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Second Handbook of Information Technology in Primary and Secondary Education pp 53–68Cite as

Digital Citizenship and Social Media: A Curriculum Perspective

Part of the Springer International Handbooks of Education book series (SIHE)

Abstract

The escalating speed of technological development, particularly the pervasive accessibility of the Internet and the rise of social media in the twenty-first century, creates unprecedented opportunities for empowerment and connectedness to individuals and communities. It has also brought challenges and changes to the concept of citizenship and how it is enacted. Especially, the phenomenal growth of the Internet revolutionizes people’s sociopolitical and civic engagement, engendering a more self-actualized form of citizenship (Bennett 2008), and directly influencing the process of democratization (Ferdinand 2000) and the processes of social and political decision-making. This chapter provides a brief overview on how the concept of “citizenship,” which has traditionally been inextricably tied to the geopolitical realities of specific nation states, is changing in the twenty-first century due to the pervasive impact of technology, particularly that of globalization and ubiquitous connectedness through social media. We further discuss the implications of these changes on citizenship education, in terms of the conceptualization of digital citizenship, what constitutes a digital citizenship curriculum, and the challenges in its implementation.

Keywords

  • Digital citizenship
  • Global citizenship
  • Social media
  • Citizenship education

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the support given by the Research Grants Council of the HKSAR Government, #T44-707/16/N, under the Theme-based Research Scheme.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

    Nancy Law, Siu-Lun Chow & King-Wa Fu

Authors
  1. Nancy Law
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  2. Siu-Lun Chow
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  3. King-Wa Fu
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nancy Law .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Prof. Dr. Joke Voogt

  2. University of North Texas, Denton, Texas, USA

    Gerald Knezek

  3. University of North Texas, Denton, Texas, USA

    Rhonda Christensen

  4. University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Kwok-Wing Lai

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Law, N., Chow, SL., Fu, KW. (2018). Digital Citizenship and Social Media: A Curriculum Perspective. In: Voogt, J., Knezek, G., Christensen, R., Lai, KW. (eds) Second Handbook of Information Technology in Primary and Secondary Education . Springer International Handbooks of Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71054-9_3

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