Digital Citizenship and Education in Turkey: Experiences, the Present and the Future

Abstract

Since the late twentieth century, the use of technology has become widespread, affecting social life in different parts of the world, especially in countries with developed economies. As an economically developing country, the use of computers and the Internet in Turkey has increased rapidly since the 2000s. In this context, individual and social life is going through a process of digitalization. This process of technology-based change and transformation has added several new meanings of the concept and practice of citizenship. Today, which has been called an age of information-communication technologies, one of the new forms of citizenship is digital citizenship. This form of citizenship, which includes the use of Internet-based technologies in an effective, safe, and ethical manner, has begun to occupy an important place in Turkey’s education system. The process of developing the technological competences of citizens and equipping them with the knowledge, skills, and values they need to use this technology correctly, namely, digital citizenship education, consists of two dimensions: the technical and effective. The technical dimension aims to teach computer and Internet-based technology knowledge to the students during the education process from primary school until university. The effective dimension includes focuses on students’ ability to use technological tools, primarily the computer and the Internet, in a safe and ethical manner within the scope of social studies, the main aim of which to deliver an effective and democratic citizenship education. In examining the field, this chapter argues that both dimensions are important and should be provided to students within their digital citizenship education.