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Digital citizenship and its relevance for literacy education: perspectives of preservice teachers

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Abstract

This research examines preservice teachers’ perspectives on digital citizenship and its relevance for literacy education. Digital citizenship has been explored in various ways in recent decades, primarily in the educational technology literature, and prominent themes of digital citizenship include the use of safely, responsibly, and productively using technology to engage in digital spaces. However, limited research has explored preservice teachers’ perspectives on digital citizenship, particularly as relates to literacy education. This qualitative case study investigates the views of 111 preservice teachers enrolled in a teacher preparation program in the Midwestern United States on digital citizenship and its relevance for literacy education. Data analysis of participants’ written reflections revealed four primary themes of digital citizenship that align with concepts, skills, and goals in literacy education: well-informed citizens, community engagement and activism, safety, and technological know-how. These themes also connect to digital literacies. Given the commonalities between digital citizenship and literacy education, explicit integration of digital citizenship curricula into literacy education can connect important and discrete digital literacy skills into more cohesive educational units that empower children to safely and productively utilize digital technologies to promote meaningful change in their communities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Missouri, 211 Townsend Hall, Columbia, MO, USA

    Sam von Gillern, Hillary Gould & Brandon Haskey-Valerius

  2. University of Georgia, 301L Aderhold Hall, Athens, GA, USA

    Madison Gannon

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  1. Sam von Gillern
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  2. Hillary Gould
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  3. Madison Gannon
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  4. Brandon Haskey-Valerius
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Contributions

Von Gillern conceptualized the study, led data collection, contributed to data analysis, and was the lead writer for the manuscript. Gould co-led data analysis and contributed to writing the manuscript. Gannon contributed to writing the manuscript. Haskey-Valerius co-led data analysis.

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Correspondence to Sam von Gillern.

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Ethical clearance for this study was provided by the University of Missouri Institutional Review Board (Project Number 2052602) in alignment with guidelines from the United States Department of Health and Human Services. All study participants consented to participate in this study.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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von Gillern, S., Gould, H., Gannon, M. et al. Digital citizenship and its relevance for literacy education: perspectives of preservice teachers. AJLL 47, 73–90 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s44020-024-00059-5

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