En rad problem uppstår när världen blir allt mer digitaliserad. När samhället och dess bärande tjänster förflyttas från det fysiska mötet till den digitala arenan riskerar människor med bristande digitala kompetenser att bli exkluderade. I och med detta demokratiproblem har biblioteken tilldelats en del av ansvaret för att arbeta med dessa frågor genom uppdraget som kunskapsspridare inom IT. I tidigare studier har det framkommit att det finns oklarheter i hur detta uppdrag ska tolkas, att det finns bristande digitala kompetenser för att utföra uppdraget, samt att biblioteket har en viktig samhällelig roll i dessa frågor. Denna intervjustudie utförd i Stockholmsregionen har haft för avsikt att undersöka bibliotekariers syn på de utmaningar detta uppdrag innebär, samt att applicera det teoretiska ramverket DigComp för att utforska vilka digitala kompetenser som relaterar till biblioteksbesökarnas hjälpbehov i digitala frågor. Studiens teoretiska analys visar att besökarnas digitala hjälpbehov i olika grad relaterar till alla de kompetensområden DigComp presenterar vilket kan bidra till att sätta ord på besökarnas hjälpbehov, utröna vilka digitala kompetenser bibliotekspersonal kan tänkas behöva inneha samt bidra till beslutsprocessen kring vad uppdraget inom det digitala området bör innefatta. Studiens tematiska analys visar att informanterna delvis inte har den tid, det intresse eller de digitala och pedagogiska kompetenser som krävs för att kunna fullfölja det uppdrag som tilldelats. Det kan därför också ses som paradoxalt att denna yrkesgrupp tilldelats detta uppdrag. / A series of problems arise when the world becomes increasingly digital. When society and its supporting services move from physical meetings to the digital arena, individuals with lacking digital competences risk being excluded. Due to this democracy problem the Swedish public libraries have been assigned one part of the responsibility to convey knowledge regarding information technology. In previous studies it has been found that there are uncertainties in how this commission is to be interpreted, that the librarians are lacking digital competences for fulfilling this task and that the library also has an important societal role to play in these issues. This interview study conducted within the Stockholm region has been designed to investigate the librarians' views on the challenges posed by this commission, as well as applying the theoretical framework DigComp to explore which digital competences are related to library visitors' digital needs. The theoretical analysis of this study shows that the visitors' digital needs relate to all of the competences presented in DigComp in various degree. This knowledge can help to express which competences relate to the needs of visitors, identify the digital competences that library staff may need to possess and contribute to the decision-making process regarding what the mission within the digital field should include. The thematic analysis of the study shows that the interviewed librarians in part do not have the time, interest or digital and educational competences required to complete the assignment commissioned to the public libraries. It can therefore also be seen as paradoxical that this profession of librarians has been assigned to this specific task.

Limited research has focused on the knowledge, beliefs, and professional practices of elementary educators related to digital citizenship. The purpose of this study was to identify elementary educators' knowledge and beliefs about digital citizenship, as well as understand their plans and implemented practices, supports, and barriers related to digital citizenship instruction. This study was grounded in Mezirow's theory of transformative learning, Siemen's theory of connectivism, and Ribble's concept of digital citizenship. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze data collected from an original survey instrument developed from the literature by the researcher. Participants were recruited using publicly accessible email addresses and the monthly newsletter from Hawaii Society for Technology Education; a total of 74 educators completed the survey. All educators in the district who met the demographic criteria of working at the elementary level as a teacher, curriculum coordinator, or technology coordinator were welcome to participate in the study. Data were analyzed for frequencies and percentages to develop generalized statements about the population. The results indicated, on average, that educators rated themselves with high knowledge and beliefs about digital citizenship concepts with the exception of digital law. Additionally, correlational analysis revealed schools with greater adoption rates of 1:1 technology-device integration had a significant impact on professional practices in digital citizenship implementation and overall instructional practices. This research study contributes to positive social change by helping educational leaders identify what is needed to support educators in teaching with digital citizenship, and especially in supporting those educators in schools which are further behind in adopting 1:1 technology integration.

Gli sviluppi tecnologici vissuti nell'ultimo quarto di secolo hanno determinato forti mutamenti non solo nella materialità dell'esistere, ma anche nella dimensione spirituale della persona. L'avvento della cittadinanza digitale ha obbligato ad un ripensamento del catalogo dei diritti e delle forme di esercizio degli stessi. La libertà religiosa, tanto nella sua dimensione individuale quanto in quella associata non solo ha subito l'influenza di tali cambiamenti, ma si è dimostrata in molti casi settore privilegiato per verificare la validità delle nuove forme di governo derivanti dallo sviluppo sempre più massiccio delle tecnologie informatiche. A partire, dunque, da un ripensamento dei rapporti tra diritto e religione sono stati individuati alcuni settori specifici di analisi al cui interno saggiare le nuove forme di governo elettronico, per comprendere le nuove declinazioni del diritto di libertà religiosa nella società digitale. Tali settori sono: la presenza delle confessioni nel sistema della stampa nazionale; il nuovo mondo di Internet e le problematiche connesse alla tutela dei marchi e del sentimento religioso; la presenza delle confessioni religiose nel sistema radio televisivo; la tutela dei dati sensibili religiosi nel nuovo Codice sulla privacy. / Last 25 years, technological developments have determined very important changes both on the material side and on the spiritual one of the people. The introduction of digital citizenship has obliged to rethink the bunch of rights and the way to apply them. The religious freedom, both individually and in association, has suffered the effects of these changes, but moreover has been a preferred sector where testing new governance rules needed to manage the innovations due to constantly increasing presence of information technologies in day by day life. Therefore, starting from a deep rethinking of the relationships between law and religion, some sectors of analysis, where testing new electronic governance rules, has been identified, in order to understand new evolutions of religious freedom rights in the digital society. These sectors are: presence of religious denominations in the national press; Internet world and issues related both to the trademark management and to religious sentiments; presence of religious denominations in radio-TV system; protection of religious sensitive personal data in agreement with the new privacy Code.

This study centres on the psychological effects new digital media, like the internet and cellphones, have on adolescents. Although the internet has enormous benefits, it also poses a host of risks that can make adolescents vulnerable to victimisation and/or developing associated psychosocial problems. Characterisations of adolescents’ social relationships in the internet medium, as well as the investigation of the continuity between digital media literacy and online social behaviours, carry high relevance for developmental psychology. It is during the adolescent period that peer interactions arguably hold the greatest importance for individuals’ social and behavioural functioning. Using a logic model for evaluation, the researcher conducted an exploratory research study on digital media use among adolescent learners aged 13 to 15 years to determine whether schools could guide them to think critically for themselves about the entire realm of these new media. The data were gathered from school principals, teachers, parents and learners from three secondary schools in Gauteng Province, which were purposely selected to represent different socio-economic circumstances. A total of 230 people (n=230) participated in the research. Mixed research methods were employed in this study. The quantitative research methods supported the qualitative research methods. The literature review suggested that current media literacy education, which forms part of the Life Orientation curriculum, does not enable learners to think critically or make informed choices about their behaviour in the digital world – because it incorporates neither ethics nor responsibility. One of the main aims of the study therefore was to investigate the importance of expanding existing media literacy education, namely by incorporating two additional learning categories in the curriculum: Digital Safety and Security, and Digital Citizenship. These additional learning categories were introduced in the form of lessons by the teachers participating in the study. A think aloud strategy was used whereby learners verbalise what they were doing and learning while engaging in the digital media literacy lesson activities. The learners’ verbalisations were used to ascertain what learning was occurring in the classroom. The experimental group demonstrated an increase in critical thinking from pre- to post-evaluation. This research therefore proposes that the signature element of intervention strategies for inappropriate online behaviour be to create a “culture of critical thinking”. This implies greatly reducing the risks cyberspace pose, and at the same time enhancing adolescents’ abilities to use it in ways that create and deepen healthy relationships – in the digital as well as the real world. / Psychology / D. Litt. et Phil. (Psychology)

This study centres on the psychological effects new digital media, like the internet and cellphones, have on adolescents. Although the internet has enormous benefits, it also poses a host of risks that can make adolescents vulnerable to victimisation and/or developing associated psychosocial problems. Characterisations of adolescents’ social relationships in the internet medium, as well as the investigation of the continuity between digital media literacy and online social behaviours, carry high relevance for developmental psychology. It is during the adolescent period that peer interactions arguably hold the greatest importance for individuals’ social and behavioural functioning. Using a logic model for evaluation, the researcher conducted an exploratory research study on digital media use among adolescent learners aged 13 to 15 years to determine whether schools could guide them to think critically for themselves about the entire realm of these new media. The data were gathered from school principals, teachers, parents and learners from three secondary schools in Gauteng Province, which were purposely selected to represent different socio-economic circumstances. A total of 230 people (n=230) participated in the research. Mixed research methods were employed in this study. The quantitative research methods supported the qualitative research methods. The literature review suggested that current media literacy education, which forms part of the Life Orientation curriculum, does not enable learners to think critically or make informed choices about their behaviour in the digital world – because it incorporates neither ethics nor responsibility. One of the main aims of the study therefore was to investigate the importance of expanding existing media literacy education, namely by incorporating two additional learning categories in the curriculum: Digital Safety and Security, and Digital Citizenship. These additional learning categories were introduced in the form of lessons by the teachers participating in the study. A think aloud strategy was used whereby learners verbalise what they were doing and learning while engaging in the digital media literacy lesson activities. The learners’ verbalisations were used to ascertain what learning was occurring in the classroom. The experimental group demonstrated an increase in critical thinking from pre- to post-evaluation. This research therefore proposes that the signature element of intervention strategies for inappropriate online behaviour be to create a “culture of critical thinking”. This implies greatly reducing the risks cyberspace pose, and at the same time enhancing adolescents’ abilities to use it in ways that create and deepen healthy relationships – in the digital as well as the real world. / Psychology / D. Litt. et Phil. (Psychology)