Upholding the Rights and Responsibilities of a Digital Citizen

The second session of the virtual training on Digital Citizenship concluded on July 10, 2021 for the students of the South Eastern University with the participation of 51 students: 07 male and 44 female from the Department of Languages and Sociology in the Faculty of Arts and Culture.

The program will capacitate and facilitate the students with pragmatic knowledge and competencies to consume, generate and share media content in a democratic, reliable and a responsible manner.

Representing the South Eastern University, Dr. M.M. Fazil appreciated the timely initiative of the program. “I am really impressed about this program. It is important that we bring together the students in the urban and rural areas in the country under one forum, and provide them with this knowledge and practical skills, especially in using new technology and resources”

InSPIRE project team, resource persons and participants during the session

Dr. M.C. Rasmin, Media Trainer and Mr. Isbahan Sharafdeen, Producer SLBC conducted the training which was moderated by Mr. Mohamed Azad - Attorney at Law.

During the training session the participants were able to define and identify the characteristics of a digital citizen, and gain perception on the roles and responsibilities when navigating the digital sphere. “As digital media consumers we should be accountable for what we post, have control over what we share, and ensure we do not mentally harm another person through our actions.” said Ijas Rafeek, a student.

Dr. M.C. Rasmin facilitating the session on Digital citizenship

Further, knowledge on critically evaluating information and cyber hygiene to keep one safe online were some other key aspects discussed during the training. Muzzammil Fathima, another student stated, “Digital security is important; therefore, we need to work on our skills and competencies to equip ourselves with necessary tools to secure a good digital life.”

The sessions were conducted through engaging activities that consisted of group discussions, interactive quizzes and opinion polls to increase the active participation, create space for a discourse and to generate enthusiasm of students so that they may further pursue these critical subject areas.

Participants responding to an interactive quiz 

At the end of the program the winners who successfully completed the practical assignment on self-evaluating their digital footprints were announced. Anbalagan Devayani was pronounced 1st place and in the meantime, 10 more achievers were recognized for the actions they took to establish a positive footprint in the social media domain.

The participants were assigned with a post- test prior to the closure of the training in order to evaluate the success of the session, and to ensure that necessary measures are taken to further improve and reduce the knowledge gaps on the subject area of Digital Citizenship.

The activity is implemented as a part of Incubator Spaces for Promoting Information Rights and freedom of Expression (InSPIRE) project implemented by Sri Lanka Development Journalist Forum (SDJF) in partnership with Helvetas Intercooperation and funded by the European Union.

For more info: https://www.ldjf.org/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LDJF.org