10/29/20 · Research

Internet, a place for young people to channel their political engagement

A new UOC study is looking at the potential of digital social education to empower young people and leverage the internet to galvanize their civic and political engagement

The COVID-19 pandemic has further exposed the digital divide that can only be bridged through universal digital literacy
Photo: StartupStockPhotos / Pixabay

Photo: StartupStockPhotos / Pixabay

Battling fake news with pedagogy and critical thinking, and algorithmic ideology with our digital sense of direction. That is how we ensure the internet remains a space for civic and political engagement, for young people too. This is one of the conclusions presented in Educación social digital: una revisión sistemática, a systematic review of social digital education published in Spanish by the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC). According to the new report, digital social education is a future-charged tool that can contribute to the inclusion and empowerment of young people, while also strengthening society's civic engagement and democratic ideals.

Daniel Aranda, deputy dean of research at the UOC's Faculty of Information and Communication Sciences, said: "It's about exploring how the digital tools we have at our disposal now can help us to get young people to take critical stances, even when it comes to these very same tools". According to Aranda, the study is just wrapping up stage one, with research set to continue over the next 18 months.

The overarching research project, titled Educació social digital: joventut, ciutadania activa i inclusió (Digital social education: youth, active citizenship and inclusion), is funded by the Generación de Conocimiento (Knowledge Generation) programme run by Spain's State Research Agency. Signing the study are Pedro Fernández de Castro, student on the UOC's doctoral programme in Humanities and Communication; Segundo Moyano, professor and researcher at the UOC Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences; Daniel Aranda himself, and Víctor Sampedro, from Universidad Rey Juan Carlos. The research venture targets three key points: the notion of citizenship in the digital era (specifically young people's digital engagement), digital literacy, and the impact of digital education on social inclusion and youth empowerment.

Segundo Moyano stressed that "digital access cannot be a privilege; it needs to be thought of as a right". He also said: "By democratizing this access we enhance the possibility of social and political engagement." Accordingly, the study is working to track and describe how digital tools are used today, as well as the possibilities they hold for the future, for instance in terms of raising the visibility of social minorities.

In this regard, the researchers are exploring three aspects: internet uses and their ability to galvanize citizens' political activity, the development of critical pedagogy in the digital environment, and the setting of standards for social digital education. Therefore, the younger population is just as much the subject of study as it is the potential beneficiary of the resulting critical pedagogy. According to Moyano, the question lies in bringing "other viewpoints" into education, in putting digital social education within reach of the education community. In other words, the endgame is to devise "a tool for critically analysing the digital society itself".

Technology users of the future

To gain a better understanding of the current state of research in this area, Fernández, Sampedro, Moyano and Aranda carried out a systematic review of the scientific literature published over the past five years on citizenship, literacy and social education, especially anything to do with the digital environment. Understanding the present-day state of affairs is crucial if we are to get a glimpse of what technology users will be like in the future. The investigators foresee three possible scenarios: thinking solely of the labour market in a "postdemocratic society" dominated by corporations, they say that the future will be home to savvy digital users. Contrarily, these users could end up being individualistic and superficial "digital nomads" if a new capitalist economy is what awaits us. Finally, future technology users could become integral members of a "collective action", where institutions are places for exploring new, "more equitable and sustainable" ways of living together.

This third possible scenario is the most civic-minded, making it the one that best reflects the objectives set by the researchers. "The addictive nature and potential for manipulation that we tend to attribute to digital technologies also have to do with the political, social and economic structure of the society we live in," said Moyano, who added, "That's why [digital] social education remains a powerful tool for fostering critical stances".

The impact of COVID-19

According to the authors, the global lockdown brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, in forcing educational institutions to rapidly switch to remote work, has highlighted the pressing need for a digital literacy programme that leaves no one behind. In this respect, they regard digital social education as a means of bridging the digital divide and empowering the most vulnerable sectors in terms of gender, social class or ethnicity.

Over the next 18 months, they will also hone in on other aspects. Aranda laid out one of his concerns: "Digital platforms are being used in the world of education without any consideration for the ideology of these platforms, their business models or their potential implications". For now, the research continues.

This UOC research project promotes Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 (quality education) and 10 (reduced inequalities).

 

Related article

Fernández de Castro, P., Sampedro, V., Aranda, D., & Moyano, S. (September 2020). Educación social digital: una revisión sistemática. DOI: http://doi.org/10.7238/uoc.educacion.social.digital.2020

UOC R&I 

The UOC's research and innovation (R&I) are helping 21st-century global societies to overcome pressing challenges by studying the interactions between ICT and human activity, with a specific focus on e-learning and e-health. Over 400 researchers and 50 research groups work among the University's seven faculties and two research centres: the Internet Interdisciplinary Institute (IN3) and the eHealth Center (eHC).

The United Nations' 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and open knowledge serve as strategic pillars for the UOC's teaching, research and innovation. More information:research.uoc.edu#UOC25years

Press contact

You may also be interested in…

Most popular

See more on Research