Citizenship and digital education: the seminar at the Pontano Institute in Naples

A seminar for the development of a Curriculum for citizenship and digital education recently concluded. 

The meeting, which took place on September 21st and 22nd at the Pontano Institute in Naples, was chaired by Professor Fabrizio Olati, Technology Coordinator for the Jesuit Education Foundation, and Professor Josephine Vassallo, Global Citizenship Coordinator for the Jesuit Education Foundation. It involved teachers from the St.Ignatius College in Messina, the Massimiliano Massimo Institute in Rome, the Pontano Institute in Naples, the Gonzaga Campus in Palermo, the Social Institute in Turin, and the Leone XIII Institute in Milan. 

The working group, after a thorough analysis of the previously proposed curriculum, collectively shared suggestions and integrations based on the experiences each educational institution had in relation to age and context. 

Digital education has become a global priority, but it is also essential to empower students to be autonomous and aware of the risks and dangers of this increasingly accessible reality. We live in an era of transformations, where languages, ways of thinking and self-perception, relationships, actions, and the experience of time and space are changing. In other words, our “way of being in the world” is changing. 

Schools must therefore adapt to this reality, recognizing it as an environment for learning, a place that enables a broader and more articulated learning experience than traditional methods. 

The citizenship and digital education Curriculum aims to provide a foundation of digital skills and intends to offer teachers in the network of schools a series of lessons and practical activities through which students can acquire essential digital competencies, including data management, online safety, digital content creation, and the use of digital communication tools. During the seminar, the “Proposal for a Digital Citizenship Curriculum for FGE Network Schools” was taken as a starting point, with a revision of the content for primary and lower secondary schools, and adaptation for upper secondary schools. The development identified expected goals at the end of the second cycle of education, competency areas (digital skills, content creation, safety and problem-solving), content related to these areas, learning objectives, disciplines involved, tools, and implementation periods. 

Professor Josephine Vassallo‘s contribution was valuable, as she shared a Maltese educational model of global digital citizenship implemented by St.Aloysius College. The team then agreed on an action plan and set milestones for the implementation of the work. 

Communication Coordinator for the St.Ignatius College in Messina
Professor Roberta Caruso