Conceptualizing digital citizenship: An integrative review

Abstract

As children develop into citizens at a time when technology permeates every facet of their lives, scholarly interest in the notion of digital citizenship has also burgeoned. Over the past decade, researchers have grappled with how to define, assess, and provide recommendations about digital citizenship. For educators and applied researchers, establishing a solid definition on which future research can build is imperative. While initial ideas of digital citizenship are conceptually important (e.g., Mossberger et al., 2007; Ribble & Bailey, 2015), researchers have yet to address digital citizenship from an empirically robust and sound developmental psychology perspective. The goal of the current study was to conduct an integrative review of the current existing research on digital citizenship and specifically address the definitions, conceptualizations, and assessments of digital citizenship. We conducted a systematic search of journal articles, book chapters, and books that included the term “digital citizenship” either in the title or as a keyword in 11 databases. The final articles (n = 117) were coded by two trained research assistants. There were 87 journal articles, 25 book chapters, and 6 books/ebooks. Only 16 items had been published prior to 2010; there was an overwhelming increase of scholarship on digital citizenship in the past 8 years. Majority of the scholarship in this area is non-empirical in nature (60%). Of those that are empirical, the majority are quantitative (70%); however, only 5 articles explicitly indicate that their participants were 18 years and under. Of those that are non-empirical, the majority are theoretical in nature (60%). Most articles were published in education based outlets (55%). With regards to the definition of digital citizenship, 35% indicated using definitions of digital citizenship proposed by prior work. 14% used definitions aligned with traditional citizenship scholarship. Most researchers (40%) relied on miscellaneous definitions, such as digital participation, literacy, safety, or ethics among others. Finally, 11% did not provide a definition of digital citizenship. Overall, we found that there were no definitions of digital citizenship based on a comprehensive research-based framework and there were missing components in existing definitions (e.g., collaborative problem solving). Scholarship spanned 3 major areas: access/literacy, safety/wellness, and participation/empowerment. Given the overwhelming importance of technology and digital use among children and adolescents, the current integrative review underscores the need for researchers to construct a developmentally appropriate and empirically robust framework for digital citizenship.