and deduction, but above all it depends on learning activities
from early childhood onwards that foster cognitive development through­exploration-driven activities. Besides learning contexts at home and school, digitalplatform and mobile providers play a growing role, since the way we learn is also
shaped by the tools used to learn.
8. Communication, the second organisational principle, refers to both the skills
and tools used to interact, disseminate and receive information. Schools and families
play a critical role in supporting and enabling children to practise their communication skills from an early age in face-to-face situations, to help them understandand apply rights and responsibilities, empathy, privacy and security before they
begin using digital tools. This has considerable implications for curriculum development and requires a greater effort on the part of industry in terms of collaboration
with the education sector and greater discernment in the tools they provide foryoung users.
9. Citizenship opportunity is the ultimate guiding principle without which digitalcitizens are unable to hone their citizenship skills or exercise their rights and responsibilities. Citizenship opportunity calls for a flexible, open, neutral and secure framework where algorithms are open-source, freely chosen/customised by users, andwhere citizens can have their say without fear of retribution.
Figure 4: Nine guiding principles for digital citizenship

Citizenshipopportunity
Problem solving

Communication
channels

Rights andresponsibilities Participation
skillsReliable information
sources

Secureinfrastructure

Level 3 - Organisational
Level 2 - Informational
Level 1 - Contextual

Literacy skills
AccessPage 19

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Fax: + 48 (0)22 509 86 10
E-mail: arspolona@arspolona.com.pl
http://www.arspolona.com.pl

DENMARK/DANEMARK
GAD
Vimmelskaftet 32
DK-1161 KØBENHAVN K
Tel.: + 45 77 66 60 00
Fax: + 45 77 66 60 01
E-mail: reception@gad.dk
http://www.gad.dk

PORTUGAL
Marka Lda
Rua dos Correeiros 61-3
PT-1100-162 LISBOA
Tel: 351 21 3224040
Fax: 351 21 3224044
E mail: apoio.clientes@marka.pt
www.marka.pt

TAIWAN
Tycoon Information Inc.
5th Floor, No. 500, Chang-Chun Road
Taipei, Taiwan
Tel.: 886-2-8712 8886
Fax: 886-2-8712 4747, 8712 4777
E-mail: info@tycoon-info.com.tw
orders@tycoon-info.com.tw
UNITED KINGDOM/ROYAUME-UNIThe Stationery Office Ltd
PO Box 29
GB-NORWICH NR3 1GN
Tel.: + 44 (0)870 600 5522
Fax: + 44 (0)870 600 5533
E-mail: book.enquiries@tso.co.uk
http://www.tsoshop.co.uk
UNITED STATES and CANADA/ÉTATS-UNIS et CANADA
Manhattan Publishing Co
670 White Plains Road
USA-10583 SCARSDALE, NY
Tel: + 1 914 472 4650
Fax: + 1 914 472 4316
E-mail: coe@manhattanpublishing.com
http://www.manhattanpublishing.com

Council of Europe Publishing/Éditions du Conseil de l’Europe
F-67075 STRASBOURG Cedex
Tel.: + 33 (0)3 88 41 25 81 – Fax: + 33 (0)3 88 41 39 10 – E-mail: publishing@coe.int – Website: http://book.coe.int

Prems 103618

ENG

www.coe.int

The Council of Europe is the continent’s leading humanrights organisation. It comprises 47 member states,
including all members of the European Union. All Councilof Europe member states have signed up to the European
Convention on Human Rights, a treaty designed toprotect human rights, democracy and the rule of law.
The European Court of Human Rights oversees theimplementation of the Convention in the member states.

SECTION 1
BEING ONLINE

Being onlineBeing online illustrates the contextual preconditions for digital citizenship:
access to digital technology, basic functional and digital literacy skills and asecure technical infrastructure.

■ In Europe today, 79.6% of citizens were reported to be internet users in 2017,1

indicating that more than one in five Europeans are not yet online. This figure rises
to more than half of citizens worldwide, since just 48.0% of people in the world wereinternet users at the end of the first quarter of 2017. Out of all member countries of
the Council of Europe, almost 20 fall below the European benchmark. In 2014, only
nine Council of Europe member countries in the OECD (2016)2 were considered toprovide an equitable level of access through their education systems.

■ Although seemingly no more recent data is available on the level of access tointernet in schools, which, for certain sectors of the population, is the main sourceof equal opportunities, anecdotal evidence through youth participation suggeststhat this is low. A March 2015 Eurostat report states: “The vast majority of young
people used the internet at home, while about half made use of the internet at otherpeople’s houses and about 40% at a place of education”.3■ With respect to basic digital literacy, too many children, even in Europe, areunable to benefit, or at least fully benefit, from basic education because of poverty,
their gender, their ethnicity or where they live. The OECD (2016) estimates, forexample, that 168 000 15-year-olds in France do not yet have the basic knowledge
and skills needed to thrive in modern societies, and adults in only seven European
OECD countries perform at the benchmark level on the literacy scale.4■ Cultural and social obstacles to equitable access and inclusion and to thedevelopment of basic digital literacy skills are equally difficult to overcome, andare not always directly related to the socio-economic status of families. Today weare seeing quite another form of digital divide, with technology-rich children at risk
through poorly supervised and/or excessive access to technology, often in very earlychildhood, to the detriment of age-appropriate social and physical pursuits. This canresult in young children skipping developmental stages in early childhood, thereby
incurring a long-lasting impact on their educational potential.

■ A balance between on- and offline activities is important for children andpeople of all ages, for the development of empathy, observation and listening skills,
and co-operation strategies, which are all key competences in digital citizenship.
Knowledge and critical understanding of self, too, is a stepping stone to becoming
an active citizen, and today includes knowing when and how to use or not use
technology, as well as understanding the impact and reach of our actions and words
in the digital space.
1. www.statista.com/statistics/333879/individuals-using-the-internet-worldwide-region/.
2. OECD (2016), Education at a Glance 2016: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.
org/10.1787/eag-2016-en.
3. Eurostat, “Being young in Europe today - digital world”, http://bit.ly/2Pw2eGr.
4. OECD (2016), op. cit.

ons

ay?

Section 1, 2, 3 icons
WHAT CHILDREN SAY

What children say?

Children and young people need tobe empowered and educated to ask forhelp and develop the support needed to
become resilient.

What teachers say?

Olivia, 15, Denmark

What parents say?

Teachers must be present and active
in children’s lives from the earliest ages
– babies, toddlers and young children –because creating a strong foundation will
greatly support their online and offline
behaviours in later years.
WHAT TEACHERS SAY

What teachers say?

Early childhood
development teacher, Riga

What parents say?

There is a big overlap between
being a citizen in the “real world” andbeing a digital citizen. Some people who
protest online get a false sense of doing
something, and often don’t even go tovote in elections.
WHAT PARENTS SAY

What parents say?

European Parents Association

I believe that intensive studies should be done so that parents canmake educated decisions on how much time their child is on digital
media. The importance is to have an urgency here, not to find out
10 or 20 years from now how and to what degree digital media has
debilitated our children.
Parent, FranceFactsheet 1: Access and Inclusion

CHECKLIST FACT SHEET 1: ACCESS AND INCLUSION
ff What impact does
technology have on social
access and inclusion?
ff How can you contribute in theareas where you think inclusion iscurrently not where it should be?
ff How equipped are our schools,
teachers and learning materials
for the technological age?

Factsheet 2: Learning and Creativity

CHECKLIST FACT SHEET 2: LEARNING AND CREATIVITY
ff How can creativity bemeaningfully fostered whenself-directed exploration andlearning goals have little orno place in school curricula?
ff What is the impact of heavy
technology use at an early
age on brain development
and creativity?
Factsheet 3: Media and Information Literacy

CHECKLIST FACT SHEET 3: MEDIA AND INFORMATION LITERACY
ff How can children learn toprocess, analyse and makegood decisions on their own
with respect to the media
and information available?
ff How does media andinformation literacy contributeto all necessary skills for citizens
in a democratic society?

Dimensions 1: Access and Inclusion

DIMENSION 1
ACCESS AND
INCLUSION
Help meto do it myself
Maria Montessori

WHAT SHOULD ACCESS AND INCLUSIONMEAN FOR A DIGITAL CITIZEN?
■ To become a digital citizen, access to digital technology is essential, but it is far

from sufficient. The online world is a vast, unbounded space, ripe with opportunity.
It is also more demanding than the “offline” world in many ways, not least becauseof its exponential dissemination power and the apparent anonymity it can afford
us. For this reason, access calls not only for technical skills to effectively navigate theendless labyrinths of the online world, but also an accrued sense of responsibility
and respect towards others, based on the fundamental values of human dignity
and human rights.
■ Technology access offers new learning, communication and creative tools andplatforms in all shapes and forms. These include, but are not limited to, the traditional
personal or laptop computer and keyboard, mobile phones, tablets and game consoles, apps and, nowadays, robots, the internet of toys and internet of things. Oneof the first responsibilities of digital citizens, as in any community in which we are
active, is to ensure openness in these digital spaces for minority groups, less abled
people and the opinions of people from every walk of life. However, this is but one
aspect of the term “inclusion”.

REACHING BEYOND TODAY’S LIMITS■ Even today, a quarter of a century after the advent of the internet, it is esti-

mated that a quarter of European citizens simply do not have access to it; the figure
rises to almost one in two people when we look at the global population. In many
countries, it is considered the vocation of schools to provide equal opportunities
that will ensure that all children can realise their full potential and assume their roleas active citizens in our highly digitised world. Yet in 2014, the OECD reported thatjust one in four of its member countries were providing an equitable level of accessthrough their education system.
■ To the largest extent, technology remains an add-on to the core curricularsubjects, and citizenship education in schools apparently scores even worse. Somecountries are experimenting with a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) mechanism;however, this also raises equality and security issues of its own. While inclusion isimportant, we are rapidly realising that excluding malware and prying eyes is alsoa challenge that grows by the day (see Fact sheet 9 on “Privacy and security”).
■ Limited educational opportunities and low income are proving to be major

obstacles to access and inclusion in countries worldwide. Nevertheless, affordability
and availability of technology are steadily improving, and the year 2016 showed a
21% increase over 2015 in terms of active internet users,1 compared to a surprisingly
low rise of just 5% in mobile users.
■ Progress is much slower when it comes to ensuring inclusion for the world’s

largest minority group: people with disabilities. According to the United Nations,
80% of people in this group live in developing countries. Technology has undeniably
come a long way in adapting input and output devices to give the largest possible
1. World Newsmedia Network, Global Social Media Trends 2015 (2015), European Publishers Council,
USA, available at: http://epceurope.eu/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/epc-trends-social-media.pdf.

number of people access to the online world, but inclusion does not just require
the physical barriers to be dismantled. The internet will not be fully inclusive until
technology and our perception of diversity evolve to ensure that every citizen has
equally effective access to every dimension of both on- and offline worlds. Inclusion
depends on the full participation of every citizen and upon respect for their social,civil and educationalrights. It is not limited to overcoming physical and cognitive
Icons for section one chaptersdisabilities but needs to span the full range of human diversity in terms of ability,
language, culture, gender, age and other forms of human differences.

?
How does it work

HOW DOES IT WORK?
Educational citizenship value■ Access and inclusion relate to the presence and participation of citizens incommunity life, be it on- or offline, and in activities that will permit them to realise
their full potential in every sphere of their own life. Access and inclusion are partof a never-ending process within the social frameworks that regulate the way inwhich people live and evolve. This process requires them to continuously collate andEthical
Ideas
Good practice
Further information­analyse perceptions and evidence in order to identify obstacles to their inclusionor that of others, and to use their creativity and problem-solving skills to overcome
these barriers. Access and inclusion are therefore ongoing evaluative processes that
we all need to integrate into our way of being from the cradle onwards.
■ At the societal level, promoting inclusion is about reshaping social and edu-

cational frameworks so that they encourage and leave space for citizens to evolve.
UNESCO’s Education for All programme provides some interesting insight into thefour steps to societal change in this domain (see Figure 5). Digital citizenship is about
contributing to speeding up this process in society. Can you think of ways that you cancontribute in the areas where you think inclusion is currently not where it should be?
Figure 5: Four steps underpinning the process of inclusion2

Knowledge
Inclusion
Understanding
Integration,
special needs
AcceptanceCharity, benevolence– segregation
DenialExclusion

2. UNESCO, Guidelines for Inclusion: Ensuring Access to Education for All (2005), UNESCO, Paris, available
at: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001402/140224e.pdf.

Icons for section one chapters?
How does it workal

EDUCATIONAL AND CITIZENSHIP VALUE

Educational citizenship value■ The internet offers access to a wealth of ideas, resources, learning opportunities

Ideas

and services for the digital citizen. The educational value is demonstrated when thoseusers without access to traditional libraries can perform online research, or when
Good practice
Further information
those users
with disabilities are able to fully engage in the benefits of the online­environment thanks to additional devices and software that make accessibility a reality.
■ Inclusion calls on the values, attitudes, skills, and critical knowledge andunderstanding at the very heart of the developmental spiral of digital citizenshipcompetences. By talking about inclusion issues in class or in relaxed family situations – especially around a board game or in a play context – we provide childrenof all ages with unique opportunities to express and test certain preconceived
ideas in a safe space where they can be easily readjusted as their knowledge andunderstanding grows. This will help them progressively prepare to defend inclusion
in more confrontational contexts such as the school playground, sports clubs andsociety in general.
Figure 6: Raising awareness of inclusive practices – Core digital citizenshipcompetences

ValuesAttitudes

Human rights
and dignity

Responsibility
and respect

Listening and observing,
empathy and co-operation

Knowledge and criticalunderstanding of self

SkillsKnowledge andcritical understanding■ Inclusion is now high on the European agenda, given ongoing discussions

about refugee minors in Europe and the growing awareness that children/people
with disabilities are often deprived of educational opportunities. Inclusion highlights
the need to place importance on empathy, social-emotional learning, anti-bullying,and such like in the school curriculum in a more a sustainable approach to learning.

■ In Fact sheet 4 on “Ethics and empathy”, you will find some examples of activ-

ities that can support children to progressively develop certain digital citizenshipcompetences in this way.

Factsheet 1: Access and Inclusion

FACT SHEET 1
ACCESS AND
INCLUSION

ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS AND RISKS
Ethical

Ideas

Good practice

Further information■ We need to contend with five key obstacles1 to ensure equitable access andinclusion for all, at home, at school and in the broader society.

1.	Existing attitudes and values are the foremost obstacles – Figure 5­(Dimension 1) looks at four steps to reaching inclusion.
2.	Lack of understanding – Schools tend to be microcosms, closed to theoutside community. To fulfil their vocation to educate young citizens andfoster a deeper understanding of the world, schools need to open up to,and become a reflection of, the broader world. Digital technology can
prove to be an invaluable means for triggering this process.
3.	Lack of necessary skills – The digital revolution has given rise to a whole
range of ways that people can become ostracised by their group or society, from cyberbullying and addictions to radicalisation. Teachers andparents, along with their children, need to be provided with innovative
opportunities and pedagogical resources to meet these new challenges,
through schools, the workplace and the community at large.
4.	Limited resources – New challenges require new, and often expensive,
solutions, though sometimes rationalised thinking can actually save costs,
as indicated in step 4 of Figure 5 (Dimension 1). Yet a quarter of a century
after the society-wide introduction of the internet, no country seems to
Icons for section one chaptershave overcome its patchwork of home-grown remedies to introduce theevidence-based systemic change that will give every citizen the opportunity to develop the full range of digital citizenship competences.
5.	Inappropriate organisation – This is a process of chicken and egg. Until
equitable access and inclusion are mainstreamed as a fundamental rightfor all citizens rather than an ideal enshrined in treaties and conventions,
our engineers, urbanists and others will be deprived of the tools and the
How does it work public Educational
citizenshipwill to shapeourvaluesocial and cultural frameworks on an “inclusion by
design” concept.

?

IDEAS FOR CLASSROOM WORK
Ethical

Ideas

Good practice

Further information■ Create an inclusion matrix: With your class, look at the Sustainable

Development Goals (SDGs)
sustainable-development-goals/.

atwww.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/

1. Decide which SDGs relate to access and inclusion.
2.	Working in small groups, invite your students to create an online checklist/
matrix and gather information from across the school to analyse to what
extent each of these goals are being realised.
3.	Share their findings with other classes in the school and be sure to highlight any impact the activity may achieve. This will underline to students
the value of citizenship.
1. UNESCO, Guidelines for Inclusion: Ensuring Access to Education for All (2005), UNESCO, Paris, available
at: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001402/140224e.pdf.

Research on social media platforms: With your class, look at a social media
platform and find a topic that is trending. Invite students to discuss who has accessto this information and who does not. Could this have a negative or positive effect?

■■ Conduct interviews with local services to create an Inclusion video: You

can extend Activity 1 in ideas for classroom work above to the local community, too.
After a class discussion:
1.	decide which person, service or organisation at the community levelshould be responsible for the SDG areas your students have investigated;
2.	have them prepare and send a letter or e-mail to some of these people toseek an interview that could take place in your school, via VoIP (Voice over
Internet Protocol), or in the office of these local representatives;
3.	help students define the interview questions in advance, based on their
checklist/matrix;
4.	before recording the interviews (via mobile or tablet), be sure to preparewith them permission request forms that should be signed beforehand byeach interviewee.
■ The resulting video collation can be put online to raise awareness of the school

and the community about the improvements that could be made to promote inclusion.

Research on news platforms: Invite students to compare the top headlines
in several newspapers. Ask them to identify who the target reader is and who the
publisher is. Then ask them to identify what groups, if any, are not included. Do thesegroups have access to the content? Are they included in the discussion? How could
Icons for section
chapters
thisoneoversight
be remedied?
■■ Analogue versus digital: Divide the class into two groups and ask both groups?
does it work

Ideas

to research the same topic. One group will use as their information sources only
books in the school library, the other group will use only the internet and digitalsources. Compare the results and the lessons learned from the exercise. How muchof a disadvantage is it for students who do not have access to the internet to accessresources? What types of skills are necessary for finding information both online and
Educational citizenship value
offline?
Is there a difference in the quality of information found in books comparedwith the internet?

Good practice■

GOOD PRACTICE/LIVING DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP
Further information

Evaluating inclusion initiatives locally: With your students:
1.	make a list of the local organisations that strive to ensure digital accessand inclusion in your community;
2.	now choose an online tool that will help your students prepare and conduct two or three SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats)studies to see how the impact of these organisations could be improved.
Many useful online tools are available for this, for example at www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_05.htm;
3.	share your results with the organisations concerned and get their permission to use the findings. You can also anonymise the findings if you cannot
get their permission;

4.	share your findings with any other schools, experts or communities you
are in contact with. Your findings may inspire other similar projects.

Educational citizenshipvalueIn this way, you are playing an important role as a digital citizen in an ongoing■ood practiceevaluation process that can help lead to a better community for all.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Further information■ The Council of Europe has materials relevant to this factsheet in the Internet

literacy handbook: www.coe.int/en/web/children/internet-literacy-handbook. Pleasesee ILH Fact sheet 1, “Getting connected”; Fact sheet 10, “Searching for information”;
and Fact sheet 11, “Finding quality information on the Web”.
■ The Council of Europe has materials on youth perspectives of social inclusion

at http://pjp-eu.coe.int/en/web/youth-partnership/social-inclusion.
■ UNESCO provides some interesting insights into access and inclusion in its“Guidelines for Inclusion: Ensuring Access to Education for All” (2005), UNESCO, Paris.
Available at: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001402/140224e.pdf.
■ The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are part of a series of web

accessibility guidelines published by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) of the World
Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the main international standards organisation for theinternet. They are a set of guidelines that specify how to make content accessible,
primarily for people with disabilities – but also for all user agents, including highly
limited devices, such as mobile phones. Web content accessibility guidelines areavailable at www.w3.org/TR/WCAG21/.
■ The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities sets out what humanrights mean in the context of disability. The convention protects the rights and dignityof persons with disabilities. It is available in several languages, sign language andeasy-to-read versions at www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/conventionon-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities.html.
■ The Council of Europe has several publications and resources dedicated toincreasing awareness for people with disabilities, at www.coe.int/en/web/disability.
■ The Broadband Commission is a multi-sector group set up with UNESCO

to achieve the UN’s SDGs and to eliminate the current double standards that areleading to digital poverty. The commission is promoting an age-appropriate designcode for privacy protection in UK. This data code will become an online service tofacilitate the online presence of children in a way that embodies children’s rights as
proclaimed in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC):
www.broadbandcommission.org.
■ Google For Education is a suite of Google cloud-based tools designed for teach-

ers to help learning and innovation: https://edu.google.com/?modal_active=none.
■ Accessibility tools – Google tools so that everyone can access and enjoy the Web:https://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=fr&sl=fr&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.
google.com%2Faccessibility%2F .

Dimensions 2: Learning and Creativity

DIMENSION 2LEARNING
AND CREATIVITY
The true signof intelligence
is not knowledge
but imagination
Albert EinsteinWHAT IS LEARNING IN THE 21ST CENTURY?
■ While the internet has opened exciting new opportunities for citizens to learn

at every stage of their life, it has also vastly increased the knowledge turnover rate.
In 1900, it was estimated that human knowledge doubled approximately every
century (this is known as the Knowledge Doubling Curve), whereas today on average human knowledge is doubling every 13 months. IBM predicts that the internetof things will lead to the doubling of knowledge every 12 hours.1■ If it is no longer possible to learn at school all the knowledge you will need forthe rest of your life, then how you learn becomes more important than what you
learn, even more so when you consider the rapid evolutions that digital technology
is bringing to the way we live. It has modified both the tools and platforms that support learning and knowledge access, replacing the traditional chalk and talk modeof knowledge transmission with interactive information and communication tools
including and combining websites, e-mail exchanges, chat rooms, video conferencing, webinars, apps, robots, drones, virtual reality and more. Printed books are being
replaced by ebooks, and the encyclopaedia by Wikipedia and the like.
■ Mobile learning, social media and online gaming are taking the developmentof knowledge and certain skills out of the hands of teachers and placing them into
the hands of learners. Distance learning opportunities (for example, massive online
open courses or MOOCs) are enabling citizens to overcome former social and physical barriers to obtain new professional qualifications. Thanks in part to improved
access to learning tools (see Fact sheet 1 on “Access and inclusion”), today just 10%of the world’s population is unable to read or write a single sentence, compared to
25% half a century ago.2

RESHAPING THE CURRICULUM, UPDATINGLEARNING APPROACHES■ Besides raising the ever-increasing challenge for learners to sift through aconstant information overload and sort the true from the false (see Fact sheet 3
on “Media and information literacy”), these new means of learning and the rapid
turnover of knowledge have had to be accompanied by big changes in what andwhen we learn. Back in the 1990s, former European Commission President Jacques
Delors proposed restructuring education around four essential pillars as a meansof preparing young people to meet the challenges of our increasingly digital world.
These four pillars are: learning to learn, to do, to be and to live together.3 This idea
has been echoed by other educators before and since Delors, and the internet offers
an abundance of tools and platforms that are making anywhere-anytime learning a
powerful reality, though usually alongside the traditional education systems rather
than being integrated into them. The four areas of competence of the Council ofEurope’s “butterfly” framework underpin the four pillars (Figure 7).
1. Schilling D. R. (2013), “Knowledge Doubling Every 12 Months, Soon to
be Every 12 Hours”, Industry tap, available at: www.industrytap.com/
knowledge-doubling-every-12-months-soon-to-be-every-12-hours/3950.
2. www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/ED/images/ild-2016-infographic.jpg.
3. Delors J. et al. (1996), “Learning: the treasure within”, UNESCO, Paris.

Figure 7: Four pillars of education underpinned by digital citizenshipcompetence model■ Most recently, the European Commission’s IPTS (Institute for Prospective
Technological Studies) has suggested that the curriculum should be built on five
key concepts if schools are to cater to the real needs of future citizens: information,communication, creativity, problem solving and responsibility. While the debate
around school curricula rages, one further disruptive stakeholder has crept in seemingly unnoticed and is transforming the face of learning: technology. Technology
has found its way into the hands of our infants who, already adept internet users
by the time they enter kindergarten, are skipping important developmental phasesthat could have a big impact on their future life.
■ As children and young people grapple their way through a blurred o­ nline-offline

reality, bringing their friendships and disputes via their tablet or mobile phone
into the classroom, and their schoolyard fears and fantasies into their bed at night,“learning to be” and to “live together” (i.e. values and attitudes) are becoming evermore necessary. And we are gradually beginning to see “emotional intelligence”
competences such as “self-awareness”, “social awareness” and “relationship management” rear their heads in formal education. At the opposite end of the scale, therealisation is dawning that children who learn to code have a better understandingof the place of technology in their life, and its limits. This has pushed coding to theforefront as a must-have for the 21st century digital citizen.

WHERE DOES CREATIVITY FIT IN?
■ Being an active citizen, whether in school, among friends or in on- or offline

communities, means being a participative citizen able to put forward ideas, formulate
opinions and bring original perspectives to any debate. This requires mastery of arange of higher cognitive skills, from analysing data sources to sorting, reflecting on
and interpreting information. These are all higher cognitive skills developed throughexploration-driven learning and experience rather than through transmission ofknowledge. They rely on a certain level of creativity, which is a key ingredient inproblem solving. They also rely on the capacity of young people to express themselves coherently and listen to the opinion of others.

■ But how do we foster creativity, self-expression and learning through experi-ence in schools that define learning through a standard mainstream curriculum andcovert evaluation models requiring students to fulfil external objectives rather thantheir self-set goals? Creativity and meaningful artistic expression have always been
important drivers of social progress, but how do we encourage children to exercise
Icons for section one chapterstheir imagination
when an endless palette of entertainment is at their fingertips
24/7, at the simple click of a mouse or swipe of a screen?

?
How does it work

HOW DOES IT WORK?
Educational citizenship value■ Learning and creativity are intrinsically linked. All learning, like creativity, begins

with the learner receiving information, ideas, feelings and/or sensations that heor she processes through an activity that can range from thought to individual or
collaborative action. For the most effective outcomes, as with creativity, the learnerneeds to be motivated, and not restricted by time, space, pressure or fear. Learning
Ethical
Ideas
Good practice
Further information
through play and self-directed technology-based learning generally meets theserequirements, and therefore can result in creative outcomes. When learners are able
to satisfy their immediate goals, they are encouraged to set more ambitious goals
and thereby map their own path of further learning.
■ “Learning to learn” is described by the European Commission’s Joint ResearchCentre (JRC) as “the ability to pursue and persist in learning, to organise one’s own
learning, including through effective management of time and information, bothindividually and in groups”. 4 Nowadays both educators and policy makers ­consider
it to be a basic skill for success in the information society. Learning to learn is an
essential building block to lifelong learning and is determained by a learner’s
own behaviour, i.e. his or her attitude and engagement towards learning. This is
why learning must become a positive experience for all children. Assessment of­learning-to-learn capabilities is challenging because it needs to take into accountboth cognitive, psychological and socio-cultural perspectives.

Icons for section one chapters?
How does it workal

EDUCATIONAL AND CITIZENSHIP VALUE

Educational citizenship value■ Besides the important contribution that learning makes to knowledge andIdeas

critical understanding of the world, when children encounter success and/or failure in learning activities adequately framed in a supportive environment, they are
Good practice
Further information
able to build
a better understanding of themselves, their qualities and their limits.
Co-operative learning, for example planning and building projects and models
through construction activities, are especially valuable to very young learners. By
sharing materials, negotiating ideas and taking turns with equipment, they arepractising democratic values such as justice and fairness, and attitudes such as
respect for others and their ideas.

4. Hoskins B. and Fredriksson U. (2008), Learning to learn: What is it and can it be measured? JRC,
European Commission, available at https://bit.ly/2i1Q0rC..

■ In the growing complexity and unpredictability of our fast-moving world,

creativity helps citizens adapt to new environments, respond to emerging societal
needs and find solutions to the many challenges technology raises. Creativity
therefore creates jobs, driving economic growth and pushing society to maximise
its human potential. Research based on the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking, which
has been the gold standard for measuring creativity since the 1960s, indicates thatchildhood creativity shows a three times stronger correlation to lifetime creative
accomplishment than childhood IQ.5
Figure 8: Learning and creativity – Core digital citizenship competences

ValuesAttitudes

Cultural diversity

Openness, respect

Learning,
analytical andcritical thinking skills,
plurilingualism, flexibility

Knowledge and criticalunderstanding of self,
language andcommunication

SkillsKnowledge andcritical understanding

5. Runco M. A., Millar G., Acar S. and Cramond B. (2010), “Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking as
Predictors of Personal and Public Achievement: A Fifty-Year Follow-Up”, Creativity Research Journal,
22 (4). DOI: 10.1080/10400419.2010.523393.

Factsheet 2: Learning and Creativity

FACT SHEET 2
LEARNING
AND CREATIVITY

How does it work

Educational citizenship value

ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS AND RISKS
Ethical

Ideas

Good practice

Further information■ The first five years of a child’s life is a critical period in child development. This

is when, through neuroplasticity, the “architecture” and functioning of the brain
is defined. These early years will therefore have a direct impact not only on how
a person learns, but also on his or her social and emotional well-being. In today’s
world where many parents need to go out to work, equitable child-care facilities
for all is a major challenge for society if all children are to have equal opportunities
to learn and to develop their creativity.
■ A second ethical concern is related to the intensive use of technology in earlychildhood. Reputable sources such as OFCOM in the UK show that a majority ofEuropean children are online before the age of 2, with 3 to 4-year-olds spending 71
minutes online daily in the UK. Watching YouTube videos has become the second
favourite pastime of the under 5s, at an age when physical activity and exploration- and play-driven learning are meant to be shaping a child’s body, mind andsocial-emotional abilities. What is the impact of heavy technology use at this age on
brain development, and how do we build the awareness of well-meaning parents
about the likely repercussions for their child’s future and their capacity for creativity?
■ How equipped are our schools, teachers and learning materials for the techno-

logical age? Is the treasure chest of learning opportunities that digital technology
has opened slowly transforming into a Pandora’s box because our education systems
are unable or too slow to adapt?
■ According to the UNCRC, children from their earliest age have a fundamental

right to equitable education opportunities that cater to their individual needs, yet
this remains a major ethical challenge. Affordable child-centred education plays a
big role in shaping the future of every citizen, and ultimately of society.
■ Creativity crisis: standardised test results in the USA and elsewhere are causing

researchers to fear that society is becoming “less verbally or emotionally expressive
or sensitive and less empathetic, less responsive in a kinaesthetic and auditory way,less humorous, less imaginative, less able to visualize ideas, less able to see thingsfrom different angles, less unconventional, less able to connect seemingly irrelevant
things together, less able to synthesize information, and less able to fantasize or be
future-oriented”.1 Are we doing enough as a society to foster creativity, and what
can be done to counter the impact of growing cultural consumerism when so muchentertainment is laid before us at the click of a mouse?
■ The cut-paste-copy-download nature of the online world can easily erode thelivelihood of creators, and it is therefore important to discuss copyright issues withchildren at every age. New business models building on open source/licensing andsupported by direct and voluntary contributions via crowdfunding, online charity
platforms or blockchain-powered art and digital content, should be explored as wellto provide innovative ways for users to support their favourite artists, rather thanrely solely on existing copyright models.
1. Powers J. (2015), “The Creativity Crisis and what you can do about it”, Pyschology Today, available
at https://bit.ly/2wmuClt.

How does it work

Educational citizenship value

IDEAS FOR CLASSROOM WORK
Ethical

Ideas

Good practice

Further information■ Imagination.org is a recent initiative inspired by a 9-year-old American boy’s

creation of a “cardboard arcade”. His story and those of Inventor’s Challenge winners
feature in an annual report (http://imagination.org/inventors-challenge/). They offer
plenty of ideas that can get children started creating their own cardboard or otherconstructions. Schools from across the world can create their own volunteer-led“Imagination Chapter”, or students can test their creative skills by independently
entering their own inventions.
■ The Web We Want (available in a dozen languages at www.webwewant.eu) isa series of activities designed by teens and supported by a teacher’s handbook thatfacilitates integration across the curriculum:

ff C hapter 2.2 describes class, small group and individual activities in creative
online journalism
ff Chapter 6, “The artist in you”, takes a closer look at copyright, with a checklist
for teens to evaluate their online practices.
■ Teaching 2 and 3-year-olds (https://teaching2and3yearolds.com/activities/)
Icons for section one chapterspresents ideas and creative activities for children through to the end of primary orelementary school, across a range of subject areas from maths to art, from cooking
to music. It also provides some interesting tips on classroom and playroom set-up
and management to promote exploration-driven, self-managed learning.

?

■ Invite students to do a short research project on “creativity today and yester-

does it work

Ideasday”. Have them compare and contrast journal entries from children in the 1950s
orEducational
60s withcitizenshiponlinevalue
blogs or vlogs from children of today. Does the same sense ofcreativity exist? Does creativity change because of the media we use, or because of
the period in which we live?

Good practice

GOOD PRACTICE/LIVING DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP
Further information■ Linking learning to citizenship – Give your students a list of thought leaders

who combined education and citizenship: some examples include Aristotle, Socrates,
Rousseau, Leonardo da Vinci, Einstein, Gandhi and Sugata Mitra, although teens
will rapidly come up with a list of their own. Invite them to research these thought
leaders until they can find the links between education and citizenship. Encouragethem to create a quiz about their findings that they can share online with otherstudents in their school or further afield.

■ Share the Council of Europe butterfly of competences (Introduction in thispublication) with your students. Have them use the four-area model to create andpresent their own project on digital citizenship competences of a famous thought
leader in a specific period in history.

■ Periodically, open a discussion with your students on issues that they havecompletely taken for granted, for example: “If all schools were abolished, where would
you be educated?” This will not only spark their imagination, but also lead them toactually think about the purpose and value of customs and national institutions.

■ Ask the students if they have played an online game such as Minecraft where

the players create and live in another world. Have them identify all the different
rules that players must adhere to in order to live in that online world. Consider whattypes of tools the players use and whether they learn about different items in their
Educational citizenship value
gaming world. Then consider to what extent players must be creative to continue
to exist, and how creativity furthers the online world and gameplay.

ood practice

FURTHER INFORMATION

Further information■ The Council of Europe has materials relevant to this fact sheet in the Internet

literacy handbook; please see ILH Fact sheet 12, “Distance learning and MOOCs”; Fact
sheet 14, “Videos, music and images on the internet”; Fact sheet 15, “Creativity”; Fact
sheet 16, “Games”; Fact sheet 24, “Artificial intelligence, automation and disruptive
technologies”; and Fact sheet 25, “Virtual and augmented reality”.
■ Take a look at the comprehensive checklist on child development stages andthe elements that will impact learning and creativity on the Facts for Life global
website, supported by major worldwide institutions including UNICEF, UNDP, WHOand the World Bank: www.factsforlifeglobal.org/03/development.html.
■ Hodder Education at www.hoddereducation.co.uk explores interesting perspectives on different types of learning (flipped learning, for example) as well as
learning tools and platforms for all subjects at different school levels.
■ The Khan Academy (www.khanacademy.org) offers free online modules ona wide range of subjects for registered users. Learners can map their progress oneach module and put together their modules any way they wish to create their own
customised course.
■ The European Commission’s publication The European Digital Competence
Framework for Citizens (http://ec.europa.eu/social/BlobServlet?docId=15688&langId=en)
provides further explanation of the five curricular areas put forward by the IPTS as
well as an overview of implementation across the EU.
■ Global Citizenship Education – Preparing learners for the challenges of the 21st
century outlines UNESCO’s approach to digital citizenship (http://unesdoc.unesco.
org/images/0022/002277/227729e.pdf ) and Global Citizenship Education – Topics
and learning objectives (http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0023/002329/232993e.
pdf ) proposes a detailed breakdown of K1-12 achievement levels.
■ Tinkering Labs (http://aim.gov.in/atal-tinkering-labs.php) have been implemented in schools in India to give opportunities for children to play. This initiative
has not only improved child creativity, but lab mentors play a vital role in children’s
overall learning. “Innovation stations” are packaged into a bus and one lab cansupport 32 schools.
■ The Consortium for School Networking has created a Digital Accessibility Toolkit
in partnership with the Center on Technology and Disability to support schools in
harnessing technology and innovation: https://cosn.org/digitalaccessibility.
■ Google Arts & Culture provides online access to cultural heritage from acrossthe world. Users can explore certain world famous museums and examine paintingsfrom Vincent van Gogh and other great Masters right down to their tiniest brushstroke: https://artsandculture.google.com/.
■ Expeditions is a virtual-reality teaching tool. Users can swim with sharks, visit
outer space, walk through a museum and more without leaving the classroom.
There are close to 500 expeditions available and more in development: https://edu.
google.com/expeditions/#about.

ons 3: Media and Information Literacy

DIMENSION 3
MEDIA ANDINFORMATION
LITERACY

People sometimes announce that
we have entered the information age
as if information did not exist in othertimes. I think that every age was an ageof information, each in its own way andaccording to the available media
Robert Darnton

HOW IS MEDIA AND INFORMATION
LITERACY DEFINED TODAY?
■ Like digital citizenship, media and information literacy has been explained bya range of definitions and different terminologies. Whether we use digital media
literacy, information literacy, internet literacy or any of the other different expressions, the main idea is that literacy encompasses the ability to engage meaningfully
with media and information channels.
■ Media, information channels and the ubiquity of the internet may leave theimpression that the digital age has turned everyone into media users and that thedigital can be found everywhere, including in schools. This impression is false and,moreover, schools are the notable exception. School is the one place where it isabsolutely crucial to train future citizens to understand, to criticise and to create
information. It is in schools that the digital citizen must begin and maintain constantcritical thinking in order to attain meaningful participation in his or her community.
■ Media and information literacy is an ambitious goal in the 21st century becauseof the challenge of teaching users to critically judge, reflect and use the extremely
broad range of available media. Not only must users become media literate withrespect to traditional media and the representation of image, users now must become
media literate with respect to the wealth of new technology available and thedevelopment of applications allowing entirely new ways of transmitting information.
■ Without media and information literacy, across the varied types of media now

available, our children cannot act as responsible citizens, digital or otherwise, andthe question of who will teach this to our children has not yet been established.
■ Generally speaking, if schools are the training grounds for critical thinking,analysis and judgment making, is it not logical that media and information literacy
become cornerstones of the educational curricula?

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE DIMENSIONS OF
MEDIA AND INFORMATION LITERACY?
■ Media and information literacy (MIL) is an umbrella concept that covers threeoften clearly distinguished dimensions: information literacy, media literacy and ICT/
digital literacy. As UNESCO highlights, MIL brings together stakeholders including
individuals, communities and nations to contribute to the information society.
■ Not only does MIL act as an umbrella, it also encompasses a full range of com-

petences that must be used effectively in order to critically evaluate the different
facets of MIL.

WHAT WILL MEDIA AND INFORMATION
LITERACY MEAN TO OUR CHILDREN?
■ Children and young people today are particularly savvy when it comes to finding

and using media for entertainment and recreation. But how many of those children
can use those same devices to find meaningful answers, conduct evidence-based
research, spark a debate or follow the news?
■ Children and young people are confronted with all types of content and theyshould, indeed they must, be able to discern what is of value and what is not; what

is real and what is not. Discernment goes beyond fake news and relates to theirability to process and interpret information.
■ Research is under way to investigate the learning potential of existing andemerging communicative technologies for children aged 0-8 years old. The DigiLitEY
project specifically rests on the premise that “the early years provide crucial foundations for lifelong literacy learning, therefore it is important to ensure early education
policy and practice across (all) countries are developed in order to equip our youngest
citizens with the skills and knowledge needed in a digitally-mediated era”. Initiatives
such as DigiLitEY and the Joint Research Commission project on 0-8-year-old children
and digital technology should provide interesting conclusions and guidelines on
media and information literacy in the near future.

■ Whether children are playing online games or watching endless videos, theability to understand the stakes within the medium and potential implications
beyond would serve our children well. They need to be able to process, analyse andmake good decisions on their own, and media and information literacy can help
children develop those skills.

CONFUSION BETWEEN MEDIA AND INFORMATION
LITERACY AND DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP■ Often digital citizenship is confused with media and information literacy in that

one of the nuances of digital citizenship is the ability to critically evaluate media andonline technology, tools and information. While media and information literacy (MIL)
is how we think (critical thinking) about all of the media around us, digital citizenshiprefers to how we live and how we engage with all of the technology around us. Media,
like technology, can come in many different forms and can blend into a single form.

■ Rather than simply using cognitive, emotional and social competences as thebasis of MIL, it is useful to apply some of the other media-related competences fromthe Council of Europe’s “butterfly” competence framework to the concept of media
and information literacy (Figure 9).
Figure 9: Four steps underpinning the process of inclusion

ValuesAttitudes

Human rights,
innovation, creativity

Reflection andethical thinking

Active participation
through teamwork
and collaboration

Ability to engage incritical thinking
and analysis

SkillsKnowledge andcritical understanding

Icons for section one chapters?
How does it work

HOW DOES IT WORK?
Educational citizenship value■ Media and information literacy provides the backbone to understanding media

and the role of media in our society. MIL also provides some of the essential skills
necessary for critical thinking, analysis, self-expression and creativity – all necessary
skills for citizens in a democratic society.
Ideas are able
Good practiceinformation
Citizens
to access,Further
analyse,create and consume media and informationin various formats from print to radio, from video to the internet. Learning how to
use a search engine properly is an important skill for the digital citizen and once theinformation is acquired, it is then necessary to apply transversal skills such as criticalthinking by searching for and comparing divergent sources online. The ability tocritically analyse, then classify and retain the pertinent information can aid digitalcitizens in the acquisition of knowledge on a wide array of topics.

Ethical■Icons for section one chapters?
How does it workal

EDUCATIONAL AND CITIZENSHIP VALUE

Educational citizenship value■ Critical thinking is invaluable for citizens and especially for young learners, who

Ideas

also need to be able to solve problems, find information, form opinions, evaluate
sources and more. Given the amount of data and truthful and erroneous information
Good practice
Further informationthat is available online, MIL is a crucial skill.
■ A message can go viral in less than one hour and what is false can be repeateduntil people believe that it is true. With the speed of dissemination, those withadequate MIL skills will be better able to discern what is true and will be able to ask
questions and search for answers amid the flotsam online.
■ Search engines have revolutionised the way people search for content online,

and digital skills should also include the ability to understand that algorithms may
not always be neutral. Search engines can and have been manipulated for political and other reasons and, as such, users should have a healthy appreciation for­lower-ranked results as well as the highest-ranked result. With regard to informationand especially world news, the key is diversity. Algorithms should be configured insuch a manner as to always display different points of view about similar events.
■ Finally, children and, more broadly, all citizens may be misled into believing that

if there is “fake” news there must be “real” news. Even news which is factually correct
results from an editorial filter which selects one event among the otherwise infinite
events happening all around the world. As media outlets struggle to attract viewers,
the news has to be “catchy”, sensationalist and simple, gradually transforming into
“infotainment”. Instead of covering a heart-warming story of solidarity and fraternity,
news outlets will prefer devastating accidents, death and violence. The questions
that must be asked, beyond the “factual accuracy”, is rather: why does the media
focus on stories of catastrophes? Is there something to gain from keeping people in astate of perpetual fear for their life? How does this influence political opinions? What
ideological message underpins the otherwise factually correct news article or story?

: Media and Information Literacy

FACT SHEET 3
MEDIA ANDINFORMATION
LITERACYHow does it work

Educational citizenship value

ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS AND RISKS
Ethical

Ideas

Good practice

Further information■ People depend on information and it has been stated that “our brains need

information to work optimally”.1 If that information is false or distorted, it can greatly
affect how we act and react. Honesty and integrity are inherent ethical considerations
in a democratic society and critical thinking and evaluation in MIL can reduce therisk of the dissemination of dishonest and false information.
■ The risk of fake news and the dissemination of false information will increase

greatly as access to information and communication continues to grow across theglobe.Icons for section one chapters■ By focusing on the emergence of fake news, citizens may become less awareof propaganda, which is just as problematic.
■ More and more people are getting their information directly from the internet

a media source, and digital content sometimes spreads rapidly without thorough?asfact-checking.

How does
it work
Educational
citizenshipvalue■
Citizens may
rely oninformationthat is incorrect, which could have disastrous

consequences for their communities and society in general.

IDEAS FOR CLASSROOM WORK
Ethical

Ideas

Good practice

Further information■ The Five Laws of Media and Information Literacy were inspired by the Five

Laws of Library Science, proposed by S. R. Ranganathan in 1931. UNESCO considers
media and information literacy to be a nexus of human rights and the five laws act
as guides to the media, information and all “containers of knowledge”.
ff ­	Ask students to examine each of the five laws and write short essays related
to their online lives and the laws: http://bit.ly/2wnA5IV.
ff ­	Students can also look at this visual identity of the five laws and discuss
where there is crossover, interlinkage or differentiation in their lives and intheir communities: http://bit.ly/2wsVjoT.
■ Online communities and campaigns – Involve your students in a research projectby getting them to use digital media to engage with issues in the local community
or state politics. The ultimate goal for students would be to create a campaign that
influences online communities. The students should be encouraged to interpretthe issue, their understanding and ability to express their own creative viewpoints
through digital media.
■ Access, search and critical evaluation – Invite students to pick a topical concern

and perform some initial research. Have them check different sources, use different
search engines online and then check print resources. Compare and contrast thedifferences and nuances.
1. https://en.unesco.org/themes/media-and-information-literacy.

■ Social media and veracity – Invite students to examine the social media accountsof their favourite athletes, actors or musicians. Ask them to critically review the
information provided to determine whether the information is true, false or perhaps exaggerated for marketing purposes. Have the students create a three-point
checklist that they can use to determine whether something they read online is true,
false or grossly exaggerated.
■ Imagine a ban on mobile phones for a week – Ask students to determine what

would be the consequences for their ability to critically evaluate the world aroundthem without immediate access to media. Does a lack of online information cause
them to research elsewhere? Does it cause them to disengage?
■ Racism and nationalism – Distribute two versions of an article about violence.

One of these could be the “original” version, usually pinpointing and identifying
the nationality or ethnic origin of the people committing acts of violence, and thesecond version with a greater focus on the origins of the victims. Discuss why theethnic or national origin of the perpetrators of violence should or should not bementioned and what the impact of such information has on people. After a classdebate, distribute a summary of the findings of researchers like Martin Daly, whichmakes the clear link, via scientific research, between violence and social inequality
Educational
value inequality is a much better predictor of violence than ethnic
andshowscitizenshipthat social
origin or nationality (www.martindaly.ca/killing-the-competition.html).

Icons for section one chapters?
does it work

Ideas

Good practice

GOOD PRACTICE/LIVING DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP
Further information■ Linking media and information literacy to digital citizenship – Maintain a healthy

scepticism about the material that you find online and be prepared to evaluate
materials with a critical eye. Regularly search for divergent opinions and informationin order to avoid propagating myths or falling for false claims.
■ The Center for Media Literacy has practical resources to assist schools in devel-

oping, organising and structuring class exercises on media literacy (www.medialit.
org/cml-medialit-kit). Get students to apply some of the following questions to
selected online articles and messages they personally receive to think about media
and information literacy in their everyday lives.
ff Who created the message?
ff What techniques are used to attract my attention?
ff W hat lifestyles, values and points of view are presented in or omitted fromthe message?
ff Why was this message sent?
ff How might different people understand the message differently from me?
■ MIL Curriculum for Teachers – UNESCO has developed a Media and Information

Literacy (MIL) Curriculum for Teachers intended as a tool that will provide educatorsfrom all backgrounds with the main competences (knowledge, skills and attitudes)
related to MIL. It focuses on the pedagogical approaches necessary to enable teachers
to integrate MIL into their classrooms (http://bit.ly/2NaEW7i).

Educational citizenship value

ood practice

FURTHER INFORMATION

Further information

Factsheet 3:■ The Council of Europe has materials relevant to this fact sheet in the Internet

literacy handbook; please see ILH Fact sheet 6, “E-mail and communication”; Fact
sheet 10, “Searching for information”; Fact sheet 11, “Finding quality informationon the Web”; and Fact sheet 22, “Getting assistance”.

■ The UNESCO mission is to inspire media and information literate societies

through a comprehensive strategy. UNESCO has prepared a model Media andInformation Literacy Curriculum for Teachers, as well as the development of guidelines for preparing national MIL policies and strategies, among other international
projects: http://bit.ly/2MQT6gS.

■ Media matters in the cultural contradictions of the “information society” – Towards

a human rights-based governance: http://bit.ly/2PyfPgw.

■ Divina Frau-Meigs (2011), Media Literacy Now has a thought-provoking essay

arguing for the linkage of MIL and digital citizenship, available at: http://bit.ly/2o5p3US.

■ The Global Digital Citizen Foundation has a critical thinking workbook with

games and activities for developing critical thinking skills, available at: http://bit.
ly/2BGuVO9. This allows students to go beyond being informed on a subject or issue.

■ UNESCO has produced a media education kit for parents, students, teachersand professionals which provides a comprehensive view of media education while
outlining the ways in which people can increase their participation in their politicaland cultural communities: http://bit.ly/2P1scRc.

■ Be Internet Awesome teaches kids the fundamentals of digital citizenship andsafety so they can explore the online world with confidence (ages 9-11).

■ An example of co-operation with national education ministries by Google:

www.generazioniconnesse.it/site/it/fake-news/.

n 2: WELLBEING ONLINESECTION 2
WELL-BEING
ONLINE

Well-being online■ Well-being is a universal concept closely related to citizenship that relates toour capacity to:
ff
ff
ff
ff

realise our full potential;
cope with the normal stresses of our environment;
work and communicate productively and fruitfully;
make a meaningful contribution to our community.

■ When we consider well-being in the light of digital citizenship, it is especially

useful for teachers, parents and children themselves to take a closer look at the“Maslow hierarchy of needs”.1
Figure 10: Maslow hierarchy of needs

Selfactualisation:achieving one’s
full potential, including
creative activities

Self-fulfilment
needs

Esteem needs:
prestige and feeling of accomplishment

Psychologicalneeds

Belongingness and love needs:
intimate relationships, friends
Safety needs:
security, safety

Basic
needs

Physiological needs:
food, water, warmth, rest
■ This aligns in many ways with the Council of Europe’s digital citizenshipcompetence framework, as children cannot move on to the next layer of their citizenship skills if they have not satisfied the earlier level of competences. The basic
skills of listening, observing and co-operating, for example, are stepping stones tothe cognitive skills of knowledge and critical understanding. Shared community
values and attitudes such as justice, fairness, equality and civil mindedness enable
us to fulfil many of the requirements for self-actualisation and fulfilment.

■ Technology has intricately woven itself into almost every strand of our daily

life, making it essential for citizens to be constantly aware of the challenges andconscious need for balance to counteract the more negative aspects of the digitalworld. Interestingly, some forward-looking countries such as Canada, Germany andthe United Arab Emirates have now set up happiness and well-being ministries as
governments gradually understand that it is a top priority for citizens to be actively
and positively involved in their on- and offline community. As one such ministerfrom Mannheim, Germany, points out:
With inspiring events and lively activities such as interventions in public spaces, street art,
workshops in schools and companies, I call on people to ask themselves what it means
to them to lead a good life – and to become actively involved in creating a good life.
1 Maslow A. H. (1954), Motivation and personality, Harper and Row, New York.

ons

ay?

What children say?

I feel that people need the freedom
to be able to share their knowledge
and opinions without the fear of being
harmed for doing so. Everyone shouldhave the right to express themselves for
who they truly are, and should not feelconstricted by today’s discriminative
society.
What teachers say?
What parents say?

WHAT TEACHERS SAY

The importance is how digitalcitizenship and competences are
represented at each different age.
During early childhood, children needto integrate competences such as civic
mindedness, contesting the status quo
and calling into question things theyencounter, see or hear.

Section 1, 2, 3 icons
WHAT CHILDREN SAY

What teachers say?

Katie, 15, England

What parents say?Teacher, Riga

Parents, teachers, society – all of us
involved in children’s education have tojoin forces and learn to work together.
We’re all part of a triangle with ourchildren right in the centre.
WHAT PARENTS SAY

What parents say?

European Parents Association.

I’m worried about the impact on human contact, the developmentof social skills, physical and emotional health and lack of interest in
non-media pursuits such as sports, outdoor activities, hobbies, clubs,
involvement in local community, school performance and work.
I believe that if used correctly, media can be a useful tool,
but it requires learning and management.
Parent, FranceFactsheet 4: Ethics and Empathy

CHECKLIST FACT SHEET 4: ETHICS AND EMPATHY

Sectionff What is the relationshipbetween ethics and empathy?
ff How can empathy play a role inpeace-building and mediation?
ff What role can ethics playin digital citizenship?

Factsheet 5: Health and Wellbeing

CHECKLIST FACT SHEET 5: HEALTH AND WELL-BEING

ff Can technology and healthbe mutually beneficial?
ff Why is balance the optimal
factor between technology
and well-being?

Factsheet 6: ePresence and Communications

CHECKLIST FACT SHEET 6: E-PRESENCE AND COMMUNICATIONS
ff How will the EU General
Data Protection Regulation(GDPR) affect e-presence?
ff What are the implicationsof the overlapping ofcommunications on social
media and the internet?
ff What are some of the waysthat children can create
a positive e-presence?

ons 4: Ethics and Empathy

DIMENSION 4
ETHICS AND
EMPATHY
Empathy is the oxygen
breathing life into therelationship between
individual and otherHeinz Kohut (1977)

E

thics are the moral principles that govern people’s behaviour and the way they
conduct life’s activities. Although ethics are generally assumed to be based onwhat is accepted as morally good and bad within a given society or group, in digital environments accepted behaviour often deviates from what is ethical and, indeed,
unethical behaviour is sometimes seemingly even condoned. One typical example isbullying, when children (and adults!) strive to outdo each other with hurtful comments
to get the praise of their peers. Moreover, as the borderless world of digital technology
enables us to move effortlessly from one social framework or community to another,what is accepted as morally good or bad in one may clash with expectations in another.
■ Empathy is the capacity to understand or feel what another person is experiencing from within the other person’s frame of reference, i.e. the capacity to understand their perspective and reality and to place oneself “in their shoes”. Because itleads us to understand the interests, needs and perspectives of others, empathy is
an important determinant of moral behaviour, and a necessary building block increating moral communities. It is the driver and the essence of perspective taking,constitutes the lens through which we look at a person or a group of people and has
a major impact on how we perceive, understand and respond to others and to life
events. In this way, empathy “colours” the ethical framework transmitted throughfamily and society, enabling each person to progressively create their own nuanced
filter through which input can be analysed and “good” or meaningful actions taken,
or decisions made.
■ Empathy and ethics are at the core of the Council of Europe’s competencemodel, since they are based on an understanding of the values of human dignity andhuman rights, and shaped by an attitude of respect for, and a sense of responsibility
towards, others, as well as through a solid knowledge and critical understanding of
oneself. Combined with the skills of listening, observation and co-operation, thesecompetences enable a person to perceive a multi-perspective reality and engage
with the diversity of others. Daniel Goleman, author of several publications on emotional intelligence, identifies this perception-engagement process as “tuning into
emotional cues”. 1 He underlines the importance of paying attention to non-verbal
communication as a means of sensing others’ feelings and perspectives, and taking
an active interest in their concerns. It is obviously more challenging to tune into
non-verbal communication in an online environment. Furthermore, neuro-plasticity
research suggests that the constant over-stimulation of our brain caused by themultitude of sounds and rapid images we are bombarded with via the internet ishaving an impact on our capacity to process subtler non-verbal and other cues, andslowing down development of our prefrontal cortex which helps us analyse potential
consequences of our actions.2

DEVELOPING ETHICS AND EMPATHY
THROUGH CHILDHOOD■ Ethics and empathy are normally initially taught or modelled by parents. The

more parents’ ways of thinking are in line with the dominant culture, the less theirchildren will have cause to think about them. However, when children enter childcare, kindergarten and school, the interaction with other children from wide-ranging
backgrounds rapidly confronts them with other realities. This is an important part
1. Goleman D (2011), The Brain and Emotional Intelligence: New Insights, More Than Sound, USA.
2. Carr N. (2010), The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains, W. W. Norton & Co., New York.

of the socialisation function of educational establishments, where diversity andinclusion become enriching and empowering forces as children set off on their path
towards active digital citizenship.
■ Ethics and empathy are not linear and become dynamic as people seek tocomprehend one another and, through interaction, influence each other’s thinking
and understanding. As children progressively extend their social circle and information sources to include on- and offline friends and social media tools and platforms,
they are confronted with an even greater range of perspectives that will continue
to shape their ethics and capacity for empathy. Friendly, non-obtrusive guidanceof parents and teachers will play a fundamental role in this process, optimally until
early adolescence.
■ Research over recent years has given us a better understanding of the neuralprocesses that affect the ability of the human mind to understand and process emotion. Empathy is seemingly explained through the activation of mirror neurons that
also define our human “mind-reading” and emotion sharing abilities.3 From earliest
childhood, children learn to read the emotional state of others in their interactions
within the family circle and come to spontaneously mirror or mimic the emotional
response that they would expect to see from others in a given condition or context.
Although we are still not very far advanced in finding reliable measures for empathy,4 research shows that people considered to be very empathetic have especiallybusy mirror neuron systems in their brains. Research in this area is also providing
valuable insights into autism.

WHY ARE ETHICS AND EMPATHY IMPORTANT
IN DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP?
■ Empathy can be used to trigger or reinforce anti-ethical behaviour. Fear andhigh stress, for example, act as inhibitors of a certain hormone (called oxytocin) that
reduces our capacity for empathy. This modifies what we would normally consider
ethical behaviour and explains why high stress or fear generally interfere with aperson’s capacity to interact with others effectively. It is from this that we derive
the old saying: “fear is the father of prejudice”. Some recent national elections haveshown how empathy can be misused to induce unethical behaviour in another way,
too, with candidates acting in an empathetic way to people who are racist or sexist,
for example, indirectly condoning such bigotries to gain support. Empathy can bea powerful stirrer of calls to arms, that can lead to or even quell violence. Whereas
photos like that of the napalmed Vietnamese girl Kim Phuc in 1972, and in 2017 theSyrian refugee toddler washed up on the beach, have helped shorten a war or raise
public outrage at an inhuman situation, the example of James Foley being beheaded
by ISIS (2014) triggered an escalation of military violence.

■ Research suggests that the best way to weaken people’s racial or other biases isthrough open, empathetic dialogue. Empathy plays a critical role in peace b­ uildingand mediation because it expands understanding and contributes to shaping

3. Krznaric R. (2015), Empathy: Why it matters, and how to get it, Random House, UK.
4. The Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) is the only published measurement tool accounting
for a ­multidimensional assessment of empathy, consisting of a self-report questionnaire of
28 items, divided into four seven-item scales covering the subdivisions of affective and cognitive empathy. Davis M. (1983), “Measuring individual differences in empathy: Evidence fora multidimensional approach” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 44 (1), pp. 113-126.
DOI:10.1037/0022-3514.44.1.113.

relationships between the sparring factions. When empathy is integrated in pedagogical strategies with children and adults alike, it helps learners tackle challenges
with greater confidence and accept failure as a means rather than an obstacle tolearning, fostering self-awareness in the process. Being empathetic also helps p­ eoplefit in more easily in a new group or context, because it gives them the tools to assess
the situation and act in a way that will get them accepted, while remaining true totheir values. Empathetic people are more able to live by their own ethical standards,
without having to do things they know are not acceptable just to fit in.
■ In our technology-rich society, children are confronted with a multitude ofopportunities, obstacles and influences unbeknown to citizens just a generation ago.
Empathy andethicstogether
will serve them as an indispensable moral compass to
Icons forsection one
chapters
navigate successfully through this new reality, providing a means of ethically tacklingthe biases and challenges they will inevitably encounter along the way.

?
How does it work

HOW DOES IT WORK?
Educational citizenship value■ Ethics is about relationships, about caring for the well-being of ourselves

and those around us, and about developing an understanding of what is or is not
acceptable in the social frameworks we are part of. It is about having a well-informed
conscience and being true to who we are and what we stand for. Ethics is a dynamic
concept, based on the whole set of competences in the Council of Europe competence framework,andevolvingFurther
throughout
Ethical
Ideas
Good practiceinformation life as we live more experiences, explore
difficult questions and integrate a broader range of perspectives.
■ The development of both ethics and empathy are impacted, from earliest

childhood onwards, by a variety of environmental factors, not least parenting
styles and practices. Paternal warmth and use or non-use of corporal punishment
are thought to be of particular importance,5 but above all children need to be
encouraged and guided to reflect on their own feelings and observe and imagine
the perspectives of others as they explore the world. Roman Krznaric, a renowned
researcher working with the Greater Good team at Berkeley University in the USA,suggests that empathetic people have six habits in common,6 and we can draw onthese to help children of all ages develop empathy and better understand ethics.
Empathetic people:
ff 1. are effective listeners and observers;
ff 2. are curious about strangers;
ff 3. look for things they have in common with others and challenge theirprejudices about others;
ff 4. like to play games and conduct activities that enable them to “try on” thelife of other people;
ff 5. want to bring about social change and help create group actions to geteveryone involved;
ff 6. use every opportunity to develop their imagination and their creativity.

5. Tisot C. (2014), “Environmental Contributions to Empathy Development in Young Children”,
Hong Kong.
6. Krznaric R. (2012), “Six Habits of Highly Empathic People”, Greater Good Magazine. Also at http://
bit.ly/2Mtx2K0.

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EDUCATIONAL AND CITIZENSHIP VALUE

Educational citizenship value■ Ethics and empathy act as a moral compass that steers young people in their

Ideas

actions and in discussions on personal and societal issues. Because they provide
essential reference points in all facets of a person’s life, they are important tools inGoodpractice
Further information
developing
self-efficacy and in valuing cultural diversity and openness to cultural
otherness and other world views, beliefs and practices. When learners are madeaware of the role that ethics play in guiding their actions and are sufficiently empathetic to be able to look at issues from different perspectives, they are more able totolerate ambiguity and less easily influenced by peers, media and trends. They areable to accept that multiple viewpoints existing side by side can be an enriching,empowering element without needing to convince or convert others. In this way,
ethics and empathy become a springboard for the imagination and are valuableassets in problem solving and autonomous learning.
■ Stanford University (USA) has recently conducted research that underlines

the educational value for teachers, too. In three different experiments with a totalof almost 2 000 children at different school levels, it was proven that by training
teachers to have an empathetic rather than a punitive mindset, the rate of student
absenteeism can be reduced by half.7
Figure 11: Ethics and empathy – Core digital citizenship competences

ValuesAttitudes

Human dignity
and rights

Responsibility
and respect

Listening and observing,
empathy and co-operation

Knowledge and criticalunderstanding of self

SkillsKnowledge andcritical understanding

7. Parker B. (2016), “Teacher empathy reduces student suspensions”, Stanford News, available at:https://stanford.io/2Lg0r4Z.

et 4: Ethics and Empathy

FACT SHEET 4
ETHICS AND
EMPATHYHow does it work

Educational citizenship value

ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS AND RISKS
Ethical

Ideas

Good practice

Further information■ Schools and teachers tend to avoid topics such as ethics and empathy because

they consider that it is beyond their role, and this can have a permanent impact on
future digital citizens. If we consider, as discussed in Fact sheet 2, that learning has
a much broader vocation than academic achievement and should be preparing
children “to be” and “to live together”, then it is urgent that ethics and empathy
become an integral element in the school curriculum and an important topic for
discussion in families.

■ The internet facilitates encounters between like-minded people and can havea major impact on ethics by bringing together people who previously hid certain
types of deviant behaviour because it was not accepted by society. When suchgroups are able to meet and share experiences, the ethical bar is lowered and theirdeviant practices can become acceptable to them because there are, after all, so many
people indulging in this behaviour. One example is the highly lucrative child sexual
Icons for section one chaptersabuse market and another is hate speech and radicalisation. Digital citizens need tounderstand the importance of being true to their own ethics and be informed andhence more diligent to avoid lowering their standards because “other people do it”. A
search for specific material out of curiosity can rapidly be picked up by social media
and news providers’ profiling and filtering mechanisms and lead young people toencounters that can rapidly escalate.

?

■ Class and family discussions need to touch upon the many ways that empathy

How does
workused to manipulate
Educational citizenshipvalue
canit bebehaviour,
cause mob movements and convince people

to adhere to values that they would normally consider unacceptable.

IDEAS FOR CLASSROOM WORK
Ethical

Ideas

Good practice

Further information■ My wellbeing and yours: Respect… begins with me (www.schooleducationgateway.

eu/en/pub/teacher_academy/teaching_materials/my-well-being-and-yours-respe.
htm) is a recent addition to the WebWeWant.eu publication created by teens forteens. It offers a series of activities for 11-17 year olds aimed at promoting reflection
on their interactions with others. It looks at issues such as bullying, hate speech,
radicalisation and how to develop empathy.
■ MoralGames for Teaching Bioethics (http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0016/001627/162737e.pdf ) confronts young learners with societal challenges
related to bioethics through games suitable for small group and whole class situations. The introductory chapters give an informative overview of the educational
objectives of the games and a closer look at the competences that underpin them.

■ PlayDecide (https://playdecide.eu/playdecide-kits) – keywords “environment”

and “technology” – will, once you have signed in, provide access to two games, Human
Enhancement and Young People in the Media. Both games encourage young people(https://playdecide.eu/get-started) to investigate and debate ethics-related themes
using a multiperspective role-play approach. The PlayDecide website proposes
games built on the same templates on more than 30 topics ranging from digitalmoney to neuro-enhancement.

does it work

Ideas

n one chapters

Educational citizenship value

Good practice

GOOD PRACTICE/LIVING DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP
Further information■ Take a closer look at the templates provided on the PlayDecide website (www.

playdecide.eu) and work with a group of children to help them build their own gameon digital citizenship. Assist them in choosing their topics for the Info and Issue Cards,
then discuss the different perspectives they should cover to create Story Cards. When
your game is finished, you can share it with others by uploading it to the PlayDecidewebsite, maintained by European Commission funding.

■ Dr Brené Brown uses a short, animated clip to emphasise that we can create

Educational citizenship value

ood practicegenuine empathetic connections if we are brave enough to get in touch with ourown weaknesses: www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Evwgu369Jw.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Further information■ The Council of Europe has materials relevant to this fact sheet in the Internet

literacy handbook; please see ILH Fact sheet 21, Online harassment: bullying, stalking
and trolling.

■ Empathy: Why it matters, and how to get it by Roman Krznaric (2015, Random

House, UK), considers empathy the key to personal and political change, and describes
tools, platforms and obstacles that are currently supporting or impeding this. He
draws on the latest research, as well as on the innovative work being conducted inthis field across the world.

■ The Shallows – What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas Carr (2010, W.

W. Norton & Co., New York) looks at the deeper ethical issues of “our connected existence” and the impact the internet has on every aspect of our lives from the way ourbrains work to cultural and societal issues. The author describes this in further detailand responds to audience questions at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=lt_NwowMTcg.

■ A recent Council of Europe publication provides interesting insights into causes,

effects and ways to tackle on- and offline bullying: Richardson J., Milovidov M. andBlamire R. (2016), Bullying: perspectives, practices and insights.

■ YouTube Creators for Change is a global initiative that supports creators who

are tackling social issues and promoting awareness, tolerance and empathy on
their YouTube channels. The goal of this programme is to drive greater awarenessof social issues and to amplify the voices of positive role models who are tacklingdifficult social issues with their YouTube channels.

Factshee■ Digital 5 a Day – In 2017, the Children’s Commissioner for England launcheda “Digital 5 a Day” campaign (www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk) aiming to promote the digital health and well-being of children and teens over the long summer
vacation. The five simple, well-described steps are a good starting point that families
and teachers can adapt to their own contexts.
ff 1. Connect – wisely, safely and not just online
ff 2. Be active
ff 3. Get creative
ff 4. Give to others
ff 5. Be mindful.

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EDUCATIONAL AND CITIZENSHIP VALUE

Educational citizenship value■ Health and well-being are the golden threads in personal development through-Ideas

out a person’s whole life. As shown by the Maslow hierarchy of needs, which is
acknowledged as sound by most educators worldwide, children who have notGood practiceinformation
satisfiedFurther
theirneeds at the lower levels of the pyramid will be unable to reach apoint of self-fulfilment where they are able to realise their full potential as active
citizens, digital or otherwise. Health and well-being depend on, but also determine,a person’s capacity to listen, observe, empathise and co-operate, and these competences are the building blocks for higher cognitive skills such as problem solving
and conflict resolution.
■ These in turn contribute to a person’s understanding and practice of funda-

mental rights, justice, fairness and openness to cultural diversity, world views andpractices, which are the cornerstones of democracy and justice. Citizens with anegative or limited world view caused by a lack of well-being are less likely to beable to actively contribute to society.
Figure 12: Health and well-being – Core digital citizenship competences

ValuesAttitudes

Human rights
and dignity

Plurilingualism, listening
and observing,
empathy and co-operation

SkillsResponsibility
and respect

Knowledge and criticalunderstanding of self

Knowledge andcritical understanding

nsions 5: Health and Wellbeing

DIMENSION 5HEALTH AND
WELL-BEING
The greatest
wealth is health
VirgilA BIRD’S EYE VIEW OF HEALTH AND WELL-BEING■ The health and well-being domain covers wide-ranging topics and challenges,

from the appropriate, timely use of technology and the impact of unreliable or distorted information to the way technology is modifying interactions within families
and between citizens in their everyday life. For the purpose of clarity, key aspectsof this domain will be separated into three different areas, as we look at how digitaltechnology influences the capacity of citizens to participate, learn and create both
positively and responsibly.
ff 1. Social-emotional impact through modified human interactions.
ff 2. Informational aspects related to gathering and processing data.
ff 3. Health-related aspects from ergonomics to pseudo-medical data we findonline.

HOW DOES TECHNOLOGY IMPACT HUMAN INTERACTION?
■ Online technology has considerably modified the way we interact. While itforce-feeds our brain with a constant diet of fast-moving sounds and images, it
simultaneously reduces the capacity of people to “read between the lines”. Nonverbal cues such as facial expressions and body language are essential facets of communication that facilitate comprehension and lessen the risk of misunderstanding.
Except for tools such as voice over internet protocol platforms (VoIPs, which include
video applications like Skype and WhatsApp),1 a large part of today’s interactions,especially among teenagers, is reduced to the bare bones of sound, icons andshort-cut language.

■ Emoticons, for example, offer little scope for sensing meaning or discerning

patterns in communication, which are so important in developing digital citizenshipcompetences such as sound listening and observing skills, and empathy. In a nuanceless world, a joke or misunderstanding can very easily escalate into conflict, violenceand bullying. At another level, when children are unable to see the nuanced version
of a situation, it is much more difficult for them to hypothesise on the consequencesof their own actions. This underscores the crucial need to foster the developmentof analytical and critical thinking.

INFORMATIONAL CHALLENGES TOHEALTH AND WELL-BEING■ Today’s over-rich diet of sounds and images has other effects on children andyoung people’s well-being too, in particular related to their information-processing
capacity. Data often comes from unreliable sources and, on top of this, internet users
are consistently profiled by search engines to filter out any information that doesnot “fit” their profile (see Fact sheet 9, “Privacy and security”). Because of this, young
people are frequently denied the means of exploring multi-perspective views on
issues and can be rapidly polarised towards extreme views, as we are seeing withthe rise of hate speech, radicalisation and poorly informed excessive standpoints.

■ To complicate the issue further, researchers are showing through Magnetic

Resonance Imaging that even moderate use of online technology can result in theoverdevelopment of certain parts of the brain and slow down development in other
1. Also called Over-the-top Technologies or OTT.

parts. They are pointing to a consequent underdevelopment of the prefrontal lobe
which is said to be limiting the capacity of young people to project the outcomesof actions. Kindergarten teachers and child psychologists are also voicing concernthat online technology is having a considerable impact on developmental phases
in early childhood, markedly prevalent in reduced concentration spans and delayeddevelopment of certain motor co-ordination skills.

ERGONOMICS AND HEALTH■ Besides the impact on health and well-being of issues such as bullying,2 hatespeech and radicalisation, excessive use of technology can bring about a range ofphysical issues from postural distress and lack of exercise to disrupted life-balance.
These problems are further exacerbated by the plentiful but often misleading healthinformation to be found online, requiring the sharpest of critical thinking skills tosift out the true from the false. The current focus on beauty and body in today’s eraof selfies and likes can rapidly lead young people to seek out nutritional tips that
may accentuate eating disorders, such as anorexia, or join groups of “like-minded”
people that goad them into other risky behaviours. These challenges are likely to
Icons forsection one
have a lasting
effectonchaptersa person’s social, professional and emotional life, and henceon their role as an active citizen.

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How does it work

HOW DOES IT WORK?
Educational citizenship value■ Balance is the operative word in the digital domain of health and well-being

and necessitates a blend of the full range of digital competences, from values toattitudes, and skills to knowledge and critical understanding. Balance is somethingthat children develop by learning to listen, observe, show empathy and co-operate.
Well-being is built to a large degree on how children perceive themselves throughEthical
Ideas
Good practice
Further information
the eyes of others, and hence on interaction with others.
■ Over the past quarter of a decade, European society appears to havea­ cknowledged health and well-being as essential elements in digital citizenship,
and is striving to upgrade education systems accordingly. This requires taking into
account the social, physical, cognitive and psychological aspects of learners rather
than just performance-related aspects. It underlines the importance of focusing on
the individual as well as the group.
■ Above all, new educational approaches strive to give children room to develop

their capacity for listening and enquiring, discerning social patterns and systemic
approaches, building empathy, valuing diversity and much more. In today’s society,the oft-repeated phrase “Mens sana in corpore sano” – “a healthy mind in a healthybody” (generally attributed to the pre-Socratic philosopher, Thales) – is taking on a
new meaning as we progressively comprehend the importance of counterbalancing
our device-bound online lives with the challenges of well-being in society.
2. Copeland W. E., Wolke D., Angold A. and Costello E. J. (2013) present findings on the long-term
health, wealth and social impact of bullying in “Adult Psychiatric Outcomes of Bullying and Being
Bullied by Peers in Childhood and Adolescence (Bullying and Parasomnias: A Longitudinal Cohort
Study)”, JAMA Psychiatry 70(4), pp. 419-426.

eet 5: Health and Wellbeing

FACT SHEET 5
HEALTH AND
WELL-BEING

How does it work

Educational citizenship value

ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS AND RISKS
Ethical

Ideas

Good practice

Further information■ Among the numerous ethical considerations and risks related to health andwell-being, perhaps the biggest ones are linked to impoverished interactions between
humans and the progressively reduced “field of vision” imposed by the filter bubble
search engines build around a person through profiling. Both limit the developmentof openness to cultural diversity and the capacity to engage with other beliefs andworld views. Radicalisation can be one of the side effects, if a young person has notdeveloped sufficient analytical and critical thinking skills.

■ Self-esteem is another aspect to be taken into consideration. Social media is, toa large extent, built on the selfie trend to take and upload photos of ourselves andour activities, anywhere and at any time. This erodes an individual’s knowledge andunderstanding of self. By portraying ourselves to get a maximum number of likes,“real” lives are tweaked according to popular ideals and trends, diversity is reduced
and, rather than shaping the internet, society becomes shaped by it.
Icons for section one chapters■ Knowledge and critical understanding of language and plurilingual skills arebeing undermined, too, as expression is often reduced to 140 characters, chopped
about through linguistic shortcuts. The low percentage of content available in certain
languages is further impoverishing linguistic skills.

■ Excessive use of online technology to the detriment of other activities and?modes of relation building raise both physical and mental risks. We need to draw
the attention of families and schools to the impact of online technology on physicalHow does
it work
Educational citizenshipvalueand on the sleep loss it may be causing from theandmental developmental
stages,excessive doses of blue light children are getting from computer screens.

IDEAS FOR CLASSROOM WORK
Ethical

Ideas

Good practice

Further information■ Social and emotional skill development is central to this digital citizenshipdomain, and many relevant classroom activities can be found on the ENABLE website (http://enable.eun.org/resources). The ENABLE repository includes lesson plans,slideshows, a quiz and a wealth of information for teachers.
■ Classroom.kidshealth.org proposes a wide range of material for pre- and early

teens in fact sheets on topics ranging from how the body works to special needs.
The activities are accompanied by a teachers’ guide.
■ Setting up a class media plan – Trigger reflection and debate about the timechildren spend online and the learning or social value of their activities. Get them tokeep a log for a few days, then work in small groups to come up with a framework ofprinciples that will guide healthy technology use for the home or school community.
Post it in a visible place in the classroom and encourage children to do a monthly
check-up on how well they are following their own principles.
■ Kiko and the Hand helps 3 to 7-year-old children understand that their bodies

belong to them, that there are good and bad secrets and good and bad touches:www.coe.int/en/web/children/kiko-and-the-hand.

does it work

Ideas

n one chapters

Educational citizenship value

Good practice

GOOD PRACTICE/LIVING DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP
Further information■ Board games should not be overlooked as they are a fun, instructive means ofpromoting well-being within small circles of family and/or friends. They give children the rare opportunity to experiment with social parameters in an environment
in which, at least for the length of the game, they can negotiate with adults on an
equal footing.
■ Well established peer support systems in schools have proven to be successful

in promoting a more amicable classroom atmosphere. The ENABLE project (http://
enable.eun.org/resources) offers a comprehensive programme for training andongoing guidance of peer supporters, as well as campaign and activity ideas they
can implement in class, school and youth groups.
■ Technology and wellness should be themes explored by children, parents andteachers. As there is a proliferation of new devices, each more enticing than the last,parents can take these new opportunities to monitor how their children are feeling.
Parents and teachers should keep in mind some of the negative aspects that a poor
balance in use of technology may have on health and wellness. Reinforcing balance
Educational citizenship value
and boundaries while continuing the exploration of the internet, technology andsocial media should help attain a certain level of wellness.

ood practice

FURTHER INFORMATION

Further information■ The Council of Europe has materials relevant to this fact sheet in the Internet

literacy handbook; please see ILH Fact sheet 21, “Online harassment: bullying, stalking
and trolling”; Fact sheet 17, “Digital citizenship”; and Fact sheet 18, “Digital parenting:positive and proactive”.
■ Bullying – perspectives, practices, insights published by the Council of Europe

in 2017 documents research and experiences of anti-bullying experts from a dozen
different countries. It shows the broad dimension of approaches that are being
successfully implemented worldwide, including focus on children who are more
vulnerable to bullying either because of physical or mental traits, or due to theirfamily circumstances.
■ Handwriting, a path to health and well-being? Researchers in Australia haverecently conducted quantitative and qualitative studies that show that handwriting
has a significant impact on individual well-being. In experiments involving 2 000
people, those who handwrote notes, thoughts, feelings or memories are 2.5 times
more likely to experience relief from anxiety, fear and worry.
■ The study also revealed that handwritten notes help parents connect betterwith their children. Handwriting makes people more aware of their feelings andthoughts, a crucial aspect in maintaining a healthy state of mind, as it helps reinforce
the positive aspects in life and promotes reflection. Another positive aspect is thatpractising handwriting will also maintain the capacity of present and future generations to access the many important historical documents that are handwritten.

■ The effects of cursive writing on the brain is still not fully understood so morestudies and research are necessary before any decision can be made about its future
in classrooms.

■ “Digital Guidelines: Promoting Health Technology Use for Children” provides

recommendations from the American Psychological Association. While the recommendations have become more flexible, it may be noteworthy for parents andteachers to adapt recommendations that would work best in their communities.
Available at www.apa.org/helpcenter/digital-guidelines.aspx.
■ Google has launched resources such as the Family Link in Europe, Middle East

and Africa (EMEA), which allow parents to set device screen time limits, see app
usage and approve apps.

FactsheDIMENSION 6
E-PRESENCE AND
COMMUNICATIONS

nsions 6: ePresence and Communications

Either write
something worth reading,or read somethingworth writing
Benjamin Franklin

As the internet has become increasingly present in our lives, our online identities
have become ever more important. How we interact with each other can havepositive or negative impacts on ourselves as well as on others. Being able to create
and maintain a healthy e-presence and communicate in ways that allow us to engage
responsibly and do not impede upon the rights of others is pivotal to digital citizenship.
■ Originally, e-presence was a marketing tool for personal branding and the
combined process of drawing traffic and creating a lasting positive image on theWeb. This marketing concept included the knowledge of search engine optimisation, e-reputation, social media uses and so forth. It has since come to extend to thepersonal and interpersonal qualities that guide digital identity and the social andcognitive competences to do so.
■ e-Presence is how you maintain your presence online and extends to yourpersonal and interpersonal qualities that guide you in maintaining your digital
reputation and digital identity. The extent and quality of your online presence
can be found via a search online using your name or other personally identifiable
information. Depending on the type of communications that you have engaged in,your e-presence can be negative or positive and, depending upon your social andcognitive skills for crafting your digital reputation, this can also boost or impede
your e-presence.

■ Communications are the interactions, ideas, images, videos and pieces of

information that you share and exchange with others through virtual social spaces.
Obviously, communications can be offline as well as online, and online communications can spill over to offline and vice versa. The focus of this fact sheet will be
online communications.

■ Like e-presence, online communications can be of a negative or positive nature

but here we emphasise the ability to communicate and interact with others in asafe and responsible manner. The skills necessary to create positive online communications are also linked to one’s social and cognitive skills in crafting the message.
Given the nature of online communications and the fact that they can be viewed,
shared or can go viral, online communications should be beneficial to society andonline communities, where possible.

E-PRESENCE AND COMMUNICATIONSCHANGE WITH TECHNOLOGY■ As new technology, social media platforms and the internet continue to rap-

idly evolve, e-presence and communications also change and evolve. Face-to-facepersonal interaction may be reduced in some circumstances, but as many Web
conferencing companies can attest, many people still prefer face-to-face interactions
for certain aspects of business, just as many people prefer face-to-face interactions
for personal communications.

■ As technology changes, other forms of communication can be seen, such as

virtual reality or augmented reality. Virtual reality is when users interact in a digital
environment in such a way that it simulates the user’s presence in a real or imaginary
situation, whereas augmented reality layers computer-generated enhancements
over an existing reality to make it more meaningful and let users interact with it.
Both can change the way we communicate. The immersive experience offered by
VR and AR can be altered so that each person has a different perception of reality –this is a new dimension to communications that provides for a tailor-made personaland social experience.

E-PRESENCE, DATA PROTECTION AND PRIVACY■ All citizens should be aware of how to protect their online identities, protect

their personal data and maintain a modicum of privacy if so enabled. By using
critical judgment and performing simple research, digital citizens should be able
to change the privacy settings on most platforms and apps in order to maintainpositive online identities (see Fact sheet 9 for further information about protecting
your online identity).

■ WithIcons
theforGeneral
section one Data
chaptersProtection Regulation implemented across the European

Union in 2018, individuals should have more control over their data and privacy andbe able to control their e-presence in a manner they deem suitable.

?
How does it work

HOW DOES IT WORK?
Educational citizenship value■ e-Presence can be established directly or indirectly. You can directly create an

account, upload data, images and information. Your indirect presence is created byothers who have tagged you in images or uploaded your information and data ordata and information about you. Many online platforms inform you when you havebeen tagged on their platform, and you have the ability to confirm or deny the tag.

Ethical

Ideas

Good practice

Further information■ Communications technology offers a variety of methods and means of commu-

nications from the simple to the very complex, and digital media has amplified ourcommunication possibilities (Figure 13). Communications have gone way beyond
face-to-face and offline interactions and exist in a multitude of ways and forms online.
Users are now able to communicate one on one, one to many or many to one. The
methods of communications are varied and can include the following:
ff c hats (informal term for interactive communication taking place on a dedicateddiscussion channel)
ff instant messaging (a type of online chat that provides real-time text messaging)
ff SMS
ff e-mails
ff voice over IP (VoIP) conversations
ff social networks
ff podcasts
ff virtual and augmented reality environments
ff gaming environments.

Figure 13: e-Presence communication modes

Social media networks

Gaming environments

Messaging■ One of the trends that has emerged is the ability of people to communicate

across several of these methods and media simultaneously. For example, when playing a video game, you can also send chat messages, or you can use a social media
network to play a game and message with others about your score.

■ With the many different methods of communications, users can adopt an

approach which best affords benefits for them. Benefits include reduced distance
between people, the ability to create contact with people external to their immediate community, the ability to share information and resources and more.

Considerations for positive communications
ff E verything that you post, send or record online leaves a digital footprint(similar to footprints in the sand).
ff Think before you post a message, regardless of the content. Something thatyou think is positive may be misconstrued.
ff K eep all personally identifiable information private, including images thatmight leave clues as to who you are, your location or your gender.
 espect the equipment that you use and remember that if you use the servers
ff R
of your school or employer, your communications may not be private.
ff F ind out if there are options allowing you to customise the time during
which your online contribution will remain visible. Chances are that you
would be pretty embarrassed at 16 by pictures or opinions that you posted
when you were 10.

Icons for section one chapters?
How does it workal

EDUCATIONAL AND CITIZENSHIP VALUE

Educational citizenship value■ Communications and e-presence are valuable for digital citizens as they build

and maintain their online reputations and online interactions in a positive manner.

Ideas■ Understanding how to manage one’s digital identity and digital footprint isGood practice

Further information

essential for digital citizens.

■ Many argue that online communications do not replace telephones and face-

to-face communications, but rather enhance traditional communication.

Figure 14: e-Presence and communications – Core digital citizenship competences

ValuesSkillsAttitudes

Human rights
and dignity

Responsibility, respect,
civic-mindedness
and openness

Listening andobserving,
empathy andco-operation

Knowledge and criticalunderstanding of self,
language andcommunication

Knowledge andcritical understanding

FACT SHEET 6
E-PRESENCE AND
COMMUNICATIONS

ctsheet 6: ePresence and Communications

How does it work

Educational citizenship value

ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS AND RISKS
Ethical

Ideas

Good practice

Further information■ e-Presence and communications provide innovative ways for people to exchange

and interact. However wonderful technological tools may be, there are still serious
consequences and risks that need to be taken into account, such as:
ff unauthorised access to your e-mail accounts;
ff m
 isunderstandings in your written messages or use of images, emoticons
or emojis;
ff e
 -mail communications are used extensively by criminals engaged in fraud,phishing schemes, scams and other types of online criminal activities;
ff chat rooms should be used responsibly and the theme should beage-appropriate.

■ With respect to unwanted aspects of online communications, classification ofnegative acts online can include cyberbullying, online harassment, trolling, cyberstalking or even phubbing (the act of snubbing someone while the other person istrying to engage in a conversation and you continue to look at your mobile phone).

■ To maintain a positive e-presence, it may be advisable to do the following.

?

ff C reate several e-mail accounts for different purposes, such as signing up tosocialnetworks
or for purchasing products online. The different accounts are
Icons
for section
one chapters
not fraudulent but they can be used to maintain your privacy.
ff Use appropriate “netiquette” and remember that you have an audience. Be
considerate with your e-mails, both in the content and volume.
ff Remember that, in general, if you would not say it in public, you should
reconsider writing it in an e-mail or online.

■ To maintain positive communications, it may be advisable to:

How does it work

Educational citizenship value
ff r ememberthat even when you are using different platforms or playing games,
the exchanges you have with other players are in fact online communications.

IDEAS FOR CLASSROOM WORK
Ethical

Ideas

Good practice

Further information■ Google search and alerts – Have students perform a Google search using

their name. Once they have seen text regarding themselves, invite them to click on
images and scroll through the pages to better understand the extent and qualityof their e-presence. And then, finally, invite the students to click on any video links
they find to discover their “video e-presence”.
■ Depending on the results, students may be inclined to delete some of theinformation or consider increasing their positive content.
■ Social media cleanse – If your students have social media accounts, ask themto go through their accounts one by one. They should scrutinise the information
contained in those accounts: does it provide an accurate picture of the student? Are
these the type of data that the students would like future recruiters, employers orfamily members to see? If the answer is no, they should be kindly advised to delete
the unwanted data.

Icons for section one chapters

E-mail addresses – If students have an e-mail address, invite them to explore
the security settings in order to make their accounts more secure and to protect
their e-presence. Make sure that the students do not include personally identifiable
information in their e-mail address and advise them to consider using a nickname
or avatar where possible.

■?

■ Understanding digital footprints – Have younger students watch thisdoes it work

Ideas

Educational citizenshipvalue
eight-minute
video
on digital footprints: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ro_LlRg8rGg.
Ask them to suggest effective ways to reduce their digital footprint.

Good practice

GOOD PRACTICE/LIVING DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP
Further information■ More and more students are using chat groups as a way to share school assign-ments and stay in touch with class communications. Teachers may wish to exploit
this already familiar form of communication and add an educational element. Some
ideas include:
ff
ff
ff
ff
ff
ff

real-time discussions on current events
tutoring and guidance
educational gaming interactiongroup investigation
creation of an online community
creation of posters, presentations or diagrams together in real time.

■ Consider that teachers and students have the ability to share beyond the wallsof the classroom thanks to digital technology. Brainstorm with students on theirfavourite tech tools for communication and collaboration. Include ways to bring
digital citizenship themes into the brainstorming session.

■ Through the Wild Web Woods is an online game from the Council of Europe forteaching children up to the age of 10 or 11 about basic internet safety, responsibility and civic-mindedness in a fun and friendly fairy-tale environment. The gameis available in 14 European languages. The game was supported by and created in
the spirit of “Building a Europe for and with children”: www.wildwebwoods.org/
popup_langSelection.php.

■ The Internet literacy handbook is a guide for teachers, parents and students

on getting the most out of the internet, protecting privacy on websites and social
networks, and much more: https://edoc.coe.int/en/internet/7515-internet-literacyhandbook.html.

■ The Digital Citizenship Roadshow is a project to develop a Europe-wide internet

safety and skills programme model, designed to give young people the capacities
they need to stay safe online, become positive online citizens and increase theirresilience to anti-social behaviour, hate and extremism online. The workshops aredelivered by national youth engagement experts and educators from the local
partner national organisations, supported by YouTube personalities or ambassadors
working in a “host” role.

Educational citizenship value

ood practice

FURTHER INFORMATION

Further information■ The Council of Europe has materials relevant to this fact sheet in the Internet

literacy handbook; please see ILH Fact sheet 2, “Online presence and the cloud”;
Fact sheet 3, “Web 2.0, 3.0 and more”; Fact sheet 4, “Blogs and vlogs”; Fact sheet 5,“Internet on the go”; Fact sheet 7, “Chat and messaging media”; Fact sheet 8, “Social
networking and social sharing”; Fact sheet 23, “Internet of things”; and Fact sheet
26, “Are you the product? Big data, data mining and privacy”.
■ The European Commission provides a comprehensive glossary on digital pres-ence and communication, and an overview of relevant groups in Europe: https://
ec.europa.eu/eurostat/cros/a-to-z_en.

■ Turkle S. (2015), Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age,

Penguin Press, New York.

■ boyd d. (2014), It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens, Yale University

Press, New Haven.

■ Project tomorrow (http://blog.tomorrow.org/) is a blog with the following

message: “Preparing today’s students to be tomorrow’s innovators, leaders andengaged citizens”.

■ Write the world (https://writetheworld.com) is a global community for young

students to share their writings with the world and discover what it is to be humanby exploring the humanity of others.

■ Touchable Earth (www.touchableearth.org) is an app to teach pre-teens about

the world and citizenship. “Touchable Earth is the first app where kids teach kids
about the world. Taught entirely by school age children in short videos, Touchable
Earth promotes tolerance for gender, culture, and identity”.

Fac

SECTION 3
RIGHTS ONLINE

Rights online

Today more than 250 million people are using the internet every day in Europe
alone. They are sharing more and more of their personal data – whether throughsocial media, games, online shopping or filling out school or administrative forms.

■ In this fast-changing digital age, citizens have to be aware more than everbefore of their rights and the ways these can be challenged online. Data has becomea marketable commodity and, as a consequence, personal data and online identity arethings which must be safeguarded from a whole range of risks such as ­unauthorised
disclosure, identity theft or online abuse, to name a few.

■ Protection of privacy and personal data is a fundamental human right, andwith the implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) by theEuropean Union in 2018, citizens are getting more control over their personal data.
Some of these new “rights” were either not feasible or unnecessary before the internet came to play such a major role in our lives, including the following examples:ff “portability” – the right to request that your personal data are moved toanother service provider, for example when you change your mobile or social
network platform operator;
ff t he right “to be forgotten”, meaning that you can ask to have your personal
data deleted if you no longer want them to be processed, and there is no
legitimate reason for a company to keep them;
ff the right to receive clear and understandable information;
ff c hild-friendly information has to be adapted into clear, understandable
language to replace those long, complicated terms and conditions that noone reads anyway.

■ The internet has considerably reinforced other fundamental human andc­ hildren’s rights. Freedom of expression, for example, has never before been soeasy – today everyone can be a journalist and publish their work for large audiences.
This brings a big responsibility too, as we are accountable for everything we say ordo, even though the internet sometimes gives the illusion that we can hide behinda cloak of anonymity.
■ Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)

states that children have a right to know about their rights and to be empowered
to take action to promote and protect those rights. The following fact sheets takea closer look at your rights online.

Section 1, 2, 3 icons

We want our voice to be heard andto take part in decisions that will define
our future.
Joao, 17, Portugal

Section2, 3 icons
WHAT 1,
CHILDREN
SAY
What children say?

What teachers say?

Sofie, 16, Belgium

What parents say?

Nowadays young people can’t
imagine their lives without the internet,
it offers so many incredible opportunities
for them. At the same time, they want tofeel safe. One aspect of safety is privacy.
Everyone on the internet should know
how to post, how to share, how to act
responsibly.
WHAT TEACHERS SAY

ns What teachers say?

?

Youngsters are particularly exposed
to hackers because they often put moreof their private information on social
media.

Evangelia, Greece

What parents say?

We assume that parents have thecriticality to understand their rights andhelp their children understand them too,but very often this is not the case. Parents
need some simple guidelines to help
them.
WHAT PARENTS SAY

What parents say?

European Parents’ Association

CHECKLIST FACT SHEET 7: ACTIVE PARTICIPATION
ff How can students’ active
online participation be insync with human rights andfundamental freedoms?
ff How can schools be supportiveof active online participation?

CHECKLIST FACT SHEET 8: RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
ff What is a golden rule forrights and responsibilities
for every platform, website,
app and device?
ff How does the GDPR help
students exercise their rights
and responsibilities?

CHECKLIST FACT SHEET 9: PRIVACY AND SECURITY

ff How can students effectively
manage their privacy?
ff How can stakeholders
ensure security for online
environments?

CHECKLIST FACT SHEET 10: CONSUMER AWARENESS
ff Why do students needto participate in thedigital economy?
ff As e-commerce takes ona bigger role in society,how can students protect
themselves and enjoy thebenefits of e-commerce?

DIMENSION 7ACTIVEPARTICIPATION
The truest test of a democracy isin the ability of anyone to act as he likes,
so long as he does not injure the life
or property of anyone else
Mahatma Gandhi

A

ctive participation includes the competences that citizens need to reach a levelof awareness of themselves in relation to the environments they are plunged
into, in order to take sensible decisions and participate actively and positively
in the democratic cultures they live in.

■ Active online participation may prove challenging to some, as users must weighthe benefitsrisks
of speaking their mind, sharing their opinions and putting
Iconsandfor section
one chapterstheir views on display. However, users have the right to freely express those opinions
and views as long as they are not impugning someone else’s rights and freedoms.

?
How does it work

HOW DOES IT WORK?
Educational citizenship value■ Online active participation quite closely follows the human rights and funda-

mental freedoms outlined in the Council of Europe’s Human Rights for Internet Users.
ff Access and non-discrimination
ff Freedom of expression and information
Ethical

Ideas
Good practice
Further information
ff Assembly,
association
andparticipation

ff Privacy and data protection
ff Education and literacy
ff Information and content adapted for children and young people
ff Effective remedies and redress.
■ Motivations behind reasons for active participation may vary, but self-efficacy,

appreciation and belonging may offer an insight into online behaviours. Many
users want to participate in order to make a difference in their community (to show
­self-efficacy). Others may feel the need to contribute their knowledge and resourcesin online communities (to earn the appreciation of others). And still others may
simply want to belong to that community and so they actively participate withlike-minded people.

MINIMALIST FORMS OF ONLINE PARTICIPATION■ This minimalist form of online “participation” has given rise to new terms like“slacktivism”, a combination of the verb “to slack” and the term “activism”, expressing a
critique of defining participation as the signing of an online petition or liking/sharing
a news story that conveys a political message. Slacktivism posits that “people who
support a cause by performing simple measures are not truly engaged or devoted
to making a change”.1■ Online active participation, like offline participation, may be influenced by the

demographics of the users. English is the dominant language on the World Wide
Web and it may reflect the opinions of Anglophones more than other countries.
Other studies have indicated that white, educated, male domination in online active
participation may exclude other users, such as women, minorities or people withdisabilities. On the other hand, many movements have now taken to the internet
to express their discontent with the status quo.
1. http://data.unaids.org/pub/outlook/2010/20100713_outlook_ataids_en.pdf.

■ At the time of writing, #BlackLivesMatter, #MeToo and #autismspeaks are justthree examples of online active participation that is making a difference in communities. One of the challenges of online participation is to avoid replicating the state oflawlessness and mob rule that our current legal system and due process has struggled to bring about in the “real world”. While there may be plenty of reprehensible
people online, there will be no justice if online interactions turn into digital stoning.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT■ Whether for offline or online activities, participation in one’s community is an

essential part of living a fulfilling life. Every community needs people to support the
infrastructure and online participation – active online participation – can be one
way of assuring mutual benefits in an online community. Active participation also
has a role to play in the development of e-democracy, where one uses electronic
communications to enhance the democratic process.

■ Active participation can also be useful in personal development as internet

users are able to take online courses, participate in group tutorials or even join “Askme anything” threads on social media sites. Whereas previously, students and thoseexamining life would have had to venture into libraries or go on adventurous quests
to understand philosophical issues or debates, now inquisitive minds can engage
online and participate in meaningful discussions.
Figure 15: Active participation – Core digital citizenship competences

ValuesAttitudes

Valuing democracy,
justice, fairness,
human dignity and respect
Listening andobserving,
empathy andco-operation

Skills

Civic-mindedness,
responsibility
and respect
Knowledge
and criticalunderstandingof self

Knowledge andcritical understanding

FACT SHEET 7
ACTIVEPARTICIPATIONHow does it work

Educational citizenship value

ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS AND RISKS
Ethical

Ideas

Good practice

Further information■ Active online participation and the use of social networks allow users tohave theirown voice and to comment “in public” on certain issues. This immediate
Icons for section one chapters
exposure may be gratifying to some and yet cause problems for others who do notfollow mainstream views.
■ Social networks can provide broader influence on policy outcomes, and yet if

an extremist viewpoint is taken up by the majority, either via a politician with a large?social media following or because of targeted advertising on social media platforms,
this may put democratic processes at risk.

How does
it work
Educational
citizenship value may be sidestepped when active participation■
Transparency
and accountability

is led by trolls or others with negative online influence.

IDEAS FOR CLASSROOM WORK
Ethical

Ideas

Good practice

Further information■ Ask the students to examine a recent or current local election and follow thepoliticians and parties. Have them identify the negative and positive messages thatwere used in active online participation, and analyse the veracity of the messages.
■ Have students select a social media platform and analyse the motivations thatpush people to join that platform. Identify how users share content and data andhow they otherwise engage with others in the community. Have students list someof the best practices and some of the behaviour to avoid. Get students to discuss
whether they:
ff always read every article they share;
ff always read all other comments before posting theirs;
ff bother reading all responses to their comments before responding again.
■ Online interactions are not easy to manage. It is akin to millions of people
speaking at the same time and trying to listen to millions of articles and comments
at the same time. This is why offline interactions and exchanges where people canshare ideas and debate in a non-chaotic manner will remain important for theforeseeable future.
■ Pick up the newspaper of the day, whether online or in print format, andlocate some of the top news items. Create a hashtag for those items, if one is notalready associated with the story. Have the students search the hashtag across as
many different platforms as possible. Ask students with second or third languages,
to include the hashtag search in another language. Examine the different types andforms of expression and participation on the different platforms. What themes canbe identified? What themes may be missing?
■ Read through the European Commission’s “Good practice in the youth field –Encouraging the participation of young people with fewer opportunities” (http://
bit.ly/2PrCsTL). Ask students to list ways that they can improve participation in their
youth communities.

does it work

Ideas

n one chapters

Educational citizenship value

Good practice

GOOD PRACTICE/LIVING DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP
Further information■ The informed and active participation of all citizens in the digital environment

depends on the development of digital citizenship skills. With the widespread useof the internet, and the ease at which people in different communities can accessinformation, active participation is linked closely to the respect of digital rights andresponsibilities and digital citizenship, in general.

■ Determine whether students or the local community has a cause that needs

support. Once the theme is decided, have the students research crowdfunding andthe best ways to raise donations for a charitable cause or event. The final project
should be a crowdsourcing plan that could be viable for that cause or event.

■ Consider looking at the Academy of Central European Schools projects andschools: www.aces.or.at/about-aces. Discuss which projects provide the biggest
chance for active participation by the students. Invite the students to create theirown project for their school or submit a project to ACES.

Educational citizenship value

ood practice

FURTHER INFORMATION

Further information■ The Council of Europe has materials relevant to this fact sheet in the Internet

literacy handbook; please see ILH Fact sheet 1, “Getting connected”; Fact sheet 10,“Searching for information”; and Fact sheet 11, “Finding quality information on the Web”.
■ Council of Europe, Human Rights for Internet Users, available at: www.coe.int/

en/web/internet-users-rights/guide.

■ EU Youth Manifesto Youth Manifesto is an online “declaration” by European

youth on how to participate and make the internet better: http://paneuyouth.
eu/2015/07/24/youth-manifesto-publication/.

■ The EU Youth Strategy is available at: https://ec.europa.eu/youth/policy/

youth-strategy/civil-society_en.

DIMENSION 8RIGHTS ANDRESPONSIBILITIESWe are all now
connected by the Internet,
like neurons in a giant brain
Stephen Hawking

BUILDING A COMMUNITY THAT IS JUST AND FAIR
■ The digital environment has become a complex environment, especially interms of rights and responsibilities of users. Digital citizens need to be aware andunderstand their own online rights and responsibilities in order to not infringe therights and responsibilities of others.
■ Just as citizens in a society have certain rights and responsibilities, digital citi-

zens in the online world also have certain rights and responsibilities. Digital citizens
can enjoy rights of privacy, security, access and inclusion, freedom of expression
and more. However, with those rights come certain responsibilities, such as ethics
and empathy and other responsibilities to ensure a safe and responsible digital
environment for all.
■ The internet can be a powerful tool for advancing ideas and communities,

but it can also be a destructive weapon when users’ rights are impeded or if users
are not given the opportunity to establish any rights whatsoever. Individual users,
governments, industry and public institutions have an obligation to maintain the
integrity of the internet community, whether it has local effects or international effects.
■ Devising just and fair participation mechanisms where users’ powers are

distributed optimally will be the main challenge for the future. Inspiration can be
drawn from existing and emerging good practices like Wikipedia and blockchain
technology, which allow for the decentralisation of control and power, the adventof a “real” online direct democracy.

RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES:THE FIRST STEP BEGINS WITH YOU■ Once someone decides to use digital technologies, they can enrich theirexperience by reading and understanding their rights and responsibilities. While
the golden rule, do to others as you would have them do to you, will take you far,users should also try to read through the terms of use on the websites, platforms
and apps thatthey use. For every device, software system, app or program, there
Icons for section one chapters
are corresponding legal documents explaining the rights and responsibilities of theuser and, perhaps even more importantly, of the websites, platform or app.

?
How does it work

HOW DOES IT WORK?
Educational citizenship value■ You have the right to use any and all digital technologies, and you have theresponsibility to use them in a safe and responsible manner. Taking this a step further,a right means that you have the freedom from interference by another user or institution, whereas a responsibility means that you have a duty to act in a certain way.
Ideas
Good
practice
Further
information they are located, have placed emphasis
All democratic
communities,
whereveron the just and fair: just and fair rules, just and fair opportunities, just and fair say. The
digital community is no exception, and the European institutions have embodied
concepts of fair and just in their fundamental documents.

Ethical■EDUCATIONAL VALUE AND CITIZENSHIP VALUE■ Internet users need to understand what their rights are, as well as understanding

what the procedures are in case their rights are violated. Users may also be called
upon to report when other users’ rights are being violated online. Internet users
of all ages should be aware of three major actions in the event of rights violations:
ignoring the content, blocking the person who made the offensive remarks orreporting the person.
Figure 16: Rights and responsibilities – Core digital citizenship competences

ValuesAttitudes

Human dignity
and right

Listening and observing,
empathy, co-operationand conflict resolution

SkillsResponsibility
and respect

Knowledge and criticalunderstanding of self
and of the world

Knowledge andcritical understanding

FACT SHEET 8
RIGHTS ANDRESPONSIBILITIESHow does it work

Educational citizenship value

ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS AND RISKS
Ethical

Ideas

Good practice

Further information■ Fundamental digital rights may be wished for by all citizens in a community.

However, not everyone has equal access to information. As such, those with lessaccess may lose their autonomy of expression.
Icons for section one chapters■ Those who must rely on others for access to information may inadvertently beharmed by restricted access.
■ Girls, women, ethnic minorities and those in other minority groups may nothave the same access to internet technology, and as such may not have the same?access to their rights. Organisations such as the International Telecommunications
Union, which organises the International Girls in ICT Day, strive to create a global

How does
it work
Educational
citizenshipenvironment
that
empowers
andvalueencourages girls and young women to learn more

about ICT.

IDEAS FOR CLASSROOM WORK
Ethical

Ideas

Good practice

Further information■ Ask students to make a list of all the European Union websites dealing withdigital rights and responsibilities. Have them create a chart where they can compareand contrast the rights and responsibilities involved for each legal instrument.
■ Ask younger students to read the Passport to Your Rights produced by theCouncil of Europe: https://edoc.coe.int/en/6-10-years/5549-passport-to-your-rights.
html. Then ask them to think about their digital rights and responsibilities. Whenthey compare their rights and responsibilities in the world at large, can they identify
similarities or differences with their digital rights and responsibilities?
■ Have your students search the internet for some examples of responsible use

and acceptable use policies for guiding the use of technology in the classroom.
Have them compare the two; what are the main similarities and differences? If yourschool does not have either type of policy, get them to choose which would be most
relevant for your school. Together with your students, create a policy that can thenbe presented to the school administration.
■ Create a contest for a social media platform and have students design theterms and conditions for participating in the contest. What are the rights andresponsibilities of the users?
■ Discuss rights and responsibilities as creators of online content. Have students

work in small groups to research and discuss the following questions.
ff W
 hat can you create online (words, images, music sampling, remixing,
videos, etc.)?
ff How can you protect your creations?
ff How can you use others’ creations without infringing their rights?
■ Have a full class discussion on the responses provided by the students.

does it work

Ideas

Educational citizenship value

Good practice

GOOD PRACTICE/LIVING DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP
Further information■ Personal data are protected by laws and regulations, which means that individ-

uals or organisations are not free to use your data as they please and must comply
with these rules (violations may lead to sanctions). For example, all citizens have theright to control their own personal data, which necessitates knowing what personal
information has been gathered about them. The General Data Protection Regulation
was introduced in the European Union in 2018 in part to help citizens exercise theseand other fundamental rights related to privacy and data protection.

■ Read through the rights that are guaranteed (https://ec.europa.eu/info/aid-

development-cooperation-fundamental-rights/your-rights-eu/know-your-rights/
freedoms/protection-personal-data_en#know-your-rights or http://bit.ly/2BRbYIH).
Consider how you can exercise the following rights or have them exercised onyour behalf according to your age, by contacting the service in question in yourcountry. If you cannot get the information you are seeking, contact the national
Data Protection Authority.

ff Research digital rights courses online and consider enrolment.
ff Consider taking an online course in digital citizenship or digital rights. Ensure
n one chaptersthat the programme covers some of the issues noted in the 10 digital domains
discussed in this handbook.
ff Have all students examine the timing for the next International Girls in
ICT Day (http://bit.ly/2o2Gw08), and ask the students to create their own
agendas for the day.
ff Read through the listings of rights and responsibilities from UNICEF (https://
uni.cf/2LhcrDi). Then ask the students to consider what social media platforms
Educational citizenship value
or other forms of communication would be an effective platform for themto share their views.

ood practice

FURTHER INFORMATION

Further information■ The Council of Europe has materials relevant to this fact sheet in the Internet

literacy handbook; please see ILH Fact sheet 17, “Digital citizenship”; Fact sheet 9,“Privacy and privacy settings”; and Fact sheet 26, “Are you the product? Big data,
data mining and privacy”.
ff F or information on the General Data Protection Regulation, see www.eugdpr.
org.
ff For more information on the most specific rights to delisting(implemented in 2014) and portability, as introduced by the GDPR, see:www.cnil.fr/en/questions-right-delistinghttp://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/article29/item-detail.cfm?item_id=611233.
ff For more information on European digital rights, see: https://edri.org.
ff The European Commission has information on the EU Charter of Fundamental
Rights: http://ec.europa.eu/justice/fundamental-rights/charter/index_en.htm.

ff M
 ore information on children’s rights can be found in the UN Convention
on the Rights of the Child.
ff Relevant Council of Europe documents include “Human rights for internet
users”: www.coe.int/en/web/internet-users-rights/guide.
ff The Code of EU Online Rights is the basic set of rights and principles enshrinedin EU law that protect citizens when accessing and using online networks andservices: https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/code-eu-online-rights.
ff European Parliament, “Empowering women on the Internet”, available at:
http://eige.europa.eu/docs/2037_IPOL_IDA(2015)536473_EN.pdf.
ff 
Rights and responsibilities for Global Citizenship, available at:www.theglobalcitizensinitiative.org the-rights-and-responsibilities-of-globalcitizenship/

DIMENSION 9PRIVACYAND SECURITY

Privacy is not an option,and it shouldn’t be theprice we accept for justgetting on the Internet
Gary Kovacs

This domain covers the concepts of privacy, identity management and cybersecurity. Whereas privacy concerns mainly the protection of one’s own information and that of others, identity management is being in control of ouronline profile, and security relates more to a person’s awareness of how online
actions and behaviour can put both at risk. The privacy and security domain
covers competences such as effectively managing information shared online
and using tools (navigation filters, passwords, anti-virus and firewall software) to
avoid dangerous or unpleasant situations or to retain some sense of anonymity.

PRIVACY AND PROTECTION – TWO
SIDES OF THE SAME COIN
■ Privacy, data protection and security are intricately linked to rights, freedom

and responsibility, and should be introduced to children from their very first steps
on the internet. Users who are aware of the responsibilities and challenges are moreable to detect and circumvent online risks and dangers, protect their data and digital
identity, and maintain security measures that make their digital activities safe andsustainable for themselves and others. When online, everyone is entitled to safety
and security, as well as respect for the ideas they share and fair treatment for the
resources they create and disseminate. A right of access is inevitably accompaniedby expectations and responsibilities, and schools and families have an essential rolein preparing young people to shoulder these.
■ As technology progresses seamlessly into every corner of our daily life, privacy

and protection are becoming inextricably entwined. Nowadays, internet security nolonger only depends on how we, as digital citizens, manage our own security risks,
but is also about making sure that our actions and behaviour do not put others at
risk. Being a digital citizen therefore means learning how to protect access to ourdevices and handle with care anything that can threaten the privacy and security ofourselves or others. Educating children to be responsible stakeholders in the digitalsociety and economy has to be a priority if the internet is to be an environment oftrust, where fundamental human rights and civic mindedness prevail.

MY PRIVACY AND YOURS■ Protecting privacy online calls on a broad spectrum of competences. The very

meaning of privacy is underpinned by knowledge and critical understanding of self
and others, and a value for human dignity and human rights. This is not possible without a solid knowledge of how today’s powerful communication tools work, a criticalunderstanding of the many ways that information can be used against us and howsnippets of information or tagged photos can easily be put together to complete a
far more detailed and possibly sensitive picture than was initially intended. Privacy isa culturally sensitive concept that calls for a solid understanding of cultural diversity,a respect for the beliefs, world view and practices of others and the motivation toprotect such personal information from being spread across the internet.
■ We live in an age of big data, where private information is a currency in its

own right. Citizens everywhere, and not just children and young people, have tokeep in mind in their online activities, especially in social media and when using
search engines, that they may be the consumer, but they are also the product. Bothcommercial sites and non-commercial sites and platforms customise the content

they feed us on the basis of a profile that has been built from the footprints we haveleft online. Even national elections and referendums have purportedly been shaped
through profiling voters and using big data in unscrupulous ways.
■ Although in today’s world it is an almost impossible feat for citizens to main-

tain full power over their personal data, education can go a long way by fostering
the relevant skills. Understanding the terms and conditions of information service
providers, for example, and the purpose of cookies before consenting to them, areessential in digital citizenship. Citizens must also be able to decide when to provide
or not provide data that is being requested, verify the purpose and end use of datacollection, and make sure they know how collected information will be processed.
They have to know how, when and where to accept that personal data is accessed,
refuse its collection without informed consent, have it corrected, delisted or erased.
Citizens need to know how to contact service providers and seek recourse from thenational Data Protection Authority, a judge (depending on national legislation) oran advocacy group when their rights are breached.

MANAGING DIGITAL IDENTITY■ It is important that children begin learning to manage their digital identity

from the moment they step into the digital space, and quickly become aware of
how easy it is to give away more information than intended. They need to criticallyunderstand which aspects of their data are private, what data can be safely sharedand how this varies across contexts, for example, with family members, as a student
or member of a sporting club, or when they visit a doctor or health service. Whenchildren start accessing online services independently, they need to be able tochoose when it is safer, and legal, to use pseudonyms or different accounts, profiles
or e-mail addresses to protect their identity. Another first step that can become a
fun activity for even very young children is learning to create, change and manage
passwords. This is all part of becoming competent in “digital identity management”,
a fundamental digital citizenship skill that is based on a whole range of knowledge,
values and attitudes.
■ Identity theft can happen when victims inadvertently leak private information,or voluntarily provide personal data as a result of a phishing attempt or a scam,and it can dangerously escalate. Losing control of a relatively unimportant online
account such as access to an online forum can easily be remedied, but having asocial media profile, a main e-mail account or an online banking identity hacked
can have very serious consequences. Besides the economic and social cost for thevictim, personal data and data on his/her online connections may be jeopardised.
Just imagine if someone began using your account or credit card to order items
online or impersonating you via your profile or e-mail!

CYBERSECURITY – A RAPIDLY GROWING THREAT■ Digital citizens today have a shared responsibility to contribute to maintaining

a secure online environment. Hacking is a growing challenge; in 2017, it brought
down extensive hospital, banking and shipping systems. Comparatively little is being
done to make schoolchildren aware of the gravity of such anti-social behaviour
which would certainly be fiercely criticised in an offline context.

■ Spam, phishing, viruses, malware and bots have far-reaching consequences too,and digital citizens can protect themselves from these threats if they know where
to procure the right protective tools and how to apply them. Understanding andcaring for our digital environment is as important as caring for our home and living
environment, especially as the internet of things and the internet of toys make theirway into our daily life. Sustainability, both online and offline, relies on knowledge
and critical understanding, and a value of human rights and dignity, since thecarelessness of one person can place the whole family, school or an entire networkat risk. We teach young children to navigate the risks to their home, town or city,
so should they not learn at the same time how to safely and securely navigate theonline environment, for their own welfare and that of others around them?
■ Privacy and security is an important domain in digital citizenship educationthat has to be tended to by governments, educational authorities, families andchildren themselves. With a strong, well-implemented multistakeholder privacy
and security policy in society and embedded in the school curriculum, children andyoung people can become digitally competent and empowered enough to enjoy
their rights and respect their responsibilities as citizens in the digital age. Blockchain
technology
could
also
be added to the learning agenda, as it holds great promise
Icons
for section
one chaptersfor solving many of the dilemmas and challenges already discussed: privacy, dataprotection, digital identity management and cyber security.

?
How does it work

HOW DOES IT WORK?
Educational citizenship value■ As the concept of privacy varies broadly across cultures and across families, it

should become an everyday topic for family discussion. Children learn from theirparents’ example about what they can share and when, and their critical understanding of the world is built in part on knowing why certain information is private
and why it is important to respect the data of others.

Ethical

Ideas

Good practice

Further information■ Targeted commercial ads, information and propaganda are unfortunately dif-ficult to escape and can be especially harmful to young minds. Children and young
people need to become aware of how tracking and profiling occur, and that they
are leaving footprints when they use search engines, consult sites, make online
purchases or “like” on social networks. They need to know that even their “likes” aremonitored and used to map their profile so that ads can be customised and directed
towards them. Cookies can be used as tracking and profiling tools too but, as theyalso play a “positive” role in facilitating access to favourite or most used sites, it is notalways easy to refuse them. While the actual benefits of cookies are questionable,
protecting yourself from unwanted tracking through third-party cookies is highly
recommended. Regularly cleaning your navigation history is another way to reduce
tracking and limit targeted ads.
■ To avoid falling prey to propaganda, unethical commercial practices andtime-wasting information overload, digital citizens need to develop solid criticalthinking and analysis skills. Filtering and ad-blocking tools exist, but they are rarely
fully reliable, and it is helpful if young people create their own checklists of steps
to take to avoid or rapidly delete unwanted content. This valuable learning activity
is one stepping stone to building critical thinking skills.

■ Digital citizens have a civic responsibility to tackle cyber security on each of

their own internet-connected devices, applying available privacy and security settings and installing anti-virus/spam/malware and other software for optimal security.
Insufficient security makes it easier for spam to circulate, and spam is one of themost prevalent means of spreading false or fraudulent information and preying on
the goodwill of recipients to gather information or gain pecuniary profit. Hundredsof new viruses and malware are emerging every day, so users need to be diligent
about regularly updating their security whenever new versions or patches become
available. Geolocation settings and Bluetooth should be switched off when not inuse, because they provide easy access to intruders, and can give away far more
information about us than we would wish.

Icons for section one chapters?
How does it workal

EDUCATIONAL AND CITIZENSHIP VALUE

Educational citizenship value■ Children gain many of their early insights into how society works throughIdeas

learning about privacy, identity management and security. Privacy is closely linked
to children’s earliest experiences of the world beyond their home and offers an
Goodpractice opportunity
Further information
ideal
for them to learn about sharing, empathy, caution and the factthat once something is given it cannot be taken back. Defining their own profileand that of others around them will introduce children to the notions of diversity
and inclusion, sharpen their capacity to listen and observe, foster an openness tocultural otherness and, if tackled pedagogically, can help build their self-esteem.
Older children can learn important lessons about privacy if parents or teachers havethem print their social media profile page from time to time and post it in a public
space. Older students will rapidly become aware of double values with regard to
privacy online and offline.
■ Conscientious parents and teachers drill children on road safety, and ensure

they are protected until they have developed the necessary capacity to become
autonomous, yet very young children often roam freely in the online space which
is far greater than any town or street. Self-protection, privacy and security can andshould be taught through playful age-appropriate activities from the momentchildren first have access to an internet-connectable device. They can then progress
one step at a time offline until they are cognitively ready to access the digital space.

■ Security is also about caring for others, and actively contributing to bringing

about positive change to the environment in which we live. It is important that children and young people learn about the positive side of security, which enables us totrust and respect each other and take active steps to ensure the well-being of others.

■ Security is, moreover, a fast growing but long neglected area of employment

for coming generations. Wi-Fi connected homes, toys and, in the very near future,
automobiles and public transport are rapidly making security a very important facetof our lives, and one that is already offering promising study and professional opportunities. Security is an exciting topic for investigative learning at school and at home.

Figure 17: Privacy and security – Core digital citizenship competences

Values

Democracy and justice,human dignity and rights

Attitudes

Responsibility
and respect

Listening and observing,
empathy and co-operation

Knowledge and criticalunderstanding of the world

SkillsKnowledge andcritical understanding

FACT SHEET 9
PRIVACYAND SECURITY

How does it work

Educational citizenship value

ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS AND RISKS
Ethical

Ideas

Good practice

Further information■ Anonymity underlies many of the challenges and risks that arise from online

interactions and goes hand in hand with accountability. When internet users believethat their actions cannot be traced back to them, they tend to behave in a very
different way than they otherwise would. Acting ethically in seemingly anonymous
situations places a much greater focus on the values of justice and fairness, which
are in turn built on respect for human dignity and human rights, civic-mindedness
and a responsible and respectful attitude towards oneself and others.
■ Privacy is a constantly evolving concept. As we embed and operationalise

more and more pervasive technologies into our lives, through what is known as anormalisation process we gradually come to accept lower or different standards orvalues. Is it a cause for ethical concern that many young people today see George
Orwell’s 1984 as no more than an entertaining novel? Article 16 of the United Nations
Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) underlines that children have a rightto privacy, but are we breaching this right through over-pervasive technologicalpractices, and a lack of privacy education and digital culture literacy?
■ Some of the latest internet-connected toys appearing on the market are raising

ethical concerns among human rights advocates. Dolls, robots and other types ofconnected devices are capable of recording a child’s innermost ideas and thoughts
and, if security measures are not sufficiently strong, that information can be accessed
and reused by third parties.
Icons for section one chapters■ Families need to be more aware of the capabilities of their internet-connectedhousehold devices, what data is being collected and where this goes. Who would
have thought, to give another example, that our mobile phone tracks the speed ofour movements as well as informing us of how many kilometres we walk in a day, orthat baby monitors are sending the very private activities that go on in the nursery
through the internet. Policy makers and end users need to exert pressure on dataprocessors to provide the option for each user to host his or her online data on his
How does
it work
Educational
citizenshipown
personal cloudor even(invaluethe case of the internet of things and connected
toys, for instance) on his own local area network drive or server.

?

IDEAS FOR CLASSROOM WORK
Ethical

Ideas

Good practice

Further information■ Invite students to do a Google search on their own names. Be sure to lookunder images and videos as well. Have them create a Google alert on their own
names so that they will know when their name has been posted online. Is there any
information they would wish to have removed? How did it arrive online, and what is
the most effective process to try to have that particular piece of content removed?
■ The PlayDecide role-play game on data protection and privacy (http://paneuyouth.eu/files/2013/06/PD-kit-privacy-and-data-protection.pdf ) offers a fun
way to explore the implications of privacy law, copyright and freedom of speech
and information across national boundaries, or for different age and cultural groups.

■ Invite students to work in groups of three or four and propose a strong pass-

word for a fake online account. Make it clear that they should come up with a new
password and not an existing password that they already use. Have the different
teams present their password and ask the rest of the group to identify the featuresof a strong password by looking at the proposals.

■ www.webwewant.eu, a website and handbook (in 12 languages) with activities

created by teens for teens, contains several chapters and exercises linked to this
topic. In particular, take a look at Chapter 2, “Think before you post”, and Chapter 5,
Icons for section one chapters“My privacy and yours”.
■ Play and learn: Being online offers 4 to 8-year-olds and their teachers and par-ents a range of activities on privacy and security. The publication (in 21 languages) is
accompanied by an online game at www.esafetykit.net. (www.betterinternetforkids.
eu/web/portal/practice/awareness/detail?articleId=198308).

?

■ Resources, posters, tutorials and password generators to better design
does it work

Ideas

Educational
citizenshipvalue passwords are available from the CNIL: www.cnil.fr/en/
andmanagestrongall-about-secrets-passwords.

Good practice

GOOD PRACTICE/LIVING DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP
Further information■ Considering privacy with a multicultural approach – Discuss privacy with yourstudents, looking at how the concept differs across cultures and across families. Askthem to gather information to support the discussion and the reasons that may
explain different notions. This activity can be linked to history or geography lessons
as a means of embedding digital citizenship into these subject areas. The outcome
could be a class privacy code that could be shared across the school. Revisit thecode some months later to understand some of the issues children are having inapplying the code in their online activities.

Creating profiles■ Work with very young students to create their profile and begin by getting

them to list some facts about themselves (their address, their favourite food, theirparent’s telephone number, etc.). After a discussion with them about privacy, havethem draw a red box around private information, a green box around informationthat can be shared with everyone, an orange box for information that can be sharedin certain circumstances, noting what these may be, for example a visit to the doctor.

■ With older children, explore and compare user profiles on some of the more

popular social networking sites (see the Council of Europe’s Internet literacy handbook,
Fact sheet 8 on social networking). What private information are users inadvertently
disclosing? Draw up a checklist for creating a safe user profile.

■ Checking cyber security – Have children bring their mobile phone to class

to discover together the inbuilt and software security measures in place, but also
the many “open gates” that may be allowing their information to leak. Teachers
can consolidate their knowledge before conducting this exercise with students atsites such as www.tccrocks.com/blog/cell-phone-security-tips/. They could also
try inviting an expert or someone from a mobile phone company to bring expert
knowledge and added interest to the activity. Companies are often very interested
in such opportunities to meet young users in a well-supervised context. Information

n one chapterson updating security measures on other internet-connected devices and researchon additional tools can be found at www.epic.org/privacy/tools.html.
■ Get students to imagine the consequences of the loss of an online research

project; how do the consequences compare with losing a computer or tablet that
could be replaced? Ask them to draw up a checklist of security measures to avoid
losing content, then check their list against the Internet Survival Guide (http://bit.
Educational citizenship value
ly/2OW3dyk). This guide, written as part of the BEE SECURE project by the Luxembourg
government, provides tips, tricks and best practices.

ood practice

FURTHER INFORMATION

Further information■ The Council of Europe has materials relevant to this fact sheet in the Internet

literacy handbook; please see ILH Fact sheet 9, “Privacy and privacy settings”; Fact
sheet 19, “Cybercrime: spam, malware, fraud and security”; Fact sheet 20, “Labellingand filtering”; Fact sheet 26, “Are you the product? Big data, data mining and privacy”.

■ Consult the Council of Europe page at www.coe.int/en/web/internet-users-

rights/privacy-and-data -protection to learn more about its work in the field of
data protection. Fact sheet 19 of the Council of Europe’s Internet literacy handbook
is dedicated to cyber security and related topics. It may also be useful to read about
the General Data Protection Regulation implemented in EU member states in May
2018: http://bit.ly/2wmTA4i.
■ Data protection authorities, highly specialised in the domain of privacy andsecurity, play an important role in assisting educators in the digital education of
citizens. They recently developed a training framework for students specifically
dedicated to data protection, for use in a cross-curricular approach in official school
programmes and training courses for educators: the “Personal Data Protection
Competency Framework for School Students” (http://bit.ly/2NetsQr).

■ In early 2018, the UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS) publisheda framework to equip children and young people for digital life. “Education for aConnected World” aims to identify the skills and competences that children and young
people need to have at different ages and stages to be able to navigate the online
world safely and responsibly. It interestingly focuses specifically on eight different
aspects of online safety education, including self-image and identity, managing
online information, and privacy and security (http://bit.ly/2P2ildz).

■ The American online safety organisation “iKeepSafe” has developed an extensive

privacy curriculum providing classroom and family activities for tweens and teens(https://ikeepsafe.org/privacy-curriculum-matrix/).

■ How to Geek offers concrete, well-explained ideas about creating a password(www.howtogeek.com/195430/how-to-create-a-strong-password-and-remember-it/).
Other security-related activities for older children have been published by a British
organisation specialising in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths):(www.stem.org.uk/resources/community/collection/401587/gcse-cyber-security).

■ The European Handbook for Teaching Privacy and Data Collection at Schools(Gonzàlez Fuster G. and Kloza D. (eds), 2016), provides lesson plans adapted for younger
and older students, a mini-bill of privacy and data protection rights, glossary and resource
list (http://arcades-project.eu/images/pdf/arcades_teaching_handbook_final_EN.pdf).

DIMENSION 10
CONSUMER
AWARENESS
Are these things really better
than the things I already have?
Or am I just trained to bedissatisfied with what I have now?
Chuck Palahniuk

It is fundamental that all individuals understand their rights as consumers
of products and services. Consumer education can be twofold: awarenessof those rights as a consumer; and the application of those rights and responsibilities if products and services exploit and/or infringe the rights of others.
■ The internet can be used as a tool to help digital citizens understand theirchoices as consumers in today’s society, and also as a medium to help digital citizens
reclaim their rights. Some consumer education campaigns have successfully used
media for wider audiences and today the internet can push and promote awarenessat a fast global pace.
■ With new technology allowing consumers to make purchases with facial recog-

nition or via embedded chips or e-tattoos, consumers must continue their vigilance.
More than 60% of Europeans access the internet on a daily basis and more than two
thirds of internet users have made purchases online. 1 The European Commission
has provided information to inform individuals (and businesses) about buying
goods and services online (https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/individuals/
buying-goods-services-online-personal-use_en).

■ Another aspect of consumer awareness, or perhaps more correctly termed

the flip-side of consumer awareness, is entrepreneurship. Digital citizens are also
acting as entrepreneurs, actively selling products and services to digital citizen consumers. These online entrepreneurs are using social media to market their goods,
online platforms to host their goods, digital delivery systems to ship their goods
and more.Icons
Onlineentrepreneurs
are now more than ever concerned with the rights
for section
one chaptersand responsibilities of their users/clients/followers, as they engage in this digital
economy newly regulated by the General Data Protection Regulation.

?
How does it work

HOW DOES IT WORK?
Educational citizenship value■ Being a digital citizen may often mean being a consumer, without active­knowledge of what this really means. Empowering digital consumers means providing
a framework of principles and tools that allow them to drive a smart, sustainable andinclusive economy. Consumer education on those principles and tools is at the forefront of successful awareness and participation in the economy, digital or otherwise.

Ethical

Ideas

Good practice

Further information■ E-commerce has undoubtedly brought positive benefits, as shopping becomeseasier and more convenient; however, e-commerce transactions are not without
risks. Recent trends show that more and more children make online purchases (often
via a parent’s credit card account) before attaining the age of 18 or even holding apart-time job appropriate for a student. Video games and other online amusements
for children often use concepts of money to mean value in the game. Children may
not always understand the true value of money, as parents can attest when seeing
the in-app purchases. The concern of children “virtualising” money may have an
economic impact for their future.

■ When making a purchase and before giving out private data, check for the locked

padlock symbol that shows up in the toolbar. This is a sign that your transaction istaking place over a secure connection. Before making online transactions, checkthat the URL includes “https”; the “s” stands for “secure” in the Hypertext Transfer
1. http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/E-commerce_statistics_for_individuals.

Protocol and authenticates the website and the associated web, which protects
against man-in-the-middle attacks.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT/EDUCATIONALVALUE/CITIZENSHIP VALUE■ Digital citizens who are skilled in consumer education are able to embrace asustainable concept of consumption that focuses on well-being and security. The
rise of the “consumer citizen” cannot be neglected as individuals make choices basedon ethical, social, economic or ecological beliefs. The Norway University of Applied
Sciences has developed Guidelines for Consumer Citizenship Education: https://eng.
inn.no/project-sites/living-responsibly/focus-areas/consumer-citizenship.

■ Consumer citizenship began as a Canadian concept and it is quickly gaining

ground as globalisation creates opportunities and risks, both offline and online.
Education for sustainable consumption has basic learning outcomes that can beused in parallel for digital citizens with the Council of Europe butterfly model; values,
attitudes, knowledge and critical understanding. This can lead to:
ff
ff
ff
ff
ff

critical awarenessecological responsibilitysocial responsibility
action and involvement
global solidarity.

■ Consumer awareness, including online entrepreneurship, regarding all aspectsof the product or service can increase consumer confidence, as consumers are able
to make choices that are reflective of that knowledge.
Figure 18: Consumer awareness – Core digital citizenship competences

ValuesAttitudes

Democracy and justice,human dignity and rights

Responsibility
and respect

Learning analytical andcritical thinking,conflict resolution,
co-operation

Knowledge and criticalunderstanding of the world

SkillsKnowledge andcritical understanding

FACT SHEET 10
CONSUMER
AWARENESS

How does it work

Educational citizenship value

ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS AND RISKS
Ethical

Ideas

Good practice

Further information

ff C onsumers should be aware that online shopping requires additional safetymeasures, not only to keep financial data secure, but to keep consumer
identity and choices private.
ff All technological devices and equipment should be up to date with the latest
safety settings, and consumers should remember that often after website or
platform updates their settings are returned to a default position.
ff For online purchases, consider using a separate credit card dedicated toonline purchases so that you can monitor it easily.
ff Verify that all online checkout areas are encrypted.
ff Use reputable websites and be suspicious of offers that may seem too good
to be true.
ff Read up on your consumer rights prior to purchase: does the website offera refund, money-back guarantee or some other method of reclamation?
Icons for section one chaptersff Be aware of online business models which make you pay indirectly for thecontent/services you use and grant you none of the protection and rightsthat come with being a consumer (paying for content/services). Examples
include sharing your data, being exposed to advertising or even mining
cryptocurrencies via your web browser while you look at content. None ofthese are “bad” per se, but a balance needs to be found in order not to havea race to the bottom (too much advertising).
How does it work
Educational citizenship value
should provide easily understood terms and conditions
ff Online entrepreneurs
for users, as well as appropriate opt-in features.

?

IDEAS FOR CLASSROOM WORK
Ethical

Ideas

Good practice

Further information■ Have the students choose an online payment service such as PayPal or Stripe.

Invite them to read through the terms and conditions of the platforms to determine
the costs of the transactions and any other pertinent information that users should
know – prior to purchase!

■ Plan an e-commerce website with your students (to sell school products, forinstance) or do further work on existing initiatives of that kind already taken within
the framework of the school. Study the structure of a good e-commerce website.

■ In groups of two or three, have the students read the Charter on Fundamental

Rights of the European Union (http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.
do?uri=OJ:C:2010:083:0389:0403:en:PDF). Does the document include consumer
rights and responsibilities? Can the document be edited to include more concepts
for the future digital environment?

■ Have the students examine several online sales websites. What are the ­top-selling

products? What types of guarantees or refunds are provided? Does the online shopping site have distribution channels around the world? Does global distribution
affect the top-selling products?

■ Create a comparative research project on online entrepreneurship, where the?
does it work

Ideas

n one chaptersstudents can choose several YouTubers, Instagrammers or other appropriate entrepreneurs to investigate. Ask the students to identify the goods and services offeredcitizenship valuethe methods of delivery, the terms and conditions, and otherbyEducational
the entrepreneur,
protection put it place to protect the consumer.

Good practice

GOOD PRACTICE/LIVING DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP
Further information■ When making an online purchase, find out about the retailer or vendor. eBay,for example, allows vendors to build a reputation according to their track recordand feedback.

■ Research Amazon’s history and how the company came into existence andcontinues to flourish. Ask the students to prepare a debate on whether or not Amazon
has provided value to consumers, to sellers and to communities.

■ Make sure that you have control of your personal data and refer to the General

Data Protection Regulation for better understanding. Pay attention to boxes relating
to the retailer’s options to retain your data or contact you for marketing purposes.

■ If you have any doubt about the seriousness of a website, do not hesitate to dosome research online and look for other consumer testimonials, reviews or experiences.

■ Research project – Invite the students to pick their favourite example of tech-

nology, such as a smartphone, a tablet, a computer or a gaming console. Have them
research the chain of production for the electronic device: are there any illegalities,
under-age workers, etc.? Are consumers aware of the history of the parts and pieces
that go into their technology? Why or why not?

■ When offering online products and services, create a due diligence sheet of

Educational citizenship value

ood practicerights and responsibilities of consumers. Then ensure that your entrepreneurial
endeavour does not infringe those rights and responsibilities.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Further information■ The Council of Europe has materials relevant to this fact sheet in the Internet

literacy handbook; please see ILH Fact sheet 13, “Shopping online” and Fact sheet 9,“Privacy and privacy settings”.
■ The European Commission’s Directive on Consumer Rights: http://ec.europa.

eu/consumers/consumer_rights/rights-contracts/directive/index_en.htm.
■ The European Commission on Consumer Safety: http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/

consumers_safety/index_en.htm.
■ The European Commission Entrepreneurship 2020 Plan: https://ec.europa.eu/

growth/smes/promoting-entrepreneurship/action-plan_en.
■ The

European Commission Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs: http://
ec.europa.eu/growth/smes/promoting-entrepreneurship/support/erasmus-youngentrepreneurs_en.

■ European Parliament support for social entrepreneurs: www.europarl.europa.

eu/thinktank/en/document.html?reference=EPRS_BRI(2017)599346.

■ TrustArc is an independent, non-profit, global initiative aimed at building trustand confidence in online transactions: www.trustarc.com.

■ For information on the General Data Protection Regulation: www.eugdpr.org/.
■ “Citizens, consumers and the citizen-consumer: articulating the citizen interestin media and communications regulation”, Livingstone S., Lunt P. and Miller L., Sage
publications (http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1750481307071985).

■ A practical guide to stop receiving ads, spam and notifications, andtake control of your activity on the internet: https://blog.cleanfox.io/tips-en/
stop-newsletters-spam-advertising-sms-and-other-notifications/.

■ Shopping more safely on the internet – from Denmark, 17 important tips forinternet shopping, securing sites, avoiding scams, usable in class or at home inautonomy: https://heimdalsecurity.com/blog/online-shopping-security-tips/.

■ Do not track: an interactive documentary series on the tracking and the eco-nomics of the web: https://donottrack-doc.com/en/intro/.

■ Play without being played – The second adventure of the Three Little Pigs incyberspace; a game aimed at educating young audiences about misleading and abusive advertising created by Canadian MIL Center Habilomedia: https://mediasmarts.
ca/sites/mediasmarts/files/games/cybersense_nonsense/cybersense/start.html.

DIGITALCITIZENSHIPEDUCATIONHANDBOOK

Glossary

Being online
Well-being online
Rights online

GlossaryT

his glossary defines and explains the major terms used in the handbook.
Whenever appropriate, it also sets these terms in the context of digital citizenship education (DCE) and highlights the controversial issues and challenges
for teachers/users to consider. The terms in italics direct the users’ attention torelated concepts and complementary notions and refer to relevant fact sheets.

Access■ The ability of individuals and organisations to connect to the internet, using all sorts

of devices (computers, tablets or phones, for example) and all sorts of services (such as
e-mail and applications). For DCE, access is a precondition for digital citizenship as theinternet has become a critical resource, vital for all sorts of online and offline activities.
See also: Account.
Refer to Fact sheet 1 “Access and inclusion”.

Account■ An internet account is set with a user name and password. It acts as a key to many

online tools and services. It allows the user to be authenticated and authorised toaccess and use online services. For DCE, it raises issues of privacy and safety settings.
See also: Access; Privacy.
Refer to Fact sheet 9 “Privacy and security”.

Anti-virus■ A computer program that attempts to identify, isolate, obstruct andeliminate computer viruses and other malicious software. For DCE, it
is important for online safety as a lack of protection may lead to identity theft, security breaches or other issues related to online well-being.
See also: Privacy; Malware; Virality.
Refer to Fact sheet 9 “Privacy and security”.
App■ Originally defined as “an interactive program that can be accessed througha web browser to relay information”. As the mobile phone has morphed to
become an internet-accessing mini-computer, apps designate popular end-user
software applications that extend the phone’s capabilities by enabling users
to perform many everyday life tasks, from entertainment (travel, food, games
or social networking) to information gathering (news, maps or MOOCs). For
DCE, mastering the “apps culture” and its pervasive ecosystem is important for
empowering citizens, especially young people and people with disabilities, as
mobile connectivity has changed the way people communicate, share information and learn from the libraries and repertoires of materials available online.
See also: Browser; Terms of service (TOS).
Refer to Fact sheet 2 “Learning and creativity”; 10 “Consumer awareness”.
Page 1

Artificial intelligence (AI)■ An IT discipline that investigates the theories and the techniques needed

to design and create digital environments and software. It produces for instancevirtual “personal assistants” conceived to imitate human behaviour. Users usuallyinteract with AI through a series of vocal or written questions that the systemanswers accordingly. AI technology can also be found in digital games, robotics, driving assistants and in all systems that need to access a vast amount ofdata to facilitate decisions. For DCE, monitoring AI developments is important as it raises the issue of use of personal/private data and attendant citizenship issues linked to privacy, dignity, well-being, politics and public space.
See also: Augmented Reality (AR); Big data; Robot.
Refer to Fact sheet 6 “e-Presence and communications”.

Augmented reality (AR)■ A technology that superimposes a computer-generated image on top of the user’sview of something in the real world, to create an interactive experience. This can bedone using a mobile phone in a specially created box-like frame, or using a dedicateddevice. The real-world objects are “augmented” by computer-generated information,that can include visual or auditory information, or even movement or odour. AR canhelp us explore how ancient ruins, for example, could have looked in the past, or how
places or things may look in the future, for example, new transport routes in a town.
See also: App; Artificial intelligence (AI); Big data; Video game; Virtual reality (VR).
Refer to Fact sheet 6 “e-Presence and communications”.

Big data■ Voluminous and complex sets of data to which various statistical types of anal-

ysis can be applied (to profile people, to predict behaviour or for learning analytics).
To make sense out of such huge amounts of data, the data is often broken downusing five V’s: Volume, Variety, Velocity, Veracity and Value. For DCE, the challenges andcontroversies include data integrity, data sharing, data transfer and information privacy.
See also: Blockchain technology; Data; Privacy; Profiling.
Refer to Fact sheet 9 “Privacy and security”; 10 “Consumer awareness”.

Blockchain technology■ A way to archive data implemented through a list of records called“blocks”. These blocks point one towards the other until they create a “chain”
that can be distributed along the network through peer-to-peer technology. The blocks contain cryptographic data that are strongly protected and, so
far, the technology is considered one of the most secure data systems. This is
the same technology used for the creation of the digital currency “bitcoin”.

See also: Big data; Data; Privacy.
Refer to Fact sheet 9 “Privacy and security”; 10 “Consumer awareness”.
Page 2 Digital citizenship education handbook

Browser■ Software used to navigate on the web. Users can access sites by entering theproper URL (a unique text string that redirects to a specific website) or by clicking on links
obtained, for instance, through a query on a search engine. Most of the browsers offer
functions like age filters, a history of the sites visited or a library of favourite addresses.
See also: Access; App; Search engine; Digital footprint.
Refer to Fact sheet 1 “Access and inclusion”; 9 “Privacy and security”.

BYOD (Bring your own device)■ Refers to the policy of permitting employees, teachers or students to bring per-sonal devices (laptops, tablets or smart phones) to their workplace or the classroom.
For DCE, it may be useful for expanding access and improving the use of learningmaterials but it also raises issues of equality, inclusion and security (malware, viruses).
See also: Access; Anti-virus; App.
Refer to Fact sheet 1 “Access and inclusion”.

Chat room■ Any form of online conferencing, ranging from real-time live chats with otherknown or unknown users (online forums), which is different from instant messaging dedicated to one-to-one communication. Chat rooms are mostly used to share information
and are increasingly being adopted in classrooms and online learning environments.
See also: App; VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol).
Refer to Fact sheet 2 “Learning and creativity”.

Cloud computing■ An IT model that allows a set of networked elements (devices, servers, service

platforms, repositories, etc.) to be seamlessly interconnected. This allows users accessto their online services (such as e-mail, working services, music, data repository or
movies) from any device connected to the web, without direct downloading. For
DCE, the controversies arise in terms of security and privacy issues because theservice provider can access the data at any time and damage them accidentallyor willingly or share them with third parties. There is also issues in terms of thelegal ownership of the data, and concerns surrounding privacy and confidentiality,
especially considering the future potential of AI personal assistant developments.
See also: Access; AI; Blockchain technology; Data; Privacy.
Refer to Fact sheet 2 “Learning and creativity”; 10 “Consumer awareness”.

Consumer awareness■ The understanding by users of their rights and responsibilities as con-sumers of online products and services. Most of the time these rights areencapsulated in the “terms of service”. For DCE, consumer awareness implies
issues concerning the infringement of the rights of others and legal andage-relevant means of understanding all the dimensions of “terms of service”.
See also: Terms of service.
Refer to Fact sheet 10 “Consumer awareness”.
Page 3

Cookie■ A small file which is stored on a user’s computer, designed to hold a modest

amount of data specific to a particular user, for website management. Each time the user
accesses the website again, the cookie is sent back to the server on which the website isstored. A tracking cookie can be embedded with advertising material from a third-partysite and can be used to report on a user’s browsing history and facilitate targeted andtailored adverts. Rejection of a cookie can make certain websites unusable. For DCE,
controversies arise around the capacity to enable or disable/delete cookies. They canbe seen as an invasion of privacy since they allow profiling without user knowledge.
They require critical thinking to avoid propaganda and unethical commercial practices.
See also: Access; Data; Privacy.
Refer to Fact sheet 9 “Privacy and security”; 10 “Consumer awareness”.

Cyberbullying■ A harmful form of harassment, using electronic tools and services. It can include post-

ing threats, rumours, sexual remarks, cyberstalking and hate speech. The consequences
can be serious for victims (causing fear, anger, depression or low self-esteem, for example). For DCE, it relates to harmful online content and behaviour and to issues concerning a lack of empathy and a risk to freedom of expression (chilling effect) and well-being.
See also: e-Reputation; Identity theft; Well-being.
Refer to fact sheet 4 “Ethics and empathy”.

Cyber security■ The protection of computers from theft and damage to their hardware, softwareand content. It also includes protecting against the disruption of services by intentional or
accidental means (piracy or hacking). For DCE, phishing, spamming, viruses and malware
are among the security risks and challenges. Knowledge of these challenges and of theprotection tools available for citizens to control their hardware and their data is essential.
See also: Access; Well-being; Privacy; Security.
Refer to Fact sheet 9 “Privacy and security”.

Data
Basic descriptors of a person’s real life, digitally transformed. In the case of sensitive
personal information (SPI), these descriptors can be used on their own or with other information to classify and locate a citizen (name, social security number, dateand place of birth, biometric records, etc.) and to identify a citizen in his/her context by linked traces (medical, educational, financial or employment sources). For
DCE, the controversies are linked to third-party uses, be they commercial (the market for collecting and selling data) or criminal (stealing data for illegal purposes).
This can lead to breaches in security and privacy.
See also: Big data; Blockchain technology; Privacy; Profiling.
Refer to Fact sheet 9 “Privacy and security”; 10 “Consumer awareness”.
Page 4 Digital citizenship education handbook

Digital detox■ A period of time during which a user refrains from using electronic devices(laptops, smartphones, tablets, etc.). It is presented as an opportunity to reducestress and to focus on social interaction in the physical world. For DCE, it is an opportunity to pay attention to real-life citizenship participation and reinforce natural
well-being, while reinforcing privacy and the distinction between work and leisure.
See also: Cookie; Privacy; Well-being.
Refer to Fact sheet 5 “Health and well-being”.

Digital divide■ The economic, social and cultural gap related to access and use of IT.
This can lead to inequalities between individuals and between countries. For
DCE, the issues relate to inclusion and social justice as well as learning and­knowledge. It can result in two-tiered citizenship, with a lasting impact on participation and well-being in democracies. It is associated with the inability of citizens to access digital technology, or to use it, for example, due to a lack of skills.
See also: Access; Well-being.
Refer to Fact sheet 1 “Access and inclusion”.

Digital footprint■ A citizen’s unique set of traceable digital activities (posts or payments, forinstance) left on the internet. Digital activities fall into two categories: passive (or involuntary) and active (or voluntary). The first category concerns data collected without
the citizen’s knowledge, the second with data willingly released for sharing and interacting with others online. For DCE, this raises issues of privacy, traceability and security.
See also: Browser; Privacy; Security; Traces.
Refer to Fact sheet 9 “Privacy and security”; 10 “Consumer awareness”.

Digital identity■ Information on a person, an organisation or a device representing a real-life entity.

It enables the process of authentication of a user interacting online. It provides automated access to other computers and facilitates mediated relationships. It has come tomean aspects of a person’s real-life identity and encompasses the whole collection ofdata generated by a person’s online actions and history (purchasing, navigating, networking). For DCE, the issues relate to the management of such traces and online activities to ensure trust and well-being and to prevent the undue divulgence of information.
See also: Cookie; Data; e-Presence; Netizen.
Refer to Fact sheet 9 “Privacy and security”.

Drone■ An unmanned aerial vehicle that may have some autonomy and can be oper-

ated by computer. Drones were originally used in a military context but are now
widely available for civilian use.
See also: Robot.
Refer to Fact sheet 2 “Learning and creativity”.
Page 5

Emoticons■ Textual portrayals representing a user’s moods or facial expressions in theform of icons. They can serve to convey emotions and ensure patterns of communication that can lead to misunderstandings (jokes, gags or pranks, for instance) in
the absence of visual and facial clues online. For DCE, it is an integral part of thecompetences needed to express empathy and to prevent conflict or cyberbullying.
See also: Cyberbullying; Empathy.
Refer to Fact sheet 4 “Ethics and empathy”; 5 “Health and well-being”.

Empathy■ The capacity to understand or feel what another person is feeling, putting oneself

in another’s position. It is also about experiencing vicariously and requires skills andcompetences online because of the risks of misunderstanding caused by the lack of faceto-face encounters. For DCE, it raises issues around enablers of interpersonal communication and anonymity as well as barriers to online relations like cyberbullying or trolling.
See Cyberbullying; Emoticons; Participation; Well-being.
Refer to Fact sheet 4 “Ethics and empathy”; 5 “Health and well-being”.

e-Presence■ Originally, e-presence was a marketing tool for personal branding and the

combined process of drawing traffic and creating a lasting positive image on theWeb. This implies knowing about search engine optimisation, e-reputation, social
media uses, etc. It has come to extend to the personal and interpersonal qualities
that guide digital identity and the social and cognitive competences to do so.
See also: Digital identity; e-Reputation; Empathy; Netizen; Participation.
Refer to Fact sheet 3 “Media and information literacy”; 6 “e-Presence and communications”.

e-Reputation■ The perception internet users have of one’s person, brand or company.

It is a marketing influence strategy to win likes and recommendations andincrease ranking of an entity’s website or online service. For DCE, the controversies arise in relation to the risks of manipulation of a person’s image orbrand and are also connected to the monetisation of one’s online presence.
See also: Cookie; Data; Identity theft; e-Presence; Selfie.
Refer to Fact sheet 3 “Media and information literacy”; 6 “e-Presence and communications”; 10 “Consumer awareness”.

EuroDIG■ A

European open multistakeholder platform for exchanging views
about the internet and how it is governed. Created in 2008 by several organisations, government representatives and experts, it fosters dialogue and collaboration with the internet community on public policy for the internet.

Page 6 Digital citizenship education handbook

Fake news
■ A type of deliberate disinformation aimed at misleading online users. It is

spread via traditional media and online social media. The intent is to damage
commercially, financially or politically a target entity or person. Online, it is also
used to increase monetisation (with clickbait headlines, click revenue, advertising revenue). For DCE, the controversies arise around issues of quality of information, manipulation of public opinion, intrusion of public spaces and integrityof elections. It requires competences in critical thinking and in fact and source
checking. It puts the emphasis on access and media and information literacy.
See also: e-Reputation; Social media; Virtual reality.
Refer to Fact sheet 3 “Media and information literacy”; 10 “Consumer awareness”.

FOMO■ FOMO is an abbreviation for “fear of missing out”.

Geolocalisation■ The identification of the real-life geographic location of an object, device

or person. It is closely linked to the use of positioning systems (like GPS andradars). For DCE, the controversies concern the undue surveillance of citizens as well as privacy and security breaches, but geolocalisation may also
open up some very interesting opportunities in education, culture or tourism.
See also: App; Chat room; Data; Privacy; Security.
Refer to Fact sheet 2 “Learning and creativity”; 9 “Privacy and security”.

Hacking■ The process of seeking to breach the defences and abuse the weaknesses of acomputer system or network. It may be motivated by many reasons, such as protest,
profit, play, spying and intelligence gathering and even as a means to evaluate thedefences against potential hacks. For DCE, it raises challenges in terms of trust andrisks (breaches in hospital security or banking systems, for instance). For children, it
can be construed as an anti-social behaviour that can lead to ostracism and problems of well-being online.
See also: Access; Anti-virus; App; Data; Privacy; Security; Well-being.
Refer to Fact sheet 2 “Learning and creativity”; 9 “Privacy and security”.

Hashtag■ In the language of social media, putting a hash (#) before a word means speci-

fying that it represents the topic of the conversation, exactly like putting a tag on an
object in order to facilitate finding it again. Most social media or websites allow users
to search through the content by scanning these hashtags. In DCE, hashtagging isa means of identifying some of the most relevant topics “trending” on social media.
See also: Social media; Virality.
Refer to Fact sheet 6 “e-Presence and communications”; 7 “Active participation”.
Page 7

ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers)■ A California-based non-profit corporation that has responsibility for giving accessto the internet as it deals with internet protocol (IP) addresses, protocol identifier assignment and generic (gTLD) and country code (ccTLD) top-level domain names. For DCE, thechallenges arise around the independence of ICANN as it becomes a fully fledged international entity, within the UN, dealing with integrity of IT services and internet freedoms.

Identity theft■ The deliberate use of someone else’s personal identifying information (such as

credit card numbers, PIN numbers or passwords). It occurs when this information is used
to commit fraud or other crimes. The victim can inadvertently leak private informationor voluntarily provide personal data as a result of a phishing attempt or a scam. The
victim may suffer long-lasting consequences that are damaging to his/her identity andreputation. For DCE, the issues relate to breach of privacy, security and well-being online.
See also: Cookie; Cyberbullying; e-Reputation; Hacking; Phishing.
Refer to Fact sheet 9 “Privacy and security”.

Internet governance■ The development and application by governments, the private sector and civilsociety, in their respective roles, of shared principles, norms, rules, decision-making
procedures and programmes that shape the evolution and use of the internet.
See also: ICANN; Internet of citizens; Internet Governance Forum; ISOC.
Refer to Fact sheet 7 “Active participation”; 8 “Rights and responsibilities”.

Internet Governance Forum■ A

multistakeholder entity for policy dialogue on issues related tointernet governance. It brings together all stakeholders (governments, private sector, civil society, technical community, academia) on an equalbasis and through an open and inclusive decision-shaping process.

See also: ICANN; Internet governance; Internet of citizens; ISOC.
Refer to Fact sheet 7 “Active participation”; 8 “Rights and responsibilities”.

Internet of citizens■ A Council of Europe recommendation that promotes the human and cul-tural dimension of the internet to complement the internet of things. It is a new
notion which calls for a people-centred approach to the internet, in particular
to empower everyone who uses and relies upon it for their everyday activities.
See also: Internet governance; Internet of things.
Refer to Fact sheet 7 “Active participation”.

Internet of things■ The network of physical devices, sensors, captors, vehicles and appliances embed-

ded within electronics and interconnected via the IT networks. It enables these items
to exchange data and take decisions without human agency, via the existing internet
Page 8 Digital citizenship education handbook

infrastructure. Smart applications are applied to homes, cities, cars, power grids, etc. For
DCE, challenges arise in terms of data management, privacy and security and overall
agency of human citizenship and empowerment in relation to automated devices.
See also: Data; Internet of citizens; Robot.
Refer to Fact sheets 9 “Privacy and security”; 10 “Consumer awareness”.

ISOC (Internet Society)■ An international non-governmental organisation for global co-operationand co-ordination for the internet and its internetworking technologies andapplications. The society’s individual and organisational members are boundby a common goal to maintain the viability and global scaling of the internet.
See also: ICANN; Internet Governance Forum.

Malware■ An umbrella term referring to various forms of harmful or intrusive software,

which include viruses, worms, Trojan horses, spyware and adware. Malware is madewith malicious intent to take control of a user’s computer. It can create many vulnerabilities and requires competences to protect oneself with software and firewalls.
See also: Anti-virus; Data; Traces.
Refer to Fact sheet 9 “Privacy and security”.

Netizen■ A portmanteau of the words “internet” and “citizen”, as in “citizen of thenet”. It describes a person actively involved in online communities or the internet in general. It denotes active engagement in improving the internet, making it an intellectual and a social resource, or improving its surrounding politicalstructures, especially with regard to open access, net neutrality and free speech.
See also: Digital identity; e-Presence; Participation.
Refer to Fact sheet 7 “Active participation”; 8 “Rights and responsibilities”.

Nomophobia■ The fear of being without access to a working mobile phone.

Participation■ The right to a healthy interaction between people in online communities, via

wikis, blogs, games and social media. For DCE, it is associated with self-expression,community building, engagement in citizenship, influence and well-being.
See also: Digital identity; Empathy; e-Presence; Netizen; Social media.
Refer to Fact sheet 4 “Ethics and empathy”; 7 “Active participation”; 8 “Rights and responsibilities”.
Page 9

Phishing■ A portmanteau of the words “phreaking” and “fishing” to imply the idea of using

bait to lure a victim. It is the attempt to obtain sensitive personal information (SPI)by pretending to be a trustworthy entity (bank, friend, social media). The purpose
is to direct the user to fake websites that can distribute malware or use the SPI forother illicit purposes.
See also: Anti-virus; Cyber security; Malware; Protection.
Refer to Fact sheet 3 “Media and information literacy”; 9 “Privacy and security”; 10“Consumer awareness”.

Phubbing■ A portmanteau of the words “phone” and “snubbing”, when a mobile phone

is pulled out or used during face-to-face interaction, effectively snubbing the nonphone user. For DCE, phubbing diminishes the quality of human interaction, which
is an essential process in citizenship.

Refer to Fact sheet 6 “e-Presence and communications”.

Privacy
The right of personal privacy transcribes online as the possibility to store and sharedata and display content pertaining to oneself. For DCE, the challenges relate todisclosure and its risks to well-being, cyberbullying, e-presence and commercial
profiling.
See also: Data; Digital footprint; e-Presence; Protection.
Refer to Fact sheet 3 “Media and information literacy”; 9 “Privacy and security”; 10“Consumer awareness”.

Profiling■ The process of examining the data available in an existing database and of

applying statistics to provide metrics about people or other phenomena. It enables
data quality and data repurposing for other contexts and applications (like learning
analytics for instance). For DCE, the challenges are about awareness of this gatheringof data and possible misuses to nudge consumption and intrude on privacy.
See also: Big data; Data; Digital footprint; Privacy.
Refer to Fact sheet 9 “Privacy and security”.

Protection■ The right to online data protection is closely linked to security and privacy andenshrined in the General Data Protection Regulation. It transcribes as the responsibility
to keep digital activities safe by ensuring that data are not stolen or used by third
parties without the user’s consent and knowledge. For DCE, the challenges relate
to the risks to privacy and security in national and cross-border contexts.
See also: Consumer awareness; Data; Digital identity; Privacy; Traces.
Refer to Fact sheet 3 “Media and information literacy”; 9 “Privacy and security”; 10“Consumer awareness”.
Page 10 Digital citizenship education handbook

Robot■ A machine programmed by computer that carries out tasks automatically. It canreplace humans in repetitive or dangerous activities. An internet robot or “bot” is a
software application or intelligent agent that runs automated tasks on the internet,
like web crawling, to analyse files from web servers. Chat bots are used to converse innatural language with users and social bots are employed in social media networks
to generate messages. For DCE, the concerns are about ethical challenges linked
to the risk of increased autonomy of robots and their replacing human functions(work, war or teaching).
See also: Artificial intelligence; Internet of citizens; Internet of things.
Refer to Fact sheet 2 “Learning and creativity”.

Search engine■ A software system designed to search for information on the World Wide Web

and retrieve it for users. The information may be a mix of different types of files(including web pages and images). They can be used for data mining with specificalgorithms. For DCE, the challenges are about risks connected to the manipulationof searches for political, commercial and other reasons.
See also: Browser Data; Digital footprint; Digital identity; Privacy.
Refer to Fact sheet 3 “Media and information literacy”.

Security■ Security refers to the processes and practices for handling and protecting

personal information and data from unauthorised access and usage, and defending
computers, servers and mobile devices, electronic systems and networks from dataleakages and malicious attacks. For DCE, knowledge of the challenges posed by
security is crucial to a healthy and balanced perception of the risks and opportunities
of online-offline relations.
See also: Cyber-security; Well-being.
Refer to Fact sheet 9 “Privacy and security”.

Selfie■ A self-portrait, taken from a smartphone and shared online via social media.

For DCE, the challenges concern harmful content and harmful behaviour connected
to cyberbullying, eating disorders and the impact on emotional life.
See also: Empathy; e-Presence; e-Reputation.
Refer to Fact sheet 5 “Health and well-being”; 9 “Privacy and security”.

Slacktivism■ A combination of the verb “to slack” and the term “activism” to refer to aminimalist form of online participation. It is a form of criticism for lack of online
engagement, if the activities and performances only consist in liking and sharingor signing petitions.
See also: Netizen; Participation.
Refer to Fact sheet 7 “Active participation”.
Page 11

Social media■ A series of applications and services that facilitate social interaction, based ona logic of sharing data and content. It has become a generic term used to describesocial networking sites that host communities of members who share interests
and activities. Members have to create user profiles and can share tools to upload
texts, pictures or other files, post messages on message boards and take part inforums. Many social networking sites are barred to children under 13 and provide
safety profile settings, following COPPA (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, a
US Federal Law from 1998). For DCE, the opportunities are numerous: for distancelearning (MOOCs) or for enabling citizens to overcome former social and physicalbarriers to obtain new professional qualifications. The risks are linked to challenges
to privacy and security.
See also: Empathy; e-Reputation; Fake news; Selfie; Traces.
Refer to Fact sheet 1 “Access and inclusion”; 3 “Media and information literacy”.

Terms of service (TOS)■ Also known as terms of use (TOU), rules to which one must agree in order to

use an online service. They tend to be merely a disclaimer, especially regarding theuse of websites.
See also: App; Privacy; Social media.
Refer to Fact sheet 10 “Consumer awareness”.

Traces■ The history of activities of an internet user as a result of his/her online navigation.
The activities fall into three categories of data: information deliberately provided(name, for example), information collected by third parties (such as cookies) andinformation provided inadvertently (for example, through comments). Traces aretransformed into big data and are mined via algorithms. For DCE, they raise issuesof privacy and safety.
See also: Data; e-Presence; Digital footprint; Privacy.
Refer to Fact sheet 9 “Privacy and security”.

Troll■ A person who sows discord online by posting inflammatory messages, often

off-topic in a community (a newsgroup or chat room). The intent is to disrupt a
community, to upset other people and to elicit emotional responses, either for fun
or for political reasons.
See also: Cyberbullying; Fake news; Social media; Virality.
Refer to Fact sheet 3 “Media and information literacy”; 4 “Ethics and empathy”; 9 “Privacy and security”.

Video game
■ A game that allows its players to actively interact with the worlds they enter.
The players can see everything from the perspective of the character (in the first
person) or from multiple combinations of perspectives, such as massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs). Different video game genres exist,

Page 12 Digital citizenship education handbook

based on their gameplay interaction rather than narrative qualities. The advance of
virtual reality and augmented reality production values have produced more lifelike
games, some of which are also used for learning. In DCE, video games and other
online amusements for children can be challenging in terms of addiction, well-being,
privacy and consumer awareness.
See also: Augmented reality (AR); Consumer awareness; Digital footprint;
Virtual reality (VR).
Refer to Fact sheet 1 “Access and inclusion”; 2 “Learning and creativity”; 10 “Consumerawareness”.

Virality■ A behaviour like that of a virus, an infectious agent that can be contagious. It

is associated with the ubiquity of the internet and the speed of dissemination of
information. It appears in viral marketing (using social media to spread a commercial
message), in viral videos or rumours that attain wide-scale popularity even though
their origin is dubious. For DCE, it raises issues around cyberbullying and privacy.
See also: Anti-virus; Fake news; Hashtag; Empathy; Privacy; Social media.
Refer to Fact sheet 3 “Media and information literacy”.

Virtual reality (VR)■ A technology that allow users to wear a specific item of hardware (a headset

usually composed of headphones and glasses that include small screens) and withwhich users interact in a digital environment in such a way that it simulates theuser’s presence in a real or imaginary situation. It is widely used in video games,
simulations and tourism experiences.
See also: Augmented reality (AR); Video game.
Refer to Fact sheet 2 “Learning and creativity”; 5 “Health and well-being”; 10 “Consumer awareness”.

VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol)■ An IT technique for delivering voice communications and multimedia commu-

nications over the internet via internet protocol (IP). For DCE, it attracts attention
because much of today’s interaction among teenagers is reduced to the bare bonesof sound, simple images or written language.
See also: App; Chat room; Social media.
Refer to Fact sheet 2 “Learning and creativity”; 6 “e-Presence and communications”.

Well-being■ A general term for the healthy condition of an individual or group. A high level ofwell-being is desirable for a positive sense of self and community. Online ­well-being
relates to emotions, empathy, engagement in activities, social relationships andaccomplishment of goals. For DCE, the challenges surround the risks to health andwell-being, such as cyberbullying and trolling.

See also: Anti-virus; Cyber security; Empathy; Traces.
Refer to Fact sheet 5 “Health and well-being”; 6 “e-Presence and communications”.
Page 13

About the authors■ Janice Richardson has been a consultant in children’s rights online for several

decades. She was Co-ordinator of the European Commission’s 30-country-wide Insafe
network until 2014 and more recently of the ENABLE anti-bullying network. Janicealso sits on Facebook’s Safety Advisory Board.

■ Dr Elizabeth Milovidov J.D. is an eSafety consultant with more than 20 years’

experience as an attorney, law professor and child rights advocate. Her mission isto empower parents and children on internet, technology and social media issues.
She is also the founder of DigitalParentingCoach.com.

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www.coe.int

The Council of Europe is the continent’s leading humanrights organisation. It comprises 47 member states,
including all members of the European Union. All Councilof Europe member states have signed up to the European
Convention on Human Rights, a treaty designed toprotect human rights, democracy and the rule of law.
The European Court of Human Rights oversees theimplementation of the Convention in the member states.