Instilling Digital Citizenship Skills Through Education: A Malaysian Perspective

摘要

The increasing presence of technology in the learning environment poses a new challenge to keeping children safe in the digital world. In line with CyberSecurity Malaysia's overarching mission of creating and sustaining a safer cyberspace to promote national sustainability, social well-being and wealth creation, the CyberSAFE program has been implemented focusing on outreach and capacity building. However, the unprecedented development of social media and the increasing access to smart phones present a new challenge to parents and educators alike. While technology serves as learning stimulants, the potential threats caused by excessive exposure to technology and its inappropriate content, can have lasting harmful effects on young learners. The potential threats of technology have created a sense of urgency amongst all stakeholders responsible for delivering digital citizenship education especially for K12 students, as a way to prepare students as technology users with the appropriate norms and responsible users of technology. This presentation shares CyberSecurity Malaysia's experience as the impetus in establishing the digital citizenship initiative with key stakeholders that deliver various education programs. A highlight will be a discussion on the design thinking approach adopted throughout various engagement sessions with key stakeholders. Towards the objective of instilling digital citizenship amongst K 12 students through a sustainable and scalable model, the presentation will cover four key areas which are empathizing teachers and parents' challenges with instilling digital citizenship, identifying the solution, developing the resources and teacher and parent development programs, establishing the implementation strategies and the impact assessment.