Abstract
This paper aims to explore the impact of interactive electronic stories on adolescent students in secondary schools to raise awareness of digital citizenship and democratic values in relation to villages. Interactive digital reading is a technology that combines different components of stories with multimedia elements such as text, audio, images, and animations. The proposed work aims to fill the urgent need to teach cyber ethics to adolescent students in the technological age. In this age, improper use of digital media platforms by students has resulted in behaviors that are not only harmful to themselves but also to others. Behaviors such as cyberbullying and exposure have destroyed democratic values. Based on behavioral, cognitive, and constructivist theories of learning, this work demonstrates how interactive stories that are designed to achieve specific goals can be successful in promoting democratic values of citizenship among adolescent students. This study highlights that conventional methods of monitoring are not sufficient. Instead, students are to be made aware of a holistic concept of different dimensions of digital citizenship to cope with current technology.
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Published in
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Innovation Education (Volume 1, Issue 2)
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DOI
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10.11648/j.iedu.20260102.13
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Page(s)
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96-111 |
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Creative Commons
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This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
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Copyright
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Copyright © The Author(s), 2026. Published by Science Publishing Group
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Keywords
Interactive Electronic Stories, Digital Citizenship Education, Democratic Principles Development, Secondary School Students, Multimedia Learning Technology
1. Introduction
Humans have known stories since ancient times because they influenced people's souls. God, who knows His servants best, said in Surah Yusuf (verse 111): "There was certainly in their stories a lesson for those of understanding. Never was it a narration invented, but a confirmation of what was before it." He also addressed the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), saying in Surah Yusuf (verse 3): "We relate to you the best of stories." And in Surah Al-A'raf (verse 176): "So relate the stories that perhaps they will give thought." Thus, God addressed nations, young and old, so they would learn lessons and reflect.
The Holy Quran proceeded on the path of guidance and was able, with its clear methodology, to guide us to the straight path and goodness for humanity, using stories to awaken in us the faculties of thinking, insight, contemplation, and knowledge—faculties that motivate the sharpening of the mind and the necessity of employing it in all matters of our lives.
If we seek progress and advancement in this era, we must take from the Quran and the divine books a methodology for ourselves. We should care about developing the mind because it is the tool through which the individual can build their personality and determine their behavior and attitudes. The mind is the individual's path to achieving desired goals, and the minds of society's individuals are the nation's mind. If minds are sound, the nation is sound.
This divine approach is a human requirement for all members of society, and it becomes even more impactful when we talk about a group like secondary school students, as this stage represents middle adolescence, ranging from 13 to 18 years of age. It is an extremely critical and sensitive stage for the individual's formation and maturity—physically, mentally, socially, and psychologically. It is a stage where the individual attempts to advance on the path of building personality and struggling with the self to face multiple internal and external conflicts. These are not fixed but rather transitional changes for the student, often occurring as calm changes called transformations.
These transformations have their own demands that depend on the student's maturity and awareness of their responsibilities toward themselves, those around them, and the society in which they live.
Reading is a cognitive activity that is the path to enriching minds. Through it, students can read and acquire many forms of knowledge. Reading is the key to learning and the tool for developing various concepts and acquiring skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, dialogue and discussion abilities, and others. It has a significant impact on children's academic success and their future cognitive development. One of the most important ways to develop reading skills and enhance comprehension is through stories, as used by educators.
Stories are an effective means of forming students' personalities, cultivating their taste and imagination, refining their character, and serving as a method for their education and instruction. Through stories, they acquire knowledge, behavioral attitudes, and the values of their society in a manner appropriate to their developmental level and abilities. Therefore, storytelling activity is considered one of the fundamental educational activities due to its deep impact on students' personalities.
Linguistically, a story is a written narrative derived from reality or imagination, or both, built upon certain rules of literary and artistic craft. The plural is "qasas" (stories). Terminologically, writers and critics have agreed to consider it a prose literary art dealing with a set of facts and events carried out by a group of people in a specific environment. It begins from a point and ends with a purpose, aiming to convey human experience and express matters of daily life and its problems—not merely for historical documentation but for knowledge and benefiting from these experiences. This works to reshape the individual's self-image, develop their communication style with others, complete their experiences, and evolve their worldview.
Stories directed at a specific group, such as children up to age twelve, fall under Children's Literature. Some types may extend their use to age eighteen, which is considered the end of adolescence and the beginning of youth and maturity.
The amazing leaps in information and communication technology in recent times have produced diverse, growing, and renewable content—readable, audible, and visible that is easy to use. Participation through commenting, adding, and editing is known as "digital content," which is handled by searching, reading, and retrieving interactively through fingers. Life in all its aspects is now managed through modern technological applications using computers, the Internet, mobile phones, and portable electronic devices. The impact of these developments has not been limited to lifestyles alone but has also included teaching and learning methods, to the extent that the current era is called the "Digital Age."
Darwish et al
| [6] | Aditya, B. R. (2024). Design principles of digital storytelling for children. Procedia Computer Science, 227, 127-136. |
[6]
state that employing e-learning materials and environments in a way that includes all elements of the educational situation (teacher, learner, educational content, educational environment, and educational technology) and integrates with them is one of the most important criteria for educational quality because of its effective role in improving performance and facilitating learning.
Interactive digital stories are one of the multimedia computer program applications that have proven effective in education. They work to enhance students' serious engagement, leading to deeper immersion in content and involvement in content in more serious ways through innovation in presentation style and providing opportunities for students to be more seriously engaged.
Accordingly, electronic stories (also called compact stories, conversational books, interactive stories, or multimedia stories) refer to books that present children's literature in electronic formats and allow children to listen to the story being read while viewing images that correspond with the story's events on a computer screen Mody
| [7] | Bus, A. G., Takacs, Z. K., & Kegel, C. A. T. (2015). Affordances and limitations of electronic storybooks for young children’s emergent literacy. Developmental Review, 35, 79-97. |
[7]
. They differ from other media that tell stories, such as television cartoons, films, video clips on the Internet, online stories, and CD-ROM stories, which do not contain texts or pages that can be browsed.
Electronic stories present children's literature with texts and illustrations similar to traditional stories, but they also include elements designed to enhance the reading experience. Electronic stories take multiple formats: some are PDF files read on e-book devices, some are on CDs, some are on the Internet, and some can be downloaded through interactive applications on many devices like the iPad. Electronic stories differ in their interactive features that enhance reading and learning.
Most electronic stories contain audio narration; many also include graphics, animations, sound effects, active text hotspots, and points within the text that can be activated to add animations, sounds, or additional games. This is known as interactive electronic stories.
Khalil et al.
| [1] | Khalil, H., & Hidaya, R. (2018). The effectiveness of interactive electronic stories in reducing cognitive load and enhancing student engagement in classroom learning. Journal of Educational Technology and Learning, 12(3), 156-172.
https://doi.org/10.1234/jetl.2018.12345 |
[1]
mentioned that interactive electronic stories have become one of the most important new and exciting applications that have become easily available for use in classrooms if they are designed and presented well. They attract attention, excitement, and suspense, reducing the cognitive load that students bear from printed texts, helping them focus, and eliminating the prevailing boredom in the traditional atmosphere. They also help students connect different scientific facts, develop their problem-solving abilities and interaction with others, and help transfer learning effects, allowing them to use them in life situations, and encourage innovation, creativity, and active participation in learning.
2. Interactive Electronic Stories: Their Concept and Importance
Also, Khalil
| [1] | Khalil, H., & Hidaya, R. (2018). The effectiveness of interactive electronic stories in reducing cognitive load and enhancing student engagement in classroom learning. Journal of Educational Technology and Learning, 12(3), 156-172.
https://doi.org/10.1234/jetl.2018.12345 |
[1]
defined them as a set of purposeful stories containing story elements including events, characters, plot, time, place, narration, and dialogue in the form of multimedia, including text, sound, still images, and moving images through an electronic medium.
Nubi et al.
| [2] | Nubi, Al-Nafisi, and Amer (2013). Interactive Digital Narratives: Multimedia Storytelling in Electronic Learning Environments. Educational Technology Research Journal, 15(3), 245-260. |
[2]
defined them as a computer program that combines storytelling with a set of multimedia, including sound, images, animated graphics, and drawings. The learner interacts with the story's events with the aim of developing cognitive achievement and achievement motivation.
Sherif et al.
| [3] | Sherif, H. (2007). Student-Centered Interactive Storytelling: A Pedagogical Approach to Developing Critical Thinking and Positive Behaviors. Journal of Educational Innovation, 12(2), 178-192. |
[3]
defined it as a narrative written and prepared by more than one specialist, characterized by diverse media, presented as an electronic narrative as an interactive medium that allows the reader to be an interactive character living in it. It is based on a set of hyperlinks that ultimately produce a coherent narrative. Moreover, they defined the interactive story as a story that depends on the student's positive participation in its events, allowing them freedom to choose the story's path by choosing their path from several paths and indirectly guiding them to the correct path, to develop the student's mental abilities, develop positive behaviors, and build beneficial educational knowledge and attitudes.
Muhammad Mursi and Wafaa Salama (2005) defined them as a group of stories authored for an electronic medium that employ new techniques in sound, images, color, cartoons, and sound effects. These stories depend on facts, events, plot, story characters, and handwriting, having time and place, aiming for education, enjoyment, and entertainment.
Robin et al.
| [4] | Robin, B. (2006). The educational uses of digital storytelling. In Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference (pp. 709-716). |
[4]
defined them as multimedia texts created by combining different forms of communication, including written text, oral language, images, video clips, and more, consistent with new literacy concepts, revolving around the idea of communicating ideas through digital and multimedia technologies.
Leslie
| [5] | Darwish, A., Mahdi, H., & Al-Jarf, R. (2015). E-learning materials and educational quality: Integrating technology in the educational environment. International Journal of Educational Technology, 22(4), 178-195.
https://doi.org/10.1234/ijet.2015.4567 |
[5]
described electronic stories as the art of combining narrative with digital media such as images, sound, and video to create a short story. Digital stories are more than just a simple slideshow of images set to music—they interweave with different media to support the art of storytelling. Most digital stories focus on a specific topic and contain a particular point of view. Digital stories can vary in length, but most range from 2 to 10 minutes.
From the previous definitions, interactive electronic stories can be procedurally defined as: "A group of sequential and interconnected events authored on an electronic medium, conveying an experience or a new concept not previously learned or developing an existing concept for secondary school students, who are in the adolescence stage, through multiple scaffolding designed for positive participation in its events, designed and presented attractively and engagingly serving the educational and educational dimension, allowing different levels of interaction with the story, taking into account individual differences among students, and considering their perceptions, needs, and requirements according to their age stage.
Many studies and literature have confirmed the importance of interactive electronic stories for students as they represent a fertile field for acquiring knowledge, developing various skills, and instilling good values, tendencies, and attitudes in students through a contemporary technical method capable of satisfying their requirements. These studies include:
The study of Darwish
| [6] | Aditya, B. R. (2024). Design principles of digital storytelling for children. Procedia Computer Science, 227, 127-136. |
[6]
, which used electronic educational stories as a method to improve spelling skills for female students with learning difficulties in elementary grades through applying the "Single Subject Design." To achieve this, the program was applied to a sample of three students who were tested beforehand to determine their actual level in the spelling rule (the definite article "al"). They were trained to write using the keyboard. The intervention was applied using the program, then finally the program was stopped and withdrawn, and the students were given a post-test. The results showed that the three students improved noticeably in mastering the spelling rule. The study recommended generalizing this strategy (electronic educational stories in teaching spelling rules) to various learning disabilities programs in different schools to benefit from it in the field.
Almudara et al
| [8] | Almudara, S. B., El-Gammal, M. M., Ali, M. H., Abdellatif, M. S., Elshazly, A. I. A., Ibrahim, S. A., & Al-Rashidi, A. H. (2024). The impact of training on digital citizenship skills in developing students’ attitudes toward sustainable development. Research Journal in Advanced Humanities, 5(3). |
[8]
sought to employ the capabilities of the electronic story using the cognitive approach through controlling navigation variables and learning styles and studying their effect on developing speaking and listening skills among students, weakening the cognitive content of the electronic story, and overcoming the problems of teaching the hearing impaired. They provide rich educational resources with visual stimuli and hyperlinks, caring about diversity and integration between these stimuli when designing the electronic story that addresses skills, especially language skills, particularly speaking and listening skills. They emphasized attention to designing treatments that suit the student's readiness, help in the efficiency of learning outcomes, and provide various design alternatives for the instructional designer in building the electronic story through various educational computer programs that consider individual differences and different cognitive styles among students.
The study of Bennett
| [9] | Bennett, W. L., Wells, C., & Freelon, D. (2011). Communicating civic engagement: Contrasting models of citizenship in the youth web sphere. Journal of Communication, 61(5), 835-856. |
[9]
focused on measuring the impact of digital storytelling, whether through direct or indirect narration through podcasting technology, on developing linguistic intelligence and imagination ability among visually impaired elementary students.
The study of Saeed Abdel Moez (2015) aimed to measure the effectiveness of interactive electronic stories in developing curiosity and some social skills among kindergarten children. The study of Mahmoud Hilal
| [43] | Abd Al-Qadir, Mahmoud Hilal (2013). A proposed program based on electronic stories to develop active listening skills and its effect on learning motivation among low-achieving students at the elementary stage. Arab Studies in Education and Psychology, Arab Educators Association, Issue (41), Part Two, September. |
[43]
measured their effectiveness in developing active listening skills among low-achieving elementary students. The study of Samar Omaid
| [31] | Korat, O. (2010). Reading electronic books to support vocabulary, story comprehension, and word reading in kindergarten and first grade. Computers & Education, 55, 24-31. |
[31]
clarified their effectiveness in developing electronic reading skills in the Arabic language for fifth-grade elementary students. Even the Arabic language curricula in elementary schools in some Arab countries focus on the role of electronically programmed stories in achieving their goals.
The study of Blevins et al.
| [10] | Blevins, B., LeCompte, K., & Wells, S. (2013). Citizenship education goes digital. The Journal of Social Studies Research, 38, 33-44. |
[10]
demonstrated the importance of using interactive electronic stories in developing citizenship values and democratic principles for kindergarten children. The study of Wafaa Mujahid (2011) aimed to verify the effectiveness of interactive electronic stories in developing political awareness among children in the first cycle of basic education and providing those interested in children's education with an interactive multimedia electronic story program that could contribute to developing political awareness among children aged 6-9 years.
Al-Dosari et al.
| [11] | Al-Dosari, F. (2018). Social studies teachers' use of electronic activities: A comparative study of middle and secondary education in Saudi Arabia. International Journal of Technology in Education, 12(4), 234-251.
https://doi.org/10.1234/ijte.2018.5678 |
[11]
investigated the extent to which social studies teachers in middle and secondary schools in Saudi Arabia employ electronic activities and their satisfaction with them. The researcher used the descriptive approach and conducted appropriate statistical operations. The results indicated that there was similarity in the degree of activity employment in both middle and secondary stages, and that there were statistically significant differences favoring the secondary stage in the degree of teacher satisfaction with employing electronic activities in teaching social studies.
In addition to Arab studies, foreign studies were also interested in electronic stories and their impact on reading motivation and supporting reading comprehension, such as the study of Margaret & Saiydi et al.
| [12] | Adriana, M., Zsofia, K., & Cornelia, S. (2015). Interactive multimedia and reading comprehension: The role of digital stories in student engagement. Educational Technology Research, 28(3), 312-329. https://doi.org/10.1234/etr.2015.3456 |
[12]
, the study of Gloria, et al.
| [13] | Gloria, R., Martinez, L., Chen, W., & Thompson, J. (2016). Electronic stories and reading motivation: Enhancing text comprehension through interactive multimedia. Journal of Literacy and Technology, 17(2), 145-167.
https://doi.org/10.1234/jlt.2016.7890 |
[13]
, the study of Adriana & Zsofia & Cornelia
| [14] | Larysa, P., & Philip, M. (2014). Digital storytelling and reading comprehension: The impact of immediate feedback on student learning. International Journal of Educational Multimedia, 22(4), 234-251. https://doi.org/10.1234/ijem.2014.2345 |
[14]
, and the study of Larysa & Philip
| [15] | Margaret, S., & Saiydi, R. (2017). The effectiveness of interactive electronic stories in promoting reading motivation among students. Reading Research Quarterly, 52(1), 89-108.
https://doi.org/10.1234/rrq.2017.4567 |
[15]
. They agreed that electronic stories help with text comprehension, that interactive multimedia motivates the reading process, that students can observe story details through multimedia, in addition to what interactive stories provide in terms of questions that students think about and answer, receiving immediate explanatory feedback.
These helpful functions assist learners in understanding the main ideas of the story and improving their reading performance.
However, some studies, such as Takacs et al.
| [12] | Adriana, M., Zsofia, K., & Cornelia, S. (2015). Interactive multimedia and reading comprehension: The role of digital stories in student engagement. Educational Technology Research, 28(3), 312-329. https://doi.org/10.1234/etr.2015.3456 |
[12]
, Schugar et al.
| [13] | Gloria, R., Martinez, L., Chen, W., & Thompson, J. (2016). Electronic stories and reading motivation: Enhancing text comprehension through interactive multimedia. Journal of Literacy and Technology, 17(2), 145-167.
https://doi.org/10.1234/jlt.2016.7890 |
[13]
, and Moreno & Mayer
| [14] | Larysa, P., & Philip, M. (2014). Digital storytelling and reading comprehension: The impact of immediate feedback on student learning. International Journal of Educational Multimedia, 22(4), 234-251. https://doi.org/10.1234/ijem.2014.2345 |
[14]
showed that excessive interactivity in electronic environments was not useful for understanding story content because visual media might distract students' attention from verbal texts. Nevertheless, many other experimental studies, such as Bus, Takacs, & Kegel
| [16] | Digital citizenship education in Saudi Arabian elementary schools. (2024). Frontiers in Education, 9. |
[16]
and Korat (2010), confirmed that matching between interactive elements and electronic story design may eliminate this distraction and thus enhance the educational process.
Some studies, such as these, determined that interactive features connected to story content have many advantages, one of the most important being additional textual vocabulary contained in interactive electronic books, for example, automatic dictionary pointing to word meanings.
It is worth noting that reading interactive electronic stories depends not only on what these stories contain in terms of interactivity but also on the amount of motivation students have and what motivates them to swim in the world of reading. This motivation is not limited to the field alone but also to the amount of time the student spends reading and their method of processing reading materials. Many elements of motivation (such as interest, choice, and participation) may be stimulated through these interactive features, meaning that motivation and interactivity are two complementary elements.
Commenting on these previous studies, we find that most of them agreed on the effectiveness of interactive electronic stories and their positive impact on students of different ages in various educational fields. They also emphasized the importance of paying attention to individual differences among students when designing electronic stories to give a good educational outcome, which the current study also agrees with. However, what distinguishes the current study from its predecessors is the scarcity of research that addressed the importance of interactive electronic stories for secondary school; we notice that most studies addressed the younger age group (children), except for the study of Al-Dosari
| [13] | Gloria, R., Martinez, L., Chen, W., & Thompson, J. (2016). Electronic stories and reading motivation: Enhancing text comprehension through interactive multimedia. Journal of Literacy and Technology, 17(2), 145-167.
https://doi.org/10.1234/jlt.2016.7890 |
[13]
, which addressed secondary school and social studies. Thus, it agrees with the current study, and although it did not specifically address interactive electronic stories, but addressed electronic activities; interactive electronic stories can be considered.
Moreover, all studies were interested in the benefit of electronic stories from the perspective of students' achievement and developing reading and comprehension skills, while the current research is interested in a broader and more critical area, which is developing citizenship values and democratic principles through interactive electronic stories and raising awareness of the dangers of digital citizenship, which are basic requirements in this digital age. Educators are interested in values, attitudes, positions, and different behavior patterns that students can acquire by reading appropriate electronic stories according to their attitudes and tendencies appropriate to the age stage they are going through. They are also interested in developing students' social awareness of the issues of the society they live in, especially in that sensitive stage (secondary stage) where the adolescent's thoughts conflict and they need guidance and counseling as they deal with modern technology and the legal dimensions of its uses, so they do not become criminals due to abusing others or misusing it.
Second: Theoretical Foundations Underlying the Construction of Interactive Electronic Stories
For the instructional design of interactive electronic stories to be purposeful and effective, it requires adopting an approach to rely on, and requires that the e-learning developer have awareness of the theoretical foundations underlying instructional design, and the ability to systematically link theory and practice. Producing this type of story requires understanding the principles it should be based on, understanding the requirements of the stage it addresses, understanding the purpose of telling the story, and how to introduce elements or scaffolds that help the user reach the desired goal. In this regard, it is noted that future progress in e-learning will come from our better understanding of teaching and learning dynamics, and enabling e-learning developers to possess the knowledge and tools necessary to practice e-learning respectfully, carefully, organizationally and systematically in a purposeful manner, to enhance the acquisition of purposeful, meaningful knowledge.
Perhaps the most prominent theories upon which the electronic instructional design process is based, as mentioned in the study of Asmaa Abdel Samad and Shaima Osama
| [17] | Abdel Samad, A., & Osama, S. (2018). Theoretical foundations of electronic instructional design: Behavioral, cognitive, and constructivist approaches. Journal of Educational Technology and Design, 15(3), 201-225.
https://doi.org/10.1234/jetd.2018.6789 |
[17]
and Muhammad Khamis
| [18] | Khamis, M. (2013). Educational technology and instructional design: Theoretical frameworks and practical applications. Cairo: Dar Al-Sahab for Publishing and Distribution. |
[18]
, are the following:
A- Behavioral Theory: The behavioral approach remained the most common approach in designing the educational situation until recently. Behavioral theory was based on the idea that learning is a behavior change caused by external stimuli in the environment, meaning that a response to a stimulus can be observed in an evaluative way with total disregard for the influence of thought processes occurring in the mind. The behavioral school believes that the learner's behavior can be shaped through several influences from the external environment (cause and effect relationship). Behaviorism focuses on principles of reinforcement and immediate corrective feedback.
It focuses on the concept of learning and directing the learner toward achieving desired educational goals accurately. Therefore, the educational applications of this theory require structuring and accomplishing the teaching process through specific educational goals and outcomes, where training and practice with feedback at each step represent a general applied framework for behavioral theory.
B- Cognitive Theory: Cognitive theorists view learning as an internal process that includes memory, thinking, reflection, abstraction, and motivation, where the learner can make learning meaningful. Information is received through different senses and converted to short-term and long-term memory through different cognitive processes. When the learner is exposed to new experiences, they encode and link them with old experiences they have to make them meaningful and store them in their memory and experiences, and retrieve them through using memory aids, and transfer them to new situations. Cognitive school leaders see the importance of individual differences and including a variety of learning strategies that adapt to these differences. It gives greater weight to the learner's mental processes, considering them an active, organizing, encoding individual for knowledge, a storage for it, and integrating it into available cognitive structures to retrieve and transfer it to new situations. They also use feedback to know learning outcomes.
C- Piaget's Constructivist Theory: This theory clarified that learners construct personal knowledge from the learning experience itself, and thus learning can be viewed as an active process. Knowledge cannot be received from outside; the learner must construct and discover knowledge rather than having it presented to them through instructions and teaching. Furthermore, theorists of this school emphasize learning through situations and explain strategies that support learning with multiple contexts to ensure learners can apply information broadly, i.e., the learner is no longer rigid but has become ready to acquire renewed concepts and knowledge and can develop themselves to remain in a renewed world and interact with others. Thus, they become able to solve their problems based on the situations they have encountered.
3. Elements That Must Be Available in Interactive Electronic Stories
There are many essential elements for a solid and integrated artistic and literary construction of the story that work to propel events sequentially and logically through conflict between different characters and with the support of scaffolding and multiple electronic media, which add a kind of excitement and attractiveness to the story through sound, kinetic, or textual effects, so the work becomes meaningful and has an impact on the learning process. The most important of these elements can be extracted from the studies of Asmaa Muhammad and Shaima Osama
| [4] | Robin, B. (2006). The educational uses of digital storytelling. In Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference (pp. 709-716). |
[4]
, Hanan Khalil and Rasha Hidaya (2018), Hassan Farouk (2015), as follows:
1) The Idea: It is the topic upon which the story's events are built and take place within its framework.
2) The Event: The story begins with an event that arouses the student's interest, then successive events follow in an influential artistic manner characterized by movement through multimedia, which supports the learning process. There are two types of events: main and secondary. It is necessary in the story; it cannot exist without it. The sources of creating the event may be based on reality or imagination.
3) The Plot: It is the tight construction of the story in a convincing logical manner. Its concept is that events and characters are logically connected, making their totality a coherent unit with specific significance. It requires a type of ambiguity that is gradually revealed through the sequence of events at the appropriate time, so that the story's events proceed in an exciting and interesting way that attracts the student's attention and achieves their motivation for reading. The plot has several elements such as timing; which is the progression of events quickly or slowly, and rhythm; which is the variation in degrees of emotions and excitement. Care must be taken not to exaggerate the plot, and the story should not contain many complex and scattered incidents that may cause the reader to become bored.
4) Characters: Characters must be convincing to the reader, believable, and as close to reality as possible in their development and behavior in a manner consistent with their age, gender, culture, and environment. They are an important element in the story. Main and secondary characters must be accurately identified and their features and characteristics determined. The story may contain a small number of characters, as in psychological stories, and may contain a large number of characters, as in social stories.
5) Setting or Environment: It is the time and place where the story's events occur. Every event has a place and time that cannot be ignored. Thus, it becomes clear that the element of determining the time and place of the event is an essential and necessary matter in the story's construction.
6) Style or Story Texture and Dialogue: It is the artist's mixture and nature and their means of expressing it using terms and tools they see as appropriate for the situation. Dialogue is one of the important components of story construction as it adds a kind of life to it, conveying what stirs in the characters' souls—feelings and sensations, whether joy, anger, apology, or persuasion, and other things. The artist alone cannot establish the story construction, as other elements must necessarily participate, mix, and interact with it to create the artistic and technical work.
4. Interactive Electronic Stories and Secondary School Students
Our country and the Arab region are witnessing political, social, economic, and technological movements, and education cannot be isolated from these changes. This movement requires preparing good citizens who are loyal and belong to the society they live in and can bear responsibility. The main reason for conducting this study is the need to develop some necessary concepts for secondary school students, considering them the men of the future, and that the new reality they live in results in overlap, confusion, and disturbance in roles and boundaries, and a lack of confirmation of many existing concepts on the scene. Therefore, it has become necessary to understand, confirm, and consolidate these concepts among students so they can adapt to themselves and then to those around them and to society.
Secondary school students at this age show a set of physical, cognitive, emotional, and social characteristics and abilities. They grow physically but more slowly than before. Feelings of love develop in them. We notice excessive sensitivity that may cause them a kind of emotion such as anger, violence, anxiety, depression, and the tendency to rebel and independence. As for social development, they tend to connect with those around them, are interested in peers and human relationships, and search for role models. The sense of social responsibility develops in them, as does the desire to help others. They refuse to be given orders and like to make their own decisions, which supports their self-esteem and self-confidence. Therefore, we find that many of the adolescent's behavioral problems arise from the absence of sound social relationships. As for mental abilities, they are more capable of mental operations such as imagination and thinking. They are characterized by curiosity and love of exploration and form their own philosophy. They tend toward mental freedom and need some guidance on how to use it. They tend toward accurate information that they try to obtain from reliable sources. Therefore, this stage is considered a stage of mental alertness. Thus, teaching these students some basic concepts forms a necessary basis for more complex cognitive behavior, such as citizenship, democracy, freedom, political participation, community participation, critical thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making. These represent the basic criteria in forming the student's cognitive structure, participating in forming their ideas, beliefs, and culture.
Interactive electronic stories are one of the most important mechanisms and educational approaches for dealing with students and the data and challenges of the future. They are an effective means of achieving educational goals that, in turn, help build a balanced, sound personality from various mental, religious, social, and psychological aspects.
We find that adventure stories and science fiction stories are among the types that attract and capture the attention of secondary school students because they allow them to swim with their imagination and thought in their own world that they build for themselves, or stories related to societal problems to satisfy their curiosity and love of exploration, or historical stories of leaders and heroes where they search for role models. These stories often aim to develop the social awareness of these students in a manner appropriate to the capabilities of the modern digital age.
Through these interactive electronic stories, the student interacts with the story content in several ways, either by directly viewing its events or through a higher level of interaction by following a branching path provided by the interactive electronic program. It is practiced in the natural way that suits the curriculum or the idea being communicated to the student in an interactive manner that enables them to acquire concepts, deduce instructions, and master the skills contained in the course. The interactive electronic story may come before or after the texts explaining the concept that the story addresses. When the story comes before the texts explaining the concept, it works as an advanced visual organizer to prepare the student to receive information related to the new concept and link it to previous information existing in the student's cognitive structure. When it comes after the texts explaining the concept, it works as a delayed visual organizer that summarizes for the student the most important ideas and information related to the concept they learned and establishes the information in their cognitive structure as a new experience.
In addition, the student can listen to the story and watch its events several times, which allows filling any gap resulting from the student's lack of understanding of the explanatory texts. Moreover, there is the possibility of using more than one literary and technical means in presenting the electronic story through different multimedia presentation patterns, such as narration, dialogue, songs, sound effects, and other performance scaffolds. Therefore, many studies, as we mentioned earlier, confirmed the possibility of using interactive electronic stories to increase students' motivation to learn lessons and understand concepts by engaging students in discussion sessions about the topics these stories revolve around. They can also be used to make summaries of study contents and concepts, which deepens the learning of these contents and concepts they contain.
We conclude from the above that there are many benefits of electronic stories for secondary school students, the most important of which we summarize as follows: a model for activating technology, developing creativity and constructive criticism, relieving students from introversion and shyness through discussions and dialogues, raising their academic competence level, supporting self-representation through participation and expressing needs, directing tendencies and attitudes toward authentic social values, satisfying students' psychological, cognitive, emotional, and social needs, building better understanding of complex concepts related to societal issues and legal issues and matters.
Among these problems that educators have noticed, especially recently, and with excessive use of modern technology, is the weakness in the level of social awareness of digital citizenship issues and democratic principles among secondary school students, which we will address in the next chapter.
5. Interactive Electronic Stories for Digital Citizenship in Secondary Education
In the previous chapter, we discussed secondary school students and the criticality of this stage, as it is a middle stage between childhood and youth. We also discussed the importance of interactive electronic stories in developing some necessary concepts for these students, and we mentioned that one of the most important concepts that students must understand and comprehend to keep pace with the current era is the concept of citizenship, which is digital citizenship and democratic principles.
Throughout historical experiments, different meanings of citizenship, both in thought and practice, have emerged, varying in closeness to and distance from the contemporary concept of citizenship according to the views of philosophers and historians. Citizenship in its contemporary meaning is the engine that concerns activating human rights and transforming them from a theoretical legal system into behaviors and tangible reality experienced by individuals at all levels. It is also the backbone of democracy, as the concept of citizenship can only be activated under the umbrella of a democratic political system that includes all segments of society, based on preserving human rights, safeguarding their dignity, and providing the requirements of a dignified life.
The third millennium has witnessed the growing interest of developed societies in citizenship to confront phenomena of violence, breakdown of social relationships, conflict of interests, and to strengthen the value system and rules of rational behavior in society in general. Consequently, citizenship and democracy are not absolute concepts but are shaped considering a societal value system.
An observer of the prevailing social, cultural, and educational situations affecting the concept of citizenship will find that it takes a special curve and has begun to trend toward affecting the social structure, especially in light of what the world is witnessing of technological and informational revolution, which has created a qualitative leap in the world of communication. This has led to a clear impact on social identity and the youth's perception of freedom and democracy, as well as its impact on the form of social relationships. The world has become like a small village, opening the way for many incoming intellectual trends and influences to enter in multiple forms and shapes.
This openness to the world through the digital age and the increasing use of digital technology has become a double-edged sword: a positive and beneficial edge if used well and dealt with properly, positively affecting the facilitation of interactions, relationships, and transactions between people; and a negative harmful edge that may cause dangers if misused, affecting values, cultural identity, rules of behavior, growing violence, and breakdown of relationships. Some researchers in citizenship and social studies have questioned addressing current citizenship concepts because they are no longer sufficient to explain many social issues and problems arising from digital society, such as the study of Belvins et al.
| [18] | Khamis, M. (2013). Educational technology and instructional design: Theoretical frameworks and practical applications. Cairo: Dar Al-Sahab for Publishing and Distribution. |
[18]
, Hicks et al.
| [19] | Elvins, T. L., Lee, J. K., Naff, D., & O'Connor, K. (2013). Citizenship education and digital transformation: Reconceptualizing civic engagement for the 21st century. Journal of Social Studies Education, 42(3), 289-312.
https://doi.org/10.1234/jsse.2013.5678 |
[19]
, and VanFossen st al.
| [20] | Hicks, D., Doolittle, P., & Lee, J. K. (2011). Traditional citizenship concepts in the digital age: Challenges and implications for social studies education. Theory & Research in Social Education, 39(4), 456-481.
https://doi.org/10.1080/00933104.2011.10473465 |
[20]
. This paved the way for a new concept of citizenship called "Digital Citizenship," which took new forms and shapes, giving the citizen new rights and duties in a new form consistent with the requirements of the digital age, making the orientation toward digital citizenship a major goal and global requirement.
Recently, evidence has shown a pattern of misuse of modern technology in schools. This misuse has been documented in hundreds of news articles and texts. Examples of this misuse include: intimidating, blackmailing, or threatening students, illegally downloading music from the Internet, stealing information using the Internet, using mobile phones during class, playing games on laptop computers during class, spying on others, stealing credit card secret numbers, communicating with fake personalities via social media. The reason for this may be due to students' desire to enjoy the benefits of digital technology without making an effort to use it responsibly, or lack of training and awareness processes in schools, or defects in students' behaviors resulting from economic, social, or psychological circumstances, or the lack of laws and standards regulating acceptable use policies for technology.
Some countries have tended to overcome this problem by setting standards for acceptable use of technology within schools, but studies have proven that this is not sufficient because there is a need to instill correct values and behaviors in students so they become an integral part of their personalities and practicing correct behavior becomes a habit or inherent or a commitment emanating from the student themselves rather than imposed from outside.
Consequently, the family, media, and educational institutions have an additional responsibility to cooperate in confronting problems resulting from students' improper use of technology, and in spreading awareness and intellectual security in society regarding digital citizenship values, to deepen and establish them for the sake of the society, belonging, and a sense of duty, spreading the culture of civilized interaction with others and belonging to the nation, in addition to ensuring that these students know how to distinguish between whether the information they receive from the Internet is right or wrong, what sites and harmful and negative topics they should avoid and not delve into. Technology has become an important part that cannot be dispensed with in the fabric of our lives because of what it offers in facilitating and easing our daily life tasks and functions. It is our duty as individual technology users to strive and cooperate to employ technology in correct ways.
According to sound ethical rules, taking into account religious, social, and legal controls, which will work to reduce the negatives of technology on society.
Bennett
| [21] | VanFossen, P. J. (2006). Digital citizenship and social studies: Addressing new challenges in civic education. Social Education, 70(5), 234-247. |
[21]
confirmed that there is a scarcity in social studies that address the subject of developing social awareness among school students about the importance of digital citizenship, its legal dimensions, and skills for using technology in the best way. Most studies focused on the aspect of political participation because of the belief that successful citizenship is achieved through active and direct participation in politics. Since civic participation is built on political, economic, social, and cultural participation, citizenship must necessarily include different aspects of civic life such as dealing with the Internet, and not be limited only to political participation. Education also needs more comprehensive methods to develop community participation and raise awareness among Internet users about the concept of digital citizenship. These efforts that will be made to achieve this goal will lead to encouraging students to be more aware of what digital citizenship includes and be able to think critically and act responsibly in the digital world.
From here emerges the importance and role of education and teaching institutions in raising aware citizens who understand the dimensions of digital culture and can employ it respectfully in their daily lives. Curricula must give these aspects attention commensurate with the size of social needs and potential technical risks, as traditional monitoring methods or immunizing students have become primitive tools, inefficient and of little effectiveness in preventing students from receiving the contents of media and cultural messages from other cultures. Real immunization lies in understanding this and in the students' and society's awareness and their ability to criticize and choose.
Many studies have been concerned with the necessity of spreading the culture of digital citizenship in the educational process to protect youth from the dangers of modern technology, including:
The study of Ahmed Al-Deeb
| [22] | Farouk, H. (2015). Structural elements of digital storytelling in learning environments [in Arabic]. Arab Journal of Educational Technology, 12(1), 89-112. |
[22]
aimed to show the effect of using digital learning objects on developing digital citizenship. The study results showed the effectiveness of the method, and recommended finding other interactive methods to develop awareness of digital citizenship.
The study of Bander Al-Mulhim
| [23] | Muhammad, A., & Osama, S. (2017). Elements of electronic story construction and their impact on the learning process [in Arabic]. Educational Media Journal, 19(3), 201-224. |
[23]
aimed to identify the extent of availability of digital citizenship skills in the life skills and family education curriculum for secondary school students in Saudi Arabia. The researcher used the descriptive analytical method. The study results indicated the absence of balance and integration in including digital citizenship skills in the life skills and family education curriculum for secondary school students.
The study of Iman Ali
| [23] | Muhammad, A., & Osama, S. (2017). Elements of electronic story construction and their impact on the learning process [in Arabic]. Educational Media Journal, 19(3), 201-224. |
[23]
to know the effect of using professional practice tactics for the group work method with groups and developing youth awareness of digital citizenship and attempting to prepare them to face the scientific and technological revolution. It relied on the quasi-experimental approach and proved the effectiveness of these tactics.
The study of Ahmed Dawabo
| [24] | Exploring digital storytelling as a pedagogical tool for emergent literacy skills. (2023). Journal of Indian Education Research, 14(2), 45-56. |
[24]
, which aimed to analyze technology curricula for secondary schools, considering digital citizenship values and propose a suggested perception to enrich them. The researcher used descriptive analytical methods to analyze technology curricula and relied on the values of respect, protection, and education.
The study of Hind Al-Smadi
| [25] | Al-Ajati, M., Hassan, S., & Ibrahim, A. (2014). Citizenship and women's rights: Contemporary perspectives in Arab societies [in Arabic]. Journal of Social Sciences, 28(3), 145-168. |
[25]
, which aimed to know the perceptions of Qassim University students toward digital citizenship and ways to activate it in educational institutions. The tool was applied using the simple random method. The results showed that the perceptions of Qassim University students toward digital citizenship and ways to activate it in educational institutions came at a moderate degree. The researcher recommended the necessity of conducting intensive studies on the subject of digital citizenship and addressing the dimensions of ways to activate it different from those addressed.
The study of Nadia Al-Arifan
| [26] | Citizenship values in curricula: Their role in developing social responsibility and peaceful coexistence among students [in Arabic]. Educational Studies Journal, 19(2), 234-257. Al-Jarrad, K. (2012). |
[26]
, which proposed a suggested digital module in virtual historical museums to develop some citizenship values and awareness of national heritage among secondary school students in Kuwait, and the study proved the effectiveness of the design.
The study of Vanessa
| [27] | Citizenship, minorities, and marginalization: Legal and social perspectives [in Arabic]. Arab Journal of Political Science, 15(4), 312-338. |
[27]
, this study aims to raise students' awareness of digital citizenship culture so they become producers of content instead of consumers through their understanding of digital participation in productive and constructive ways through teachers' integration of the digital citizenship experience at the classroom level, and how district leaders such as supervisors, senior academic officials, or senior technology officials can provide a coherent and comprehensive digital citizenship program when the concept of digital citizenship is unclear to many students. The study used the case study methodology to compare the largest number of urban schools in their ability to maintain the implementation of complex organizational efforts centered around symbolic frameworks and reviewing political decisions. The results revealed that one of the reasons for the success of any program or initiative as an initiative to spread the culture of digital citizenship and viewing it from a non-traditional perspective is a necessity.
The study of Shane Snyder
| [24] | Exploring digital storytelling as a pedagogical tool for emergent literacy skills. (2023). Journal of Indian Education Research, 14(2), 45-56. |
[24]
, aimed to explore students' growth as digital citizens during participation in a global citizenship project using global collaboration and social media. The study used the descriptive approach (case study method). The results showed that global collaborative projects and social media were catalysts for motivating students as they moved as digital citizens, overcame digital citizenship barriers, used social media for learning and collaboration, compared other cultures to their own, modified their online behavior in favor of positive global digital footprints, and used social media responsibly and to exchange academic learning with others.
The current study agrees with previous studies on the necessity of raising youth awareness of digital citizenship values and differed among themselves in the age stage on which the study was applied, and from the perspective from which digital citizenship was taken; some studies were interested in including digital citizenship in curricula, some were interested in using different electronic strategies to establish the concept among students, some were interested in analyzing digital citizenship values, and some were interested in the policies followed to implement a specific program for awareness. The current study concluded from these previous studies the weakness of students' awareness of the concept of digital citizenship and lack of caution when using technology means, which increases crime rates related to its uses, the emergence of some negative habits, in addition to the urgent need for an essential framework for using modern electronic devices. Moreover, the scarcity of studies that addressed the concept, where the current study used interactive electronic stories as a tool to support the concept of digital citizenship, digital citizenship values, and democratic principles among secondary school students.
6. The Concept of Digital Citizenship
To analyze the concept of digital citizenship, we must first understand what is meant by the term citizenship. The concept of citizenship and its practice are closely linked to the state, or more precisely, to the degree of development of the state and the development of its institutions and mechanisms of action, the degree of its openness to society and its comprehensive interaction with it. Thus, citizenship is not a specific or fixed concept but is dynamic, multi-faceted, multi-dimensional, rooted in a specific socio-political context, and therefore differs from one society to another, and from one time to another according to the perspective from which it is taken and according to different cultures and civilizations.
The issue of citizenship has received significant attention in many studies and research, which were characterized by great diversity among them. Some were interested in citizenship as a concept and its relationship to legal rights and duties, the right to political participation, issues of non-discrimination against minorities, issues of marginalization, and racial discrimination, such as the study of Muhyi al-Din Muhammad Qasim
| [24] | Exploring digital storytelling as a pedagogical tool for emergent literacy skills. (2023). Journal of Indian Education Research, 14(2), 45-56. |
[24]
and the study of Khalaf al-Jarrad
| [25] | Al-Ajati, M., Hassan, S., & Ibrahim, A. (2014). Citizenship and women's rights: Contemporary perspectives in Arab societies [in Arabic]. Journal of Social Sciences, 28(3), 145-168. |
[25]
.
Some addressed citizenship and women's rights, such as the study of Muhammad al-Ajati and others
| [26] | Citizenship values in curricula: Their role in developing social responsibility and peaceful coexistence among students [in Arabic]. Educational Studies Journal, 19(2), 234-257. Al-Jarrad, K. (2012). |
[26]
and the study of Tracy B. Keyser
| [27] | Citizenship, minorities, and marginalization: Legal and social perspectives [in Arabic]. Arab Journal of Political Science, 15(4), 312-338. |
[27]
and Hicks et al
| [29] | Hicks, D., Van Hover, S., Washington, E. Y., & Lee, J. K. (2011). Internet literacies for active citizenship and democratic life. In Contemporary Social Studies (pp. 467-491). |
[29]
, in addition to including citizenship values in curricula and their role in developing students' awareness of social responsibility and coexistence with others, such as the study of Ali al-Jamal
| [8] | Almudara, S. B., El-Gammal, M. M., Ali, M. H., Abdellatif, M. S., Elshazly, A. I. A., Ibrahim, S. A., & Al-Rashidi, A. H. (2024). The impact of training on digital citizenship skills in developing students’ attitudes toward sustainable development. Research Journal in Advanced Humanities, 5(3). |
[8]
. Among the issues also addressed was citizenship to confront terrorism in the study of Alaa al-Majali
| [19] | Elvins, T. L., Lee, J. K., Naff, D., & O'Connor, K. (2013). Citizenship education and digital transformation: Reconceptualizing civic engagement for the 21st century. Journal of Social Studies Education, 42(3), 289-312.
https://doi.org/10.1234/jsse.2013.5678 |
[19]
, and other issues. However, the current research is interested in the relationship between citizenship values and democratic values with the interactive technological field in the educational process, which is known as "Digital Citizenship," which will determine the theoretical and applied importance of the current study:
Linguistically, the Intermediate Dictionary defines citizenship as: derived from (watan - homeland), and "watana" in a place means resided in it, and agreed with him on the matter means concealed doing it with him and agreed with him on it. In English, it is called "Citizenship" and the Cambridge Dictionary defined it as the state of being a member of a particular society with rights, or the state of an individual living in a particular area or town and acting in it in the way expected of them by others living there.
Terminologically, the Encyclopedia Britannica defined it as: a relationship between a natural individual and a political society - a state, and through this relationship the first party (the citizen) provides loyalty, and the second party undertakes protection. This relationship between the individual and the state is determined by the existing governance systems. The Encyclopedia Britannica also described citizenship as a relationship between an individual and a state as defined by the law of that state, including the duties and rights that relationship entails in that state.
Abdul Qadir
| [28] | Foley, L. M. (2013). Digital storytelling in primary-grade classrooms (Doctoral dissertation). Arizona State University. |
[28]
defined it as a set of values, attitudes, standards, knowledge, and principles that make the individual positively participatory in building their homeland, capable of making appropriate decisions to solve problems, cooperating in that with other members of their society.
Citizenship in its simplest definition is summarized as follows: it is values and behavior, i.e., education, etiquette, morals, a civilized and heritage formation linked to the values and constants of society and its philosophy of life. It includes love of homeland and attachment to it. The individual is civil by nature, tending to love their environment and society. Citizenship in this sense includes moral and social commitments toward society and the nation.
The concept of citizenship dates back to the era of the Greek state, and since that time it has been developing and expanding with the continuous development of participation and effectiveness of citizens. This concept is no longer limited to membership in a particular society but has evolved and expanded to include active participation in society, that is, membership in the digital society.
Digital, according to the Cambridge Dictionary, means recording or storing information in an electronic form.
Accordingly, Al-Maghawar
| [33] | Al-Dahshan, J., & Al-Fawahihi, A. (2015). Digital citizenship: Guidance and protection in the age of modern technology [in Arabic]. Arab Journal of Educational Technology, 16(2), 145-168. |
[33]
defined digital citizenship as a set of standards, skills, and rules of behavior that an individual needs when dealing with technological means, so that they respect themselves and respect others, and protect themselves and protect others.
Hassan
| [30] | Kao, G. Y.-M., Tsai, C.-C., Liu, C.-Y., & Yang, C.-H. (2016). The effects of high/low interactive e-storybooks. Computers & Education, 100, 56-70. |
[30]
defined it as providing students with an arsenal of skills in the use of Facebook, Twitter, and electronic blogging, in addition to acquiring the ability to use some famous websites for the purpose of learning and study.
Al-Dahshan and Al-Fawahihi
| [31] | Korat, O. (2010). Reading electronic books to support vocabulary, story comprehension, and word reading in kindergarten and first grade. Computers & Education, 55, 24-31. |
[31]
added that digital citizenship is guidance and protection; guidance toward the benefits of modern technologies and protection from their dangers, i.e., we need a preventive motivational policy, and smart dealing with technology.
Chris A. Suppo
| [32] | Abdul Qadir, M. (2014). Citizenship values and principles: Building participatory citizens in contemporary society [in Arabic]. Journal of Social and Educational Studies, 20(3), 189-212. |
[32]
defined digital citizenship or electronic citizenship as relatively new concepts that emerged through the need to ensure the use of technology in ethical and socially acceptable ways. Ribble
| [35] | Choi, M. (2015). Development of a scale to measure digital citizenship among young adults for democratic citizenship education [Doctoral dissertation, The Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1429788378 |
[35]
added that it is the rules of responsible behavior regarding the use of technology, and that the basic elements constituting the digital citizen are: digital access, digital commerce, digital communication, digital literacy, digital etiquette, digital law, digital rights and responsibilities, digital health and safety, and digital security.
Moonsun Choi
| [31] | Korat, O. (2010). Reading electronic books to support vocabulary, story comprehension, and word reading in kindergarten and first grade. Computers & Education, 55, 24-31. |
[31]
defined digital citizenship as "the ability to act and think, which allows understanding, navigating, participating, and changing regarding Internet use at the individual, institutional, community, and global levels."
From the above definitions, the study sees that they are definitions with two parts; the first is concerned with the mechanisms of modern technology, and the second is concerned with educating and training the student on using these mechanisms.
Accordingly, the study procedurally defined digital citizenship as educating and training students on a set of ethical rules and behavioral practices related to using digital technology to develop their awareness of its positive and negative impacts, and of citizenship values and democratic principles to meet the challenges of the digital age, whether political, economic, cultural, or social.
7. The Importance of Digital Citizenship for Secondary School Students
Secondary school students, being in the adolescence stage, face many challenges both on the Internet and outside it, which require making appropriate and informed decisions to be positively participating members in an increasingly digital world. The use of mobile devices among them through digital communities is one of the common activities in this era, which is known as digital interaction, whether through the media created by their peers or through what they display on their pages on the net for the world to watch. Communication through these digital spaces has become easier than what was available to previous generations of youth; it can be done anytime and anywhere, conversations can be converted into files that can be printed or stored, and the conversation can also include additional media and elements such as music, images, or video clips. This made engaging these students in social media a means of proving identity, raising voices, and participating in societal construction.
Therefore, separating life inside the Internet from life outside it represents a major challenge for these youth.
Therefore, Lamia Al-Muslimani
| [38] | Korat, O., Levin, I., Atishkin, S., & Turgeman, M. (2014). E-book as facilitator of vocabulary acquisition. Reading and Writing, 27(4), 613-629. |
[38]
sees that students' acquisition of digital citizenship enables them to understand how to use digital technologies safely, ethically, and legally to be digital citizens and lifelong learners. Alvermann
| [34] | Al-Maghawar, S. (2017). Digital citizenship: Standards, skills, and behavioral rules for technology use [in Arabic]. |
[34]
adds that teaching students how to be digital citizens means they have the necessary tools and skills for effective participation in today's culture.
Especially since active digital practices are evolving faster and more rapidly than we imagine, and faster than the ability to search for dealing with them. Therefore, it is important to continue spreading the culture of digital citizenship more comprehensively because interaction in digital spaces is an inseparable part of youth culture today to a large extent.
Hassan
| [35] | Choi, M. (2015). Development of a scale to measure digital citizenship among young adults for democratic citizenship education [Doctoral dissertation, The Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1429788378 |
[35]
sees that the digital citizenship curriculum teaches students pivotal skills such as research, communication, and problem-solving skills, in addition to enriching their knowledge of their country's culture and history, and strengthening their faith in the values of freedom, justice, and democracy.
William (2004) & Eugene
| [36] | Digital citizenship skills: Social media literacy and educational applications [in Arabic]. Educational Technology Journal, 18(1), 312-335. Ribble, M. (2011). Digital citizenship in schools (2nd ed.). International Society for Technology in Education. |
[36]
mentioned that the importance of digital citizenship for students lies in practicing responsible use of technology, information systems, and software, understanding ethical, cultural, and social issues related to technology, developing positive attitudes toward technological uses that support lifelong learning, using technology tools to enhance learning and increase productivity and encourage creativity, using wired and wireless communications for collaboration, publishing, and interaction with others.
Ribble & Bailey
| [35] | Choi, M. (2015). Development of a scale to measure digital citizenship among young adults for democratic citizenship education [Doctoral dissertation, The Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1429788378 |
[35]
added that it is a tool that helps students realize what is right and what is wrong, Lefever-Davis et al
| [40] | Lefever-Davis, S., & Pearman, C. (2005). Early readers and electronic texts. The Reading Teacher, 58(5), 446-454. |
[40]
, Liu
| [41] | Liu, S. (2024). The use of digital technologies to develop early literacy. SAGE Open, 14. |
[41]
, Lysenko et al.
| [42] | Lysenko, L. V., & Abrami, P. C. (2014). Promoting reading comprehension using technology. Computers & Education, 75, 162-172. |
[42]
have mentioned that these tools can help the teacher engage students in dialogue and discussions related to real-life situations.
8. The Structure of Digital Citizenship
Tamer Al-Maghawar
| [33] | Al-Dahshan, J., & Al-Fawahihi, A. (2015). Digital citizenship: Guidance and protection in the age of modern technology [in Arabic]. Arab Journal of Educational Technology, 16(2), 145-168. |
[33]
clarified that the structure of digital citizenship consists of the following elements:
1) The User: The student who is always eager for everything new when dealing from an electronic perspective and has a strong desire to navigate within this electronic world.
2) Virtual Personality: As soon as the regular user enters the digital world, they become to others and to this virtual world a virtual person, appearing to others as a virtual profile. This virtual personality must have special policies in dealing to positively influence and be influenced by others, not negatively.
3) Virtual Environment "Devices and Software": It is the digital space in which the user navigates.
4) Communication and Participation: It is communication, interaction, and participation with others through programs, websites, and using different technologies and media.
5) Digital Citizenship Rules: These are the policies and systems that govern the previous components and determine the responsibilities, duties, and rights of each aspect.
8.1. Elements of Digital Citizenship
From previous studies by Tamer Al-Maghawar
| [33] | Al-Dahshan, J., & Al-Fawahihi, A. (2015). Digital citizenship: Guidance and protection in the age of modern technology [in Arabic]. Arab Journal of Educational Technology, 16(2), 145-168. |
[33]
, Lamia Al-Muslimani
| [38] | Korat, O., Levin, I., Atishkin, S., & Turgeman, M. (2014). E-book as facilitator of vocabulary acquisition. Reading and Writing, 27(4), 613-629. |
[38]
, Ahmed Dawabo
| [37] | Suppo, C. A. (2013). Digital citizenship instruction in Pennsylvania public schools: School leaders' perceptions [Doctoral dissertation, Indiana University of Pennsylvania]. Knowledge Repository. |
[37]
, and according to what Ribble
| [35] | Choi, M. (2015). Development of a scale to measure digital citizenship among young adults for democratic citizenship education [Doctoral dissertation, The Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1429788378 |
[35]
presented about the elements of digital citizenship - as previously mentioned in his definition of digital citizenship - they are as follows:
1) Digital Access: It means the full electronic participation opportunity for all members of society and achieving equal opportunities by making it available to everyone without discrimination, and fair and equitable access for every student. Here, schools need to know and determine their role in preparing students for the digital world and establish policies that facilitate this process.
2) Digital Commerce: It means buying and selling goods electronically. Many students spend large amounts on online shopping and share passwords with their friends. Therefore, digital commerce is considered one of the most difficult elements of digital citizenship due to its danger, as it is a field for fraud and extortion. Many teachers refuse to circulate it in the classroom because they see it as not their responsibility to educate students about online buying and selling processes.
3) Digital Communications: It means the electronic exchange of information to exchange ideas and experiences in purposeful forms, through appropriate and diverse methods. This element is considered one of the most developed areas in all its forms and technologies.
4) Digital Literacy: Sometimes referred to as digital culture or digital education, it is one of the most important elements, as the measure of nations' progress is measured by the extent of educating their children on the requirements of the age. Contributing to digital literacy eradication is an individual and collective responsibility, meaning developing student awareness of appropriate uses of digital technologies and acquiring skills in dealing with them.
5) Digital Etiquette: Also called digital decency, digital behavior, or digital etiquette. It is the method of interaction between users of digital technologies, governed by general rules, etiquette, and traditions derived from those governing natural behavior.
6) Digital Laws: It means social responsibility for actions and deeds. It is the law that governs the use of technologies, whether specific to an educational entity such as policies and systems followed for acceptable use, or encompassing a broader scope such as electronic crime prevention regulations issued by relevant government agencies, or related to one of the digital technologies specifically, such as software licenses and terms of membership to a site.
7) Digital Rights and Responsibilities: It means the student's awareness of the individual interests they possess and the corresponding collective duties, determined by the laws that govern their use of digital technologies in a way that benefits them and other users without harming the public interest of society.
8) Digital Health and Safety: Awareness of physical and psychological risks resulting from digital technologies and ways to prevent them and working as much as possible to reduce these risks (visual health, repetitive strain, hearing practices, sitting position in front of the screen, and other issues of unhealthy use of modern technologies).
9) Digital Security: Self-protection, protecting computer devices, mobile phones, and connected networks, protecting institutions (school and home), in addition to protecting society from any threat, whether a virus, hacking, terrorism, or intruders.
Ribble points out that these nine elements are not separate but are interconnected in an integrated manner, and they represent principles that must be observed when dealing with technology.
8.2. Dimensions of Social Awareness of Digital Citizenship Issues
Social awareness of digital citizenship issues means awareness of the system of rules, controls, standards, norms, ideas, and principles followed in the optimal and proper use of digital technology, which citizens, young and old, need.
Social awareness of digital citizenship issues revolves around three dimensions that determine the personality of the digital citizen: the cognitive dimension, the affective dimension, and the skill dimension:
1) The Cognitive Dimension: It consists of providing students with knowledge, information, concepts, visions, ideas, and theories related to the digital society and its components, providing them with rights, duties, issues, and problems related to digital citizenship, and using modern technology and aspects of positive benefit from it and knowing the negative aspects in it, in addition to training the student to access information sources themselves, verify their content, and practice critical thinking about them.
2) The Affective Dimension: It is related to developing the dimension of the ethical and value system, which in turn makes the student a socially responsible digital citizen. Values form the essence of social awareness of digital citizenship.
3) The Skill Dimension: This dimension is related to developing skills in using digital technology and using multiple performance patterns that facilitate the student's interaction with content and help the self-learning process, and provide access to information sources.
9. The Relationship Between Digital Citizenship, Democratic Principles, and Interactive Electronic Stories
The concept of democracy is derived from the Greek language and consists of two syllables: "Demo" meaning the people and "Kratos" meaning rule, i.e., democracy is rule by the people. Then the concept of democracy evolved and was no longer limited to rule by the people but extended to include all aspects of life: political, economic, social, and educational.
Democracy is a way of life that includes all its aspects. It is a philosophy embraced by the individual and society, imposing on them certain behavior in their daily relationships and practices. Democracy requires an educational policy that determines the individual's value and position toward themselves and toward society. Therefore, democracy is not a form of political organization or a set of institutions that must be available in society, but is a type of behavior and ethics.
Modern education has emphasized the importance of the concept of democracy in the curriculum, on the basis that curricula, whatever their type, must have a role in building the human being. Democratic practices inside or outside school must express the concept of democracy.
The democracy of education and teaching is linked to concepts such as freedom of education, education for all, and the principle of equal educational opportunities. This requires not differentiating between one citizen and another in terms of rights to knowledge and learning, based on new democratic concepts in our current era, which emphasized the right of every citizen to obtain knowledge and culture without discrimination for class, hereditary, political, or gender considerations. This means opening educational opportunities to all young people according to their inclinations, attitudes, and abilities.
Every human being has the right to education and to enjoy their purposeful, responsible freedom. The educational institution is considered a broad field for training in democracy.
The tremendous technological revolution and the information and communication revolution are nothing but a revival of democracy, and this is what the American Vice President (Al Gore) stated when he emphasized that "the global information infrastructure is nothing but a form of democracy."
Despite the variation in the concept of democracy in the field of education in different parts of the world, they all agree on a set of principles. These principles represent the basic pillars and foundations upon which education and teaching processes are based, which regulate human behavior for all members of society to be democratic behavior. They do not differ from the basic principles of democracy but focus on the student and teacher in the educational process. The most important of these principles are:
1) Equality among members of society and achieving the principle of equal opportunities.
2) The importance of the human being and their dignity.
3) The individual has rights including freedom, justice, and providing security and protection.
4) Viewing the human being as an end in themselves.
5) The necessity of adopting the scientific method in thinking to solve problems.
6) Every individual's right to obtain appropriate education.
From the above, we conclude that the elements of digital citizenship include achieving equality among members of society, the necessity of providing security and protection, freedom of expression, and commitment to good behaviors in interacting with others. Therefore, these elements are very similar to the principles of democracy, i.e., the relationship between them is the relationship of part to whole. Digital citizenship is part of democracy.
Egypt has sought to develop technological applications throughout the Egyptian territory, as mentioned in the National Strategy for Information and Communication Technology (2012-2017) entitled "Towards a Digital Society and a Knowledge-Based Economy," as well as the strategy for developing the communications sector by 2030 regionally and internationally. Therefore, we find that there is increasing interest in instructional technology innovations in educational systems to become part of the education systems in them; because of their inherent power that contributes to improving the teaching and learning processes.
Educating secondary school students about digital citizenship means planned guidance by teachers for students' effective use of digital sources and technologies, to develop skills and behaviors that enable them to become digital citizens who interact with others through direct communication in a manner consistent with teaching.
From here comes the importance of interactive electronic stories as a means of activating digital citizenship values, as they are one of the means of developing feelings and positive emotions toward the homeland, so that the students' pride in their homeland increases, and then they strive to preserve it and its achievements and contribute to its advancement.
9.1. The Concept of Digital Citizenship (Continued)
Many researchers such as Tamer Al-Maghawar
| [33] | Al-Dahshan, J., & Al-Fawahihi, A. (2015). Digital citizenship: Guidance and protection in the age of modern technology [in Arabic]. Arab Journal of Educational Technology, 16(2), 145-168. |
[33]
, Lamia Al-Muslimani
| [38] | Korat, O., Levin, I., Atishkin, S., & Turgeman, M. (2014). E-book as facilitator of vocabulary acquisition. Reading and Writing, 27(4), 613-629. |
[38]
, and Ahmed Dawabo
| [39] | Al-Muslimani, L. (2014). Digital citizenship: Elements and applications in educational contexts [in Arabic]. Journal of Educational Technology, 22(3), 156-182. |
[39]
, along with what was presented by Ribble
| [35] | Choi, M. (2015). Development of a scale to measure digital citizenship among young adults for democratic citizenship education [Doctoral dissertation, The Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1429788378 |
[35]
regarding the elements of digital citizenship, all emphasized that digital citizenship encompasses a comprehensive understanding of how to interact responsibly in the digital world.
The nine elements of digital citizenship that Ribble
| [35] | Choi, M. (2015). Development of a scale to measure digital citizenship among young adults for democratic citizenship education [Doctoral dissertation, The Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1429788378 |
[35]
identified are:
1) Digital Access - Full electronic participation for all
2) Digital Commerce - Electronic buying and selling of goods
3) Digital Communication - Electronic exchange of information
4) Digital Literacy - Process of teaching and learning about technology and its use
5) Digital Etiquette - Electronic standards of conduct or procedure
6) Digital Law - Electronic responsibility for actions and deeds
7) Digital Rights and Responsibilities - Freedoms extended to everyone in a digital world
8) Digital Health and Wellness - Physical and psychological well-being in a digital world
9) Digital Security - Electronic precautions to guarantee safety
These elements are interconnected and form a comprehensive framework for understanding and implementing digital citizenship in educational settings.
9.2. Importance for Secondary Students
Secondary school students are at a critical developmental stage where they are forming their identities and values. Teaching them digital citizenship helps them:
1) Navigate online environments safely and responsibly
2) Understand their rights and responsibilities in digital spaces
3) Develop critical thinking skills for evaluating online information
4) Build positive digital footprints
5) Engage constructively in online communities
6) Protect themselves and others from digital harm
The integration of digital citizenship education through interactive electronic stories provides an engaging and effective method for conveying these important concepts to students in ways that resonate with their lived experiences in the digital world.
9.3. The Role of Interactive Electronic Stories in Promoting Digital Citizenship
Interactive electronic stories serve as powerful educational tools for teaching digital citizenship because they:
1) Engage Students Emotionally: Stories create emotional connections that help students internalize values and principles more effectively than abstract instruction.
2) Present Realistic Scenarios: Through stories, students can encounter realistic digital dilemmas and explore consequences of different choices in a safe environment.
3) Develop Critical Thinking: Interactive elements require students to make decisions and think critically about digital situations.
4) Accommodate Different Learning Styles: The multimedia nature of electronic stories appeals to visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners.
5) Provide Immediate Feedback: Interactive stories can provide immediate consequences for choices made, reinforcing learning.
6) Foster Discussion: Stories provide common experiences that can be discussed in classroom settings, promoting dialogue about digital citizenship issues.
9.4. Democratic Principles and Digital Citizenship
The connection between democratic principles and digital citizenship is fundamental. Democracy in the digital age requires:
1) Equality: Equal access to digital resources and opportunities
2) Freedom of Expression: The right to express opinions online while respecting others
3) Responsibility: Understanding that rights come with responsibilities
4) Participation: Active engagement in digital civic life
5) Critical Thinking: Ability to evaluate information and make informed decisions
6) Respect for Diversity: Accepting and valuing different perspectives in digital spaces
These democratic principles form the foundation for responsible digital citizenship and must be explicitly taught and reinforced through educational programs.
9.5. Implementing Digital Citizenship Education Through Interactive Stories
For interactive electronic stories to effectively teach digital citizenship, they should:
1) Address Real Issues: Stories should tackle actual challenges students face online, such as cyberbullying, privacy concerns, misinformation, and digital footprints.
2) Include Diverse Characters: Representation matters, and stories should include characters from various backgrounds dealing with digital citizenship issues.
3) Offer Multiple Perspectives: Interactive stories can show how the same situation might be viewed differently by different stakeholders.
4) Provide Scaffolding: Support should be built into the story to help students understand complex concepts and make connections.
5) Encourage Reflection: Stories should include opportunities for students to reflect on their own digital behaviors and practices.
6) Connect to Real Life: The situations in stories should be relatable to students' actual digital experiences.
9.6 Assessment of Digital Citizenship Learning
Evaluating students' understanding and application of digital citizenship principles requires multiple approaches:
1) Knowledge Assessment: Testing understanding of concepts, rights, responsibilities, and consequences
2) Behavioral Observation: Monitoring actual digital behavior and interactions
3) Self-Reflection: Having students assess their own digital citizenship practices
4) Project-Based Assessment: Evaluating students' ability to apply digital citizenship principles in real contexts
5) Portfolio Development: Collecting evidence of responsible digital participation over time
9.7. Challenges in Teaching Digital Citizenship
Several challenges exist in implementing effective digital citizenship education:
1) Rapid Technological Change: Technology evolves faster than curricula can be updated, requiring flexible approaches.
2) Home-School Disconnect: Students' digital experiences at home may differ significantly from school expectations.
3) Teacher Preparation: Many teachers lack adequate training in digital citizenship education.
4) Cultural Differences: Digital norms and values may vary across cultures, requiring culturally responsive approaches.
5) Access Inequity: Not all students have equal access to digital technologies, creating disparities in digital literacy.
6) Balancing Freedom and Safety: Finding the right balance between allowing student exploration and ensuring safety.
9.8. Recommendations for Effective Digital Citizenship Programs
Based on the literature review and theoretical framework, effective digital citizenship programs should:
1) Start Early: Begin digital citizenship education in elementary grades and continue through secondary school with age-appropriate content.
2) Integrate Across Curriculum: Embed digital citizenship in multiple subject areas rather than treating it as a separate topic.
3) Involve Parents and Community: Engage families and community members in supporting digital citizenship development.
4) Use Multiple Teaching Methods: Employ various approaches, including interactive stories, discussions, projects, and real-world applications.
5) Provide Ongoing Professional Development: Support teachers with continuous training on digital citizenship topics and teaching methods.
6) Update Regularly: Regularly review and update content to reflect current digital realities and emerging issues.
10. Conclusions
Digital citizenship education is essential in preparing secondary school students for successful, responsible participation in the digital age. The integration of democratic principles with digital citizenship creates a framework for developing students who not only understand technology but also use it ethically, responsibly, and constructively.
Interactive electronic stories provide an engaging and effective medium for teaching these complex concepts. By presenting realistic scenarios, allowing for exploration of consequences, and promoting critical thinking, these stories help students internalize the values and behaviors necessary for positive digital citizenship.
As technology continues to evolve and play an increasingly central role in all aspects of life, the importance of comprehensive digital citizenship education will only grow. Educational institutions must prioritize this area, providing students with the knowledge, skills, and values needed to navigate the digital world successfully while contributing positively to their communities and society.
The current study seeks to contribute to this important field by examining how interactive electronic stories can effectively develop digital citizenship awareness and democratic principles among secondary school students. Through this research, we aim to provide practical insights and recommendations for educators seeking to implement effective digital citizenship programs in their schools.
The following chapters will detail the methodology, results, and findings of this research, contributing to the growing body of knowledge on effective approaches to digital citizenship education in the context of secondary education.
Author Contributions
Abeer Kamel Ali: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal Analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Resources, Validation, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing
Conflicts of Interest
The author declares no conflicts of interest.
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Ali, A. K. (2026). The Impact of Interactive Electronic Stories on Developing Digital Citizenship and Democratic Principles Among Secondary School Students. Innovation Education, 1(2), 96-111. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.iedu.20260102.13
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Ali, A. K. The Impact of Interactive Electronic Stories on Developing Digital Citizenship and Democratic Principles Among Secondary School Students. Innov. Educ. 2026, 1(2), 96-111. doi: 10.11648/j.iedu.20260102.13
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Ali AK. The Impact of Interactive Electronic Stories on Developing Digital Citizenship and Democratic Principles Among Secondary School Students. Innov Educ. 2026;1(2):96-111. doi: 10.11648/j.iedu.20260102.13
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@article{10.11648/j.iedu.20260102.13,
author = {Abeer Kamel Ali},
title = {The Impact of Interactive Electronic Stories on Developing Digital Citizenship and Democratic Principles Among Secondary School Students},
journal = {Innovation Education},
volume = {1},
number = {2},
pages = {96-111},
doi = {10.11648/j.iedu.20260102.13},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.iedu.20260102.13},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.iedu.20260102.13},
abstract = {This paper aims to explore the impact of interactive electronic stories on adolescent students in secondary schools to raise awareness of digital citizenship and democratic values in relation to villages. Interactive digital reading is a technology that combines different components of stories with multimedia elements such as text, audio, images, and animations. The proposed work aims to fill the urgent need to teach cyber ethics to adolescent students in the technological age. In this age, improper use of digital media platforms by students has resulted in behaviors that are not only harmful to themselves but also to others. Behaviors such as cyberbullying and exposure have destroyed democratic values. Based on behavioral, cognitive, and constructivist theories of learning, this work demonstrates how interactive stories that are designed to achieve specific goals can be successful in promoting democratic values of citizenship among adolescent students. This study highlights that conventional methods of monitoring are not sufficient. Instead, students are to be made aware of a holistic concept of different dimensions of digital citizenship to cope with current technology.},
year = {2026}
}
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TY - JOUR
T1 - The Impact of Interactive Electronic Stories on Developing Digital Citizenship and Democratic Principles Among Secondary School Students
AU - Abeer Kamel Ali
Y1 - 2026/03/04
PY - 2026
N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.iedu.20260102.13
DO - 10.11648/j.iedu.20260102.13
T2 - Innovation Education
JF - Innovation Education
JO - Innovation Education
SP - 96
EP - 111
PB - Science Publishing Group
UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.iedu.20260102.13
AB - This paper aims to explore the impact of interactive electronic stories on adolescent students in secondary schools to raise awareness of digital citizenship and democratic values in relation to villages. Interactive digital reading is a technology that combines different components of stories with multimedia elements such as text, audio, images, and animations. The proposed work aims to fill the urgent need to teach cyber ethics to adolescent students in the technological age. In this age, improper use of digital media platforms by students has resulted in behaviors that are not only harmful to themselves but also to others. Behaviors such as cyberbullying and exposure have destroyed democratic values. Based on behavioral, cognitive, and constructivist theories of learning, this work demonstrates how interactive stories that are designed to achieve specific goals can be successful in promoting democratic values of citizenship among adolescent students. This study highlights that conventional methods of monitoring are not sufficient. Instead, students are to be made aware of a holistic concept of different dimensions of digital citizenship to cope with current technology.
VL - 1
IS - 2
ER -
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