TOJET: The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology – April 2019, volume 18 issue 2

new literacies are a right of individuals and a necessary condition for social and democratic development in 21stcentury society” [p13].
This perspective has led to a redefinition of the public (state, nation) and private toward the creation of new
scenarios of social interaction and democracy in which all citizens participate (Sancho, Hernández and Rivera,
2016). However, it has also been suggested that digital citizenship has generated inequality in certain sectors of
society, widening the digital divide, particularly in developing countries (Crandall and Fisher, 2009, cited in
Sancho, Hernández and Rivera, 2016; Rahm & Fejes, 2017)..
In this context, the notion of empowerment represents the attempt to grant each person or group decision-making
power, highlighting the role of citizenship in facilitating democracy and increasing the capacity to exercise
power rather than to delegate it. This notion has gained strength with the emergence of Information and
Communication Technologies (ICTs), sparking new proposals such as the concept of open government (Cáceres,
Brändle, & Ruiz, 2015; Hivon & Titah, 2017), where citizens are allowed to access state data and thus launch a
debate with solid arguments.
Other authors such as Burridge 2010 and Missingham 2009 cited in Gazi (2016), propose that the international
promotion of digital citizenship increases generational empathy, thereby encouraging common norms for
behavior in digital society.
Other studies reveal that ICTs have allowed citizens to gain access to information on voter intention and increase
the transparency of information, increase trust in institutions and government, and monitor the behavior of
politicians and government representatives. However, these technologies have not facilitated true citizen
participation in which citizens can make proposals, and all sectors of the population are included (AlcaideMuñoz, Rodríguez-Bolívar, Cobo, & Herrera-Viedma, 2017; Sampedro, Sánchez & Poletti, 2013).
3.2 Overview of instruments and programs focused on digital citizenship
Proposed instruments for measuring digital citizenship include self-report scales that consider behavior,
cognition and social context, such as the instruments developed by Choi, Glassman and Cristol, (2017), in
contrast to scales that inquire about the concept of digital citizenship, such as those developed by Cabrera,
Marín, Rodríguez and Espín, (2005). The studies by Aytekin and Ozlem, 2013 found that the levels of digital
citizenship are influenced by hours of internet use per day, the purpose of internet use, the use of devices to
connect to the internet and the use of social networks by students. Researchers recommend that similar studies be
conducted with other populations, along with the inclusion of new variables that can influence the development
of digital citizenship.
The instruments also focus on measuring various skills, including citizenship and digital literacy, information
management, collaboration, communication, the creation of content and knowledge, the evaluation and
resolution of problems and technical operations. All the considered skills imply learning throughout one’s life
and the productive use of technology (Techataweewan & Prasertsin, 2017).
Other studies have found a relationship between the use of social networks and citizen participation, specifically
for a group of women belonging to rural areas who engage in scant digital citizen participation through these
means (Jiménez, 2016). Echoing these findings regarding the use of social networks and citizen participation,
studies conducted in North America reveal the efficiency of sending government information through social
networks to complement the government services provided to citizens (Gao & Lee, 2017).
Studies also report on programs to empower citizens, providing information about local, state and federal
governments using simulators of citizen participation processes (Blevins, LeCompte & Wells, 2014). Other
programs involve the use of instruments for strengthening student commitment to civic education by integrating
multimodal instruction methods in the classroom, such as those developed by Pellegrino, Zenkov, and Calamito,
2013. With respect to classroom activities, some studies reveal that schools that implement dialogue with
students promote the development of civic behavior and active citizen participation. These initiatives include
topics such as civic participation and local, state and federal government, in which the emphasis rests on civic
disposition and commitment (Blevins, LeCompte, & Wells, 2014).
Internet use appears to be associated with greater citizen participation in digital spaces, consistent with the
findings of Toks Oyedemi, 2015. Similar studies include Gozálvez, 2011, who finds that technology enriches
democratic processes and citizen participation as well as citizen initiatives (Espaliú, 2015). Thus, the idea of the
internet as a space for engaging public matters has grown stronger, as highlighted above by the different
functionalities acquired by social networks, namely, providing simultaneous and multiple communication,
facilitating faster transmissions of communicative and activist information (Hernández, Robles & Martínez,
2013; Gonzalez-Lizarraga, Becerra & Yanez-Diaz, 2016).

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