Civics 4.0: active citizenship and participation in the digital age (UNED Abierta)

Explore the objectives and topics of this MOOC:

Learning outcomes:

Understand active digital citizenship and civic engagement;

Know what skills you need to master and what civic-tech tools you can use to safely inhabit digital space as an activist;

Be able to monitor policy and use civic-tech for accountability and transparency;

Be able to connect with people in the community and identify civic-tech tools for advocacy and campaigning;

Increase your capacity to participate effectively and responsibly in your community by relying on citizen engagement platforms that connect citizens to decision makers;

Put in practice what you have learnt through the course for the design of a digital citizenship project at the micro-level.

As additional motivation we invited inspiring guests who stand as faces of some of the most impactful civic-tech initiatives at European and national level: Vouliwatch in Greece, Danes je nov dan with the Consult platform in Slovenia, and Minority Safe Pack, European Citizen Initiative.

Modules

Module 1. Introduction to active digital citizenship: what it is and why it matters

Module 2. Key basic skills for digital civic participation

Module 3. Monitoring public policy that affects you

Module 4. Connecting and engaging for social impact

Module 5. Foster local participation: smart communities and digital participation

Module 6. Wrap up and get ready for action

Activities and assessment

The course content is based on videos, readings and activities such as self-evaluation tests, forum discussions and collaborative tasks.

The MOOC is intended for anyone, especially students from diverse backgrounds, who are interested in digital civic education and digital participation. There is no entry requirement, as the course starts assuming no prior knowledge. All that is required is an interest in the subject matter and a B1 level of English, as the course is in English. However, reading materials are also translated into Spanish.