Educating Digital Citizens: An Opportunity to Critical and Activist Perspective of Sustainable Development Goals

Abstract

The 2030 Agenda sets out seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The educational goal is to promote the education of citizens on sustainable development, among other things. Educating today’s digital citizens on sustainability means training them for justice and social activism, commitment and political engagement. However, research into the subject shows a lack of consistency in the education of university students. This paper presents a study of students of Education, on education on sustainability through the practice of active and critical digital citizenship. A quasi-experimental method was used to learn about the behaviors of digital citizens, and intervention was carried out by means of an SDG-focused workshop and observation of the final level of commitment. The results show a positive level of commitment and digital activism around content related to sustainable development, which can be addressed from the university syllabus in a cross-curricular way.

The Learning of E-Sustainability Competences: A Comparative Study between Future Early Childhood and Primary School Teachers

“…Fulfilling the 2030 Agenda necessarily requires the improvement of digital competences across society. In this scenario, the training of future teachers becomes a fundamental element, since the attitudes and behaviours of subsequent generations are, to a large extent, dependent on their knowledge of the sustainable use of technology [31,32]. Based on this premise, the aim of this study was to identify the existence of possible differences in the learning of digital competences in sustainability among future Early Childhood and Primary School teachers.…”

“…(3) participation in collaborative processes that favour digital sustainability; and (4) the use of ethical principles related to personal and professional behaviour. With regard to future teachers, these competences acquire even more relevance, since the behaviour of future generations is largely mediated by teacher training in this area [31,32]. In fact, Dziminska et al [33] and Zamora-Polo and Sánchez-Martín [34] underline the important role that Higher Education institutions have to play in this field.…”

Sustainability and Educational Technology—A Description of the Teaching Self-Concept

“…However, their voices confirm the limited knowledge and training they showed in the descriptive study, insisting on the need to be trained both on the eco-responsible use of ICT in the classroom and how to teach it. It seems that the training is again perceived as the main problem and the main solution: therefore, this profile, based on an active and critical digital citizenship [78], could and should be promoted by teachers' initial and continuous training centers [12].…”

Communication, Social Networks and Sustainable Development Goals: A Reflection From the Perspective of Social Marketing and Happiness Management in the General Elections in Spain

“…In this sense, at the United Nations Rio de Janeiro Conference on Sustainable Development (RIO+20) in 2012, 17 Sustainable Development Goals were developed to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure peace and prosperity for people (United Nations, 2021 ). Some examples of research on sustainability focus on methodologies in different contexts such as education, such as the study by Lozano-Díaz and Fernández-Prados ( 2020 ). They proposed a research project on global and social citizenship under cyberactivism in university students of Education.…”