16 August 2019
UNESCO is engaging with partners (interested governments, organizations, or individuals) to lead collaboration efforts to expand and develop the Digital Kids Asia-Pacific (DKAP) research by applying or adapting the DKAP Framework and survey. To engage youth in the development of digital citizenship*, UNESCO is encouraging cooperation in the form of co-creation of national education interventions, youth advocacy campaigns, and youth-led capacity building.
On 10 May 2019, UNESCO launched the Digital Kids Asia-Pacific (DKAP) report titled “Digital Kids Asia-Pacific: Insights into Children's Digital Citizenship”. This report responds to the growing needs of Member States in the Asia-Pacific region to understand children’s knowledge, behaviour and attitudes in a hyper-connected digital world. It aims to create a data-driven, conducive educational and policy environment that maximizes opportunities that Information and Communications Technology (ICT) offers, while minimizing potential threats that the same may pose. The report was also developed in the context of the Education 2030 Agenda identifying digital skills as one of the key competencies for youth and adults to achieve and monitor until 2030.Key findings include:
• The highest competency was Digital Safety and Resilience while the lowest was Digital Creativity and Innovation. Current interventions may be overly focused on digital safety concerns while more attention should be given to developing digital creativity and innovation.
• Digital divides in access were evident with forty per cent of surveyed children in Bangladesh having not used any kind of digital devices by age 14, while only 3 per cent in South Korea. The duration of years exposed to digital devices was highly correlated with performance in digital citizenship competencies.
• Girls outperformed boys in all five domains. We need to embrace the holistic aspects of digital citizenship competencies that can attract girls to STEM areas, instead of a narrow and conventional definition of digital competencies as single-aspect hard skills.
* Digital Citizenship refers to the ability to engage positively, critically and competently in the digital environment, drawing on the skills of effective communication and creation, to practice forms of social participation that are respectful of human rights and dignity through the responsible use of technology.
More information
Permanent link: http://en.unesco.kz/the-digital-kids-asia-pacific