CONTEXT Active citizens form the backbone of a strong democracy, sustainable growth and an inclusive society. HEIs encourage civic engagement either as an optional activity (extra-curricular activities) or (less often) as part of their study programmes (earning credits) offering engagement methods such as volunteering in a student union, in mentoring, or engaging in service-learning. However, against the background of the current pandemic and resulting European solidarity movement, there are strong arguments in favour of awarding civic engagement a larger role, not as a “third mission” activity but intrinsically linked to the quality of teaching/learning across all disciplines. Researchers have found “a consistent and statistically significant relationship between civic engagement and academic engagement”. Students who engage in civic issues engage in academic praxis, linking theory to action; they strengthen key competences of critical thinking, communication and collaboration; and they develop emotional intelligence and conscientious empathy as part of a community. Digital tools widen opportunities for civic engagement. The creative use of digital technology not only solves problems and enhances efficiency, it is transformative, offering qualitatively new areas of engagement, from transparency and big data, to collective campaigns and more. OBJECTIVE & ACTIVITIES More needs to be done to innovate in the teaching of civic engagement. In response, our objective is clear: empower students to become confident civic engagers making the most of digital technology available to them. To achieve this, we will work with HE managers and academic staff to introduce a flexible civic engagement syllabus that works across subjects and disciplines. Our specific objectives are: i) Increase awareness & commitment in 240 HEIs regarding the benefits of teaching digital civic engagement. ii) Train 30 teaching staff & reach 180 more to increase their digital pedagogic skills and align civic engagement with their academic programmes of study. iii) Maximise the number of students learning & participating in digital civic engagement through self-led online learning which complements academic study. Our Project targets 3 Groups of PARTICIPANTS: STUDENTS are concerned about social/environmental issues but are inhibited from taking action because of large workloads and lack of knowledge. ACADEMIC STAFF will update their knowledge both on digital tools for engagement, but more importantly, on the new pedagogic approaches that are required to use them effectively. HE MANAGERS need scalable, practical ways to integrate European values into taught programmes. We will produce 4 main RESULTS: IO1: GUIDE TO DIGITAL CIVIC ENGAGEMENT. A publication which makes a clear case for the relevance of Digital Civic Engagement, how it relates to both pillars of teaching and academic outcomes, and how it can be taught effectively in HE. IO2: DIGITAL CIVIC ENGAGEMENT TOOLKIT. The Toolkit will provide practical guidance and tools for HEI educators wishing to incorporate Digital Civic Engagement activities into their curricula/teaching strategies, with a particular focus on increasing their confidence in using digital tools. IO3: DIGITAL CIVIC ENGAGEMENT SYLLABUS & OERS. Including a syllabus, learning objectives, lesson plans, assessment guides, and access to a variety of original teaching content & pedagogies, these resources will provide academic staff with a complete toolkit for introducing civic theory, engaging students in real-life examples that are relevant to their topic of study. IO4: DIGITAL CIVIC ENGAGEMENT MOOC. Based on the OERs, this open online learning course provides students & staff with an additional space in which to develop their digital civic engagement skills in a user-friendly format. IMPACT: Student DCE is not only designed to impact on hundreds, and later thousands, of students & those who educate and tutor them; it is designed to generate systemic change at local, regional, national and international levels. LOCAL IMPACT Local communities can prosper when all citizens have equal opportunities to participate in the economy and society. By improving the quality and accessibility of civic engagement education for students, communities will experience an increase in social and knowledge capital and more empowered as leaders of projects which contribute to a more inclusive and just society. REGIONAL IMPACT Digital civic engagement is a powerful force driving change across societies. In addition, the perception of students as agents of change, with the ideas, abilities and opportunities to make a difference to their communities should be fostered. NATIONAL & EU IMPACT At national & EU level the project will impact on the HE Provision by showing how it can and must adjust its provision to develop new types of competences so that students are better equipped to prosper in the uncertain times and in the digital era.
More needs to be done to innovate the DIGITAL in civic engagement. In response, our objective was to empower students to become digital civic engagers making the most of digital technology available to them. To achieve this, we worked with HE managers and educators to introduce a flexible civic engagement syllabus that works across subjects and disciplines. Our specific objectives were: i) Increase awareness & commitment in HEIs regarding the benefits of digital civic engagement. ii) Train teaching staff to increase their digital skills and align civic engagement with their academic study programmes. iii) Maximise the number of students learning & participating in digital civic engagement through self-led online learning in a MOOC which complements academic study.
Active students in higher education form the backbone of strong democratic and inclusive universities. The interplay between democracy and civic engagement of students has frequently been subject to scientific debate and investigation. However, since the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, a new connection needs to be made to DIGITAL civic engagement (DCE). Student civic engagement in higher education can take place either within study programs (e.g., Service-Learning) or in extracurricular activities (e.g., volunteering in a student union) (McIlrath & Tansey 2013). It enhances the social and cultural capital of the participating students and raises awareness for diverse community needs and social problems (Mooney & Edwards 2001). Moreover, it fosters students’ civic responsibility and equips them with the necessary competences for facing societal challenges (Watkins et al. 2015). As the COVID-19 pandemic challenged solidarity by calling on everyone in society to consider the specific circumstances of the vulnerable, students demonstrated that they were willing to engage and address the different problems it caused. They offered free child or pet care, provided pick-up and drop-off services, and ran errands for the elderly (Klasen et al. 2020). The effects of the pandemic have accorded student civic engagement a larger role, especially in a digital arena (Dubow et al. 2017). The creative use of digital technology generates the potential to broaden and enrich the field of student engagement. However, despite extensive research on students’ civic engagement, its connection to digital technologies is less explored. This is the main aim of the S-DCE project.