Youth and Digital Citizenship+ (Plus)

Have you ever wondered what types of skills young people should learn to meaningfully engage academically, socially, ethically, politically, and economically online? How can schools, educators, and parents and caregivers embrace the opportunities to support young people in becoming digital citizens? 

Understanding the skills youth need for a digital world has become a topic of growing importance among decision-makers around the globe, with different stakeholders and communities rethinking what meaningful learning environments, modes of engagement, and educational content should entail. 

Youth and Digital Citizenship+ (Plus): Understanding Skills for a Digital World — by Sandra Cortesi, Alexa Hasse, Andres Lombana-Bermudez, Sonia Kim, and Urs Gasser — maps the current discourse around youth (ages 12-18) and digital citizenship. The report focuses on several key questions: 

• Why has the concept of digital citizenship become central in discussions about youth, education, and learning in the 21st century? 
• How is the concept of digital citizenship similar to or different from other concepts, such as digital literacy, media literacy, new media literacies, 21st century skills, or digital competence? 
• Based on a mapping of 35 frameworks, what does the current digital citizenship landscape address, and to what extent are youth’s voices included in the development, implementation, and evaluation of digital citizenship initiatives? 
• What are key considerations for learning spaces and meaningful youth engagement?
• How can we address underexplored areas, such as artificial intelligence and data? 

The report accompanies the Youth and Media team’s educational platform, which offers 100+ educational tools that can be implemented in formal or informal learning spaces. 

Youth and Digital Citizenship+ (Plus): Understanding Skills for a Digital World is one of the Youth and Media team’s “spotlights”  — briefing documents that showcase the ways youth engage with the digital landscape, and what opportunities and challenges emerge from it. Additional recent spotlights include “Youth and Artificial Intelligence: Where We Stand” and “Youth and Cyberbullying: Another Look.”