Connecting the dots and digits: digital awareness in the context of digital literacy and digital citizenship, and resources for social and digital in-/exclusion

Abstract

With the increased mediation and redefinition of digital technologies in individuals’ public, work, and private lives and a lifelong learning imperative emphasized in the current society, digital literacy and digital citizenship can be complemented by the concept of digital awareness both as a precursor and successor. The introduction of digital awareness necessitates the concept to be embedded in existing definitions and/or frameworks to create conceptual coherence in theory and practice as well as for subsequent implications. The goal of the scoping review was twofold: (a) to review to which extent the dimensions of digital literacy, elements of digital citizenship, and the social and digital resources for in-/exclusion are mentioned in existing research, and (b) to embed the definition of digital awareness with these frameworks. In total 112 articles were retrieved from ERIC, SocINDEX, Communication & Mass Media Complete, and LISTA. Digital awareness is present in the dimensions of digital literacy, elements of digital citizenship, and the social and digital resources for in-/exclusion. The conceptual fragmentation present in current research can accommodate digital awareness, creating more coherence.