Mr Democratic Potential in Ontario Education: The Role of Digital Technology in Developing Democratic Citizens

Abstract

Despite schools’ responsibility to develop democratic citizens, digital technologies that offer novel avenues for civic education are largely ignored in Ontario education. To address this gap, the current literature review examined research from Ontario and internationally to demonstrate how digital technology may enhance civic education and encourage students’ self-awareness as democratic citizens. The review compared the available research to the Ontario Ministry of Education’s Citizenship Education Framework, which is comprised of four main categories: Identity, Active Participation, Structures, and Attributes. This comparison illustrates how using digital technology to generate youth civic engagement complies with Ontario’s democratic citizenship objectives. The review depicts how digital technology develops civic identity through communication, offers unique opportunities for civic participation, can improve civic literacy, and fundamentally enables a democratic disposition of critical inquiry. The review contributes to educators’ democratic citizenship pedagogy, elaborates on the connection between digital technology and democratic citizenship, and encourages policymakers to realize this connection in citizenship education objectives.