Across Canada and internationally, digital citizenship education remains largely framed by normative approaches emphasizing safety and compliance, often marginalizing critical and participatory perspectives (Davis, 2020; Dass & Kumar, 2024). This study advances an alternative approach to digital citizenship research and education by positioning youth as knowledge producers and by using generative AI as a pedagogical and data-generation tool for surfacing how secondary students understand, and can collectively redefine, ethical digital citizenship in their online lives. Grounded in digital ethnography and creative participatory approaches (Pink et al., 2016; Gauntlett & Holzwarth, 2006), the study draws on six classroom-based research visits with 30 secondary students (ages 16–18) in Ontario, Canada. Methodologically, it combines (1) student-created digital artifacts produced through the generative AI tool Canva Magic Studio (including traces of iterative prompts and revisions), (2) a qualitative online questionnaire, and (3) youth co-analysis workshops to validate and deepen interpretations. Inductive analysis of 204 coded excerpts across artifacts, workshop transcripts, and questionnaire responses generated a three-part framework co-defined with youth: Being (affective, relational, and identity dimensions), Doing (valued or prohibited online practices), and Knowing (critical awareness of platforms, algorithms, and power relations). Findings indicate ethical digital citizenship is predominantly constructed through Being (n=84) and Doing (n=101), while critical Knowing (n=19) remains less developed, revealing a tension between strong relational commitments and constrained critical agency. The study shows how critically scaffolded generative AI co-creation serves as both methodological innovation and classroom catalyst, offering a transferable approach for participatory ethical digital citizenship education.

Authors:
Megan Cotnam-Kappel, University of Ottawa, Canada

About the Presenter(s)
Dr. Megan Cotnam-Kappel holds the Research Chair on Digital Thriving in Franco-Ontarian Communities at the University of Ottawa, Canada. She is an Associate Professor and also holds the role of Associate to the Dean.

Connect on Linkedin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/megan-cotnam-kappel-3a092376/

See this presentation on the full schedule – Sunday Schedule

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