Developing the Digital Competencies of Youth for Responsible Consumption of Media

The virtual training program on Digital citizenship commenced on July 31, 2021 for the students of the University of Jaffna with the participation of 115 students: 29 male and 86 female from the Department of Media Studies.

The training program will enable the students to consume media in the digital era in a more critical, sensitive and responsible manner, promoting and contributing to the enhancement of democracy and human rights in Sri Lanka.

“I believe this virtual training will bring new opportunities to the participants to apply human creativity to bigger ideas that capture the audience imagination and also to enhance skills and knowledge” quoted Dr. Raguram, Head - Department of Media Studies, delivering the welcome address on behalf of Dr. K. Suthakar- Dean of the Faculty of Arts.

Participants, trainers and InSPIRE team members during the training

The session was facilitated by experienced resource persons. 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 the participants were able to gain a clear and broad perception of the digital landscape, its consumption and identify the differences between the virtual space and the digital space. “When we come across a new app it’s extremely important that we read the terms and conditions before we use them. We have to use it with awareness and knowledge.” said Niroshanthan Navasothan, a student sharing his opinion on securing a positive digital footprint.

Participants responding to a question on the usage of the online space

Subsequently, insightful and informative online games and quizzes were conducted to elicit answers directly from the participants to engage them and create a discourse on the responsible and appropriate use of technology, and the rights and privacy of digital citizens. Thiyagaraja Pradhapkanna, a student said “It is very challenging to secure our personal information in this digital era, however, we should limit providing our personal data on a public domain, and act with responsibility.”

Based on the poll conducted during the final phase of the training, majority of the participants viewed the training to be vital, hence 51 out of 60 confirmed it as highly useful.

The feedback received from the participants on the importance of the training

The students were provided a pre- and post-test in order to evaluate their existing knowledge and level of competency on Digital Citizenship and were later tasked with an assignment to trace their individual digital footprints on the online domain.

The next training session on Freedom of Expression will be conducted on 7 August 2021

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