Fostering Responsible Digital Citizenship

Have you heard about digital citizenship? It refers to the ability to participate on social media with respect to human rights, dignity, and conscience.

With digital platforms becoming an integral part of the education sector, students from all around the world are now connected to the digital space. Therefore, it is crucial to ensure that they are navigating through the digital world safely. Educating students on digital citizenship will help them learn to be mindful of their actions online, protect their privacy, and prevent cyberbullying.

In alignment with the objective of digital citizenship, Fostering responsible digital citizenship (FRDC) is a program where the youth generation of Bangladesh are encouraged and supported to learn about online safety practices. It is a collaborative program of Dnet and Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF Bangladesh) funded by the European Union. FRDC has been able to reach more than 1000 university students from 5 universities in Dhaka and Rajshahi and help students become responsible about their digital footprints.

FRDC launched an educational website on digital citizenship as it began its journey in February 2020. The FRDC website offers eight free online courses designed to teach students how to interact in the virtual environment in a safe, positive, and competent manner. The courses focus on building democratic views, good governance, media literacy practices in students. In addition to this, students will get to know about how to resolute online disputes, secure their online accounts and use positive freedom of speech. The enrolled students get lifetime access to videos and PDFs. Moreover, after completing each course, they can take part in the quiz competition which is launched in rounds. In every round, 20 winners among the participants are chosen and rewarded. The students are also given a handbook that incorporates storytelling and comic images to stimulate their thoughts.

Only by being mindful of digital citizenship can students take preventive measures against potential harm while benefitting from the positive attributions of the online world. Fostering Responsible Digital Citizenship will assist the youth of Bangladesh to engage in a culture of positive and safe communication in the digital world. And it will support them to become more responsible citizens by expressing their views independently and safely through digital channels.