A comparative analysis of high school students’ and school librarians’ conceptions and practices of Digital Safety

Virgilio G Medina (1) , Ross J Todd (2) , Collins Kwadwo Norch (3)

1 Qatar National Library
2 RU - Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey [New Brunswick]
3 UCL - University College of London [London]

This study investigated high school students’ and school librarians’ conceptions about what it means to be safe online and to understand the actions, processes, and strategies they engage in order to be safe online. The study also identified the existing library programs organized by school librarians in relation to digital safety and how school librarians and school libraries can support and address students’ digital safety needs. This paper sought to answer the following research questions: 1) What do students think it means to be safe online? Sub-question: What do students do themselves to be safe online? 2) What do school librarians think it means to be safe online? Sub-question: What do school librarians do themselves to be safe online? 3) What do students think of librarians’ role helping them to be safe online? 4)What existing library programs are implemented by school librarians in relation to digital safety? By understanding possible gaps between students’ and school librarians’ conceptions and practices on digital safety, educators and school administrators will gain understanding on how digital safety could be more effectively developed and integrated as part of the school curriculum.

Mots clés: Digital Safety; School Libraries; Digital Literacy

Domaines: Sciences de l'information et de la communication; Education

Virgilio G Medina, Ross J Todd, Collins Kwadwo Norch. A comparative analysis of high school students’ and school librarians’ conceptions and practices of Digital Safety. ELPUB 2019 23rd edition of the International Conference on Electronic Publishing, Jun 2019, Marseille, France. ⟨10.4000/proceedings.elpub.2019.16⟩. ⟨hal-02142201⟩