Abstract Book of the 8th International Conference on Research in Social Sciences and Humanities
Year: 2025
[PDF]
Shaping Digital Citizens: Media Education Through the Narratives of Youth
Prof. dr. Mateja Rek
ABSTRACT:
Media education is important for digital citizenship becouse it gives people the tools to navigate, understand and participate in the digital world responsibly and effectively. With so much relevant digital content online, media education can guide people to be able to better evaluate digital sources, indetify disinformation and understand biases. Media users should learn how media messages can shape their views, values and choices, whether it’s politics or consumer habits. Properly understanding how digital media works helps people to become more informed and responsible digital citizens. A digital citizen is someone who builds a wide range of skills that allow them to take part in their communities, both online and offline, in a responsible and positive ways. As digital technologies are constantly changing and evolving, such competence building is a lifelong process that should begin in childhood, both at home and in schools.
In this presentation narratives of youth, gathered in focus groups, will be used to examine how the existing media education of children and youth in Slovenia supports the development of such competences. Insights into how youth themselves perceive how they were media educated growing up in our society will be provided. Analysis of their narratives will give us an opportunity to better assess, whether current educational practices resonate with the needs and expectations of youth living in a digitally saturated world. The goal is to inform the development of digital citizenship education to better prepare young people to engage responsibly in digital environments.
Keywords: critical thinking, digital citizenship, digital citizenship education, digital media, media education