Students More Informed and Aware Thanks to the “Digital Licence” Project

The Patentino digitale (Digital Licence) project is being strengthened, increasing the number of courses for students and thus aiming for a wider dissemination of activities to enhance the digital skills of young people and teachers. In fact, the new cooperation agreement signed by the Tuscan branch of Corecom (Regional Committee for Communication) and the Istituto degli Innocenti provides for the creation of 50 courses for students in the first classes of secondary schools, compared to the 25 that involved six schools in Tuscany in the 2022/2023 school year and the 25 that involved eight schools in the 2023/2024 school year.

The “Patentino digitale. Per l’uso consapevole del web e dei social” (Digital Licence. For the conscious use of the web and social media) is a projectdeveloped by the Tuscan branch of Corecom (Regional Committee for Communication) in cooperation with the Region of Tuscany, the Istituto degli Innocenti, the Postal Police and the Regional School Office. Its aim is to provide Tuscan young people with the appropriate tools to navigate the web and social networks with awareness and responsibility. Launched in the 2019/2020 school year in three schools in Tuscany (Figline Valdarno, Scarperia, San Casciano Val di Pesa), it was continued in the 2020/2021 school year in three more schools (Chianciano Terme, Follonica, Cavriglia) but in remote mode, due to pandemic-related needs. In the 2022/2023 school year, it became fully operational.

There are two training options within the project: distance learning workshops in synchronous mode for students, and short distance learning courses in asynchronous mode for teachers. Both are carried out exclusively on the distance learning platform https://patentinodigitale.istitutodeglinnocenti.it/.

The training course for young people is characterised by video conference meetings led by a trainer who also involves parents and teachers. During the first meeting, students are asked to fill in a questionnaire on their Internet use habits in order to take a snapshot of their behaviour and knowledge on the topics. Then the actual training course begins, with ten lessons lasting about an hour each, ending with a quiz on the topics covered.

At the end of the lessons and once they have passed all the quizzes, the students receive a proper “conscious navigator” licence. Two months after the conclusion of the course, a meeting is held with the students to complete a follow-up questionnaire. During meetings with students, a teacher from the class is also always present and connected. These are the main topics covered: communicating and interacting online, digital identity and privacy, risks in online interactions, security, and gaming and e-commerce.

The course starts at the request of schools wishing to join the project with one or more classes, indicating a contact teacher. Schools interested in taking part in the courses can express their interest by writing to: info.patentinodigitale@istitutodeglinnocenti.it.

The online platform of the project also has a section for teachers, with four free courses of 5 hours each recognised by the Ministry of Education (via theS.OF.I.A. platform), on the topics of the Digital Licence. Teachers can log in regardless of whether their classes or schools participate in the project. Each course is divided into asynchronous teaching units, with videos, in-depth materials and learning evaluation tests.