Promoting Digital Citizenship among Student-Teachers: The Role of Project-Based Learning in Improving Appropriate Online Behaviors

Abstract

Due to the widespread use of the Internet, digital space has now pervaded schools. This study aimed to investigate student-teachers’ perspectives and experiences of digital citizenship through project-based learning in a teacher institution in Indonesia. A case study research design was employed using content analysis to analyze the data from semi-structured interviews, observation, and daily journal report. The results showed that technology overuse requires moral guidance in terms of digital citizenship. The student-teachers viewed that digital citizenship provides some principles that encompass knowledge, skills, and appropriate behavior to use technology safely and responsibly. They asserted that digital citizenship is a necessary skill for prospective teachers, particularly considering the growing demand for schools to develop character education programs that address the topic of student technology use. After engaging in digital-issue-driven project-based learning, the student-teachers opined that project-based learning will be beneficial to learners’ autonomy engagement in constructing an understanding of the digital world. Project-based learning also provides opportunities for learners to advance and grow digital skills that are relevant to the 21st century within a real-world context. This study has implications for educators, school principals, and policymakers in ensuring that youths access curricula at all grade levels for them to be able to show appropriate and responsible behavior in both online and offline environments.