Kursthemen
Digital Society & Digital Citizenship
The number of Internet users is expected to rise to around 4.14 billion in 2021 (available at: https://de.statista.com/themen/42/internet/, last accessed on December 13, 2020.) and they are making increasing use of digital opportunities. In Germany alone, for example, around 19 million people order food at least once a month via online portals. (Available at: https://de.statista.com/themen/3440/food-delivery-lieferdienste-lieferservice-portale/, last accessed on 12.12.2020). What was unthinkable years ago is now common practice. Applications are sent by e-mail, people continue their education via online courses, and official channels are handled via online administrative portals. Digital progress and its technologies have penetrated almost all areas of human life and determine everyday life. The smartphone has become a constant companion and apps a must-have. Street maps are obsolete, google maps helps, and it takes only seconds to find out when the streetcar, train or bus is coming. The main thing is that there is enough data volume available These digital tools create such a dependency that life without a smartphone, Internet access and the like is no longer imaginable. Society is undergoing an immense transformation as a result, which justifies the term "digital society.
This technology has significantly shaped society in terms of its values and norms and is influencing areas such as politics and the economy as well as every individual in our global world. The resulting opportunities and risks of a digitized world will be outlined in the following. This includes fact-oriented knowledge as well as socially relevant issues.
- What actually is a digital society and who sets its rules?
- How do we use social media and what should we pay attention to?
- What networking opportunities does modern technology offer us and what helpful tools can sustainably improve our digital lives?
- How do we want to interact and live with each other in the future?
Materials for this module- Manual (pdf)
- Curriculum (pdf)
- Learning materials (wiki)
This module is divided into the following subsections:
- Digital society
- How digitization is changing our everyday lives
- E-Learning
Digital society
Digital progress and its technologies have penetrated almost all areas of human life and determine everyday life. The smartphone has become a constant companion and apps a must-have. Street maps are obsolete, Google Maps helps, and it takes only seconds to find out when the streetcar, train or bus is coming. The main thing is that there is enough data volume available. These digital tools create such a dependency that life without smartphones, Internet access and the like is no longer imaginable. Society is undergoing immense change as a result, and the term "digital society" is therefore justified.
How digitization is changing our everyday lives
The age of digitization has led to enormous social change. Industrial society featuring information society. Effects affect not only new technologies, but all areas of everyday life. Whether at work or at home, almost nothing works without digitization. Communication via smartphone in the smart home is already standard for many people. Digital assistants for concluding contracts or while driving are always ready to provide their services to society. But not all people view the trend positively. This is particularly dependent on whether or not their own ability to act is restricted as a result. This is clearly illustrated by the example of digital communication. If people experience digital communication as enrichment, digitization tends to be viewed positively. However, if digital communication is blamed for the decline in interpersonal contacts, this leads to a negative assessment of digital development. Critical discourse is of central importance! And the correct handling of information and data is becoming increasingly important. How transparent can everyday life become?
The implementation of digital technologies in private, public and economic life raises many questions. What is behind all the digital innovations and what techniques are used to make information go viral globally? How is information generated and knowledge constructed?
E-Learning
Requirements and processes of the labor market change permanently. It is up to the learners to meet these challenges and to participate in lifelong learning as part of the knowledge and information society. The Internet offers good conditions for this in the broad field of e-learning offerings to enable self-directed learning. E-learning offers provide an extensive body of knowledge, thus paving the way for permanent vocational training and further education and meeting the needs of the knowledge society. In order to be able to exist on the job market until retirement, actors on the job market cannot avoid taking part in further training even after their initial training due to the rapid change in technologies. With E-Learning programs many, above all enterprises, hoped to keep the further training costs low and to fulfill ideal conditions for it. E-learning programs include all learning offers that use different types of media and their aids (PC, telecommunications, etc.) to create a learning environment that gives learners enough incentive to participate in the learning offer. In addition to the learners' own initiative and discipline, "conscious planning as well as control and regulation of learning behavior" is part of these learning environments.