Students as Digital Civic Engagers Erasmus Project

Project Title

Students as Digital Civic Engagers

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for higher education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: ICT – new technologies – digital competences; EU Citizenship, EU awareness and Democracy; Civic engagement / responsible citizenship

Project Summary

CONTEXT
Active citizens form the backbone of a strong democracy, sustainable growth and an inclusive society. HEIs encourage civic engagement either as an optional activity (extra-curricular activities) or (less often) as part of their study programmes (earning credits) offering engagement methods such as volunteering in a student union, in mentoring, or engaging in service-learning. However, against the background of the current pandemic and resulting European solidarity movement, there are strong arguments in favour of awarding civic engagement a larger role, not as a “third mission” activity but intrinsically linked to the quality of teaching/learning across all disciplines.

Researchers have found “a consistent and statistically significant relationship between civic engagement and academic engagement”. Students who engage in civic issues engage in academic praxis, linking theory to action; they strengthen key competences of critical thinking, communication and collaboration; and they develop emotional intelligence and conscientious empathy as part of a community. Digital tools widen opportunities for civic engagement. The creative use of digital technology not only solves problems and enhances efficiency, it is transformative, offering qualitatively new areas of engagement, from transparency and big data, to collective campaigns and more.

OBJECTIVE & ACTIVITIES
More needs to be done to innovate in the teaching of civic engagement. In response, our objective is clear: empower students to become confident civic engagers making the most of digital technology available to them. To achieve this, we will work with HE managers and academic staff to introduce a flexible civic engagement syllabus that works across subjects and disciplines. Our specific objectives are:
i) Increase awareness & commitment in 240 HEIs regarding the benefits of teaching digital civic engagement.
ii) Train 30 teaching staff & reach 180 more to increase their digital pedagogic skills and align civic engagement with their academic programmes of study.
iii) Maximise the number of students learning & participating in digital civic engagement through self-led online learning which complements academic study.

Our Project targets 3 Groups of PARTICIPANTS:
STUDENTS are concerned about social/environmental issues but are inhibited from taking action because of large workloads and lack of knowledge.
ACADEMIC STAFF will update their knowledge both on digital tools for engagement, but more importantly, on the new pedagogic approaches that are required to use them effectively.
HE MANAGERS need scalable, practical ways to integrate European values into taught programmes.

We will produce 4 main RESULTS:
IO1: GUIDE TO DIGITAL CIVIC ENGAGEMENT. A publication which makes a clear case for the relevance of Digital Civic Engagement, how it relates to both pillars of teaching and academic outcomes, and how it can be taught effectively in HE.
IO2: DIGITAL CIVIC ENGAGEMENT TOOLKIT. The Toolkit will provide practical guidance and tools for HEI educators wishing to incorporate Digital Civic Engagement activities into their curricula/teaching strategies, with a particular focus on increasing their confidence in using digital tools.
IO3: DIGITAL CIVIC ENGAGEMENT SYLLABUS & OERS. Including a syllabus, learning objectives, lesson plans, assessment guides, and access to a variety of original teaching content & pedagogies, these resources will provide academic staff with a complete toolkit for introducing civic theory, engaging students in real-life examples that are relevant to their topic of study.
IO4: DIGITAL CIVIC ENGAGEMENT MOOC. Based on the OERs, this open online learning course provides students & staff with an additional space in which to develop their digital civic engagement skills in a user-friendly format.

IMPACT:
Student DCE is not only designed to impact on hundreds, and later thousands, of students & those who educate and tutor them; it is designed to generate systemic change at local, regional, national and international levels.
LOCAL IMPACT
Local communities can prosper when all citizens have equal opportunities to participate in the economy and society. By improving the quality and accessibility of civic engagement education for students, communities will experience an increase in social and knowledge capital and more empowered as leaders of projects which contribute to a more inclusive and just society.
REGIONAL IMPACT
Digital civic engagement is a powerful force driving change across societies. In addition, the perception of students as agents of change, with the ideas, abilities and opportunities to make a difference to their communities should be fostered.
NATIONAL & EU IMPACT
At national & EU level the project will impact on the HE Provision by showing how it can and must adjust its provision to develop new types of competences so that students are better equipped to prosper in the uncertain times and in the digital era.

Project Website

https://www.studentcivicengagers.eu/

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 286146 Eur

Project Coordinator

UNIVERSITAT WIEN & Country: AT

Project Partners

• UNIVERSIDADE DO MINHO
• MOMENTUM MARKETING SERVICES LIMITED
• CANICE CONSULTING LIMITED
• EUROPEAN UNIVERSITIES CONTINUING EDUCATION NETWORK
• TARTU ULIKOOL