How to Become a Digital Citizen: Using the Digital Economy and Digital Literacy to Understand Digital Citizenship

The following chapter draws on qualitative data to look at two aspects of computing education: the digital economy and digital literacy. Finally, the chapter compares these to the concept of digital citizenship, considering how ‘digital citizenship' can be used to draw the other two together and give young people a deeper understanding of having power and agency in the digital world. The data presented in this chapter is based on fieldwork conducted as part of the author's PhD. While the original fieldwork was conducted in 2016 in a discipline where relatively limited qualitative fieldwork is conducted, it adds valuable insight and perspective. The chapter consists of a brief review of the concept of digital economy and digital literacy before using the data to look at how young people viewed both concepts in the context of what they were being taught as part of ‘computing'. The data from the field works followed by a discussion of the findings and takeaways from the data before giving a brief introduction to ‘digital citizenship'.