Topic 1: What is Student Digital Civic Engagement?

SDCE_clowdThe learning objective of this topic is to understand the concept of student digital civic engagement. Learners will be introduced about the differences between the concepts of civic engagement, digital civic engagement and student digital civic engagement. The topic focuses on building a basic knowledge base about student digital civic engagement.

 

SDCE1-1Student digital civic engagement encompasses a broad field that crosses different terms:

Civic Engagement is a form of engagement undertaken by an individual or group that focuses on participation in either political activities, community activities or both (e.g., voting, attending community meetings, contacting public officials, participating in protests, signing petitions, or writing articles about one’s community). Civic engagement is committed for the best interest of the community and focuses on better quality of life in a just and democratic way.

Digital civic engagement refers to civic engagement activities that happen through the use of digital tools. It covers more conventional forms of activities (e.g., reading and circulating news, writing emails to an elected representative or community organization, or belonging to a campus or community group online), and more digitally mediated forms of interaction (e.g., writing blogs, creating petition platforms, or crowdfunding sites and using social network tools).

Student civic engagement occurs when students engage in civic activities within higher education institutions. These activities can be optional (e.g., volunteering in a student union, engaging as a mentor), or can be part of study programmes (e.g., as a service-learning coursework).

 

Student digital civic engagement comprises both, the civic and digital component: It refers to civic engagement activities carried out by students as they use digital tools to convey and perform their civic action.

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This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. The author is solely responsible for this publication (communication) and the Commission accepts no responsibility for any use may be made of the information contained therein.