EMPOWERED is funded by the Norwegian Research Council Grant no. 358103. The project starts 1 April 2026 through 30 September 2029.
Digital empowerment refers to having the knowledge and skills to make informed decisions about all aspects of life influenced by digital technologies. In education, digital empowerment is essential for preparing students to navigate responsibly an increasingly digital world and to participate as active, democratic citizens. This involves:
- Understanding how algorithms work.
- Critically evaluating online content and making informed choices.
- Acting responsibly online—respecting others’ privacy.
- Participating in a democratic society.
Computational thinking, now integrated in several curricula, aims to give students an understanding of algorithms and problem-solving. However, current approaches often focus on STEM subjects and lack a critical perspective on how digital technologies affect everyday life. With the rise of Artificial Intelligence, understanding algorithms and developing critical thinking has become even more important.
Critical thinking enables students to assess information credibility, combine ideas, and make informed decisions. It also involves recognizing how online content is shaped by social, ethical, and political factors. Research shows students often struggle to evaluate information on social media, highlighting the need for stronger critical thinking skills to address ethical challenges in a digital society.
Digital responsibility goes beyond cyber safety and ethics. It includes legal and ethical use of technology, protecting privacy, respecting rights, and understanding the impact of online actions on inclusion and relationships. Digital responsibility is about being able to decide about privacy matters, and determine what personal data is given away and for what purposes, and understanding how online communications affect relations, in terms of digital exclusion or inclusion.
Digital inclusion focuses both on access to digital resources and services for learning as well as and opportunities to participate critically online (Munthe et al., 2022). It addresses issues like cyberbullying, digital identity, and well-being. Promoting inclusion helps create equitable learning environments and prepares students for a future where digital literacy is essential.
Digital empowerment involves understanding the power of technology and algorithms, critical thinking, responsible online behaviour, and is key to ensuring digital inclusion. In their role aseducators, schools are given the task of digitally empowering students and prepare them to meet a future digital society, while TE is responsible for training teachers who are qualified to take on these tasks. EMPOWERED will address the issues of digital empowerment with both with future teachers and in classroom settings.
EMPOWERED is led by OsloMet. Project partners are University of South East Norway, University of Oslo, University College Copenhagen, University of Helsinki, Faktisk.no/tenk and Nordre Follo county.