The Role of Teachers in Fostering Digital Literacy and Citizenship among Elementary School Students
Abstract
The rapid growth of digital technology over the past decade has transformed both social and educational life, especially among elementary school students who are increasingly exposed to digital devices and social media. While these technologies offer opportunities for creativity, communication, and information access, they also present risks such as misinformation, cyberbullying, and digital addiction. This study explores the role of teachers in fostering digital literacy and citizenship among elementary school students. Using a qualitative descriptive approach, data were gathered through in-depth interviews and classroom observations involving elementary school teachers in Jakarta. Thematic analysis was employed to identify teachers’ strategies, roles, and challenges in nurturing students’ digital literacy and civic responsibility. The findings reveal that teachers serve as educators, facilitators, and role models who promote responsible and ethical digital behavior through project-based learning, digital storytelling, moral modeling, and the creative use of interactive media. However, challenges such as limited teacher competence, insufficient contextual teaching materials, and low parental engagement remain. The study highlights the need to strengthen teacher training in digital ethics and pedagogy and offers practical implications for policymakers to enhance digital education aligned with Indonesia’s Pancasila Student Profile.
Keywords
digital literacy, digital citizenship, elementary education, Pancasila student profile, teacher role
References
Arifin, B., Salim, A. N., Muzakki, A., Suwarsito, S., & Arifudin, O. (2024). Integrasi penguatan pendidikan karakter dalam pembelajaran berbasis literasi digital pada peserta didik Sekolah Dasar. Innovative: Journal of Social Science Research, 4(3), 13547–13555.
Aryani, W. D., Dermawan, O., & Asrofi, I. (2024). Transformation of children’s character through digital approaches in primary education. Jurnal Obsesi : Jurnal Pendidikan Anak Usia Dini, 8(5), 957–963. https://doi.org/10.31004/obsesi.v8i5.6116
Chen, L. L., Mirpuri, S., Rao, N., & Law, N. (2021). Conceptualization and measurement of digital citizenship across disciplines. Educational Research Review, 33, 100379. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2021.100379
Choi, M. (2016). A concept analysis of digital citizenship for democratic citizenship education in the internet age. Theory & Research in Social Education, 44(4), 565–607. https://doi.org/10.1080/00933104.2016.1210549
Choi, M., Glassman, M., & Cristol, D. (2017). What it means to be a citizen in the internet age: Development of a reliable and valid digital citizenship scale. Computers & Education, 107, 100–112. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2017.01.002
Christian Damanik, P. C. I., Murdiono, M., & Suharno, S. (2024). Enhancing university students’ interest in learning and creativity through a Project-Based Learning model with Instagram Reels media. International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Analysis, 07(08). https://doi.org/10.47191/ijmra/v7-i08-21
Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2007). Research methods in education (6th ed.). Routledge.
Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2018). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches (4th ed.). Sage Publications.
Heath, M. K. (2018). What kind of (digital) citizen? The International Journal of Information and Learning Technology, 35(5), 342–356. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJILT-06-2018-0067
ISTE. (2021). ISTE standards for students. International Society for Technology in Education. https://iste.org/standards/students
Jones, L. M., & Mitchell, K. J. (2016). Defining and measuring youth digital citizenship. New Media & Society, 18(9), 2063–2079. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444815577797
Kaelan. (2010). Pendidikan Pancasila. Paradigma.
Kesuma, D. (2012). Pendidikan karakter: Kajian teori dan praktik di sekolah. Remaja Rosdakarya.
Leask, M., & Younie, S. (2023). Teaching and learning with technologies in the primary school (3rd ed.). Routledge.
Lincoln, Y., & Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic Inquiry. Sage.
Miles, M. B., & Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis: An expanded sourcebook (2nd ed.). Sage Publications.
Mishra, P., & Koehler, M. J. (2006). Technological pedagogical content knowledge: A framework for teacher knowledge. Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education, 108(6), 1017–1054. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9620.2006.00684.x
Mossberger, K., & Tolbert, C. J. (2021). Digital citizenship and digital communities. International Journal of E-Planning Research, 10(3), 19–34. https://doi.org/10.4018/IJEPR.20210701.oa2
Pantić, N., & Wubbels, T. (2012). Teachers’ moral values and their interpersonal relationships with students and cultural competence. Teaching and Teacher Education, 28(3), 451–460. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2011.11.011
Peraturan Menteri Pendidikan Dasar dan Menengah Nomor 13 Tahun 2025 tentang Perubahan Atas Peraturan Menteri Pendidikan, Kebudayaan, Riset, dan Teknologi Nomor 12 Tahun 2024 tentang Kurikulum pada Pendidikan Anak Usia Dini, Jenjang Pendidikan Dasar dan Jenjang Pendidikan Menengah, Pub. L. No. 13 (2025).
Ribble, M. (2021). The digital citizenship handbook for school leaders: Fostering positive interactions online. International Society for Technology in Education.
Shi, G., Chan, K. K., & Lin, X.-F. (2023). A systematic review of digital citizenship empirical studies for practitioners. Education and Information Technologies, 28(4), 3953–3975. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-022-11383-z
Stake, R. E. (1995). The art of case study research. Sage Publications.
Webster, J. (2025). Defining digital citizenship and digital citizenship education: a Delphi study. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/15391523.2025.2536564
Yin, R. K. (2014). Case study research: Design and methods (5th ed.). Sage Publications.
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
Copyright
Copyright (c) 2025 Prince Clinton Immanuel Christian Damanik, Mohammad Idham Chaled, Feri Dwi Jayanti, Rizki Achmad Husaeni, Anastasia Arta Uli
The author(s) retain full copyright of this work. The copyright holder grants the journal the right of first publication and the right to distribute the work under the terms of the selected open-access license.
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
All published content in Takuana: Jurnal Pendidikan, Sains, dan Humaniora is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY NC SA 4.0). This license allows others to share, copy, redistribute, and adapt the work for non-commercial purposes, as long as proper credit is given to the original author(s) and source, and any derivative works are distributed under the same license.
Attribution must include a clear citation of the original work and a statement indicating whether any changes were made. Commercial use is not permitted under this license and there is no additional legal or technological restrictions may be applied. For more information about the license terms and permissible use, please refer to the full license text available here.
