Developing Digital Citizenship as Crisis Competence among Primary School Pupils in Kwara State Nigeria through Storybook Based Instruction

This study tested whether story-based instruction about digital citizenship helps primary school pupils in Nigeria prepare for using digital public services during crises. Using a storybook called 'Click Smart: Adventures in Digital Citizenship for Children', librarians taught lessons to pupils and measured changes in their online safety awareness, ethical behaviour, and critical thinking. The findings show that targeted instruction improved pupils' ability to think critically and assess risks online.

Key points

• Pupils had basic operational digital skills before instruction but lacked critical judgment about online risks
• Targeted story-based instruction markedly improved critical judgement and risk awareness
• School libraries can serve as sites for developing digital crisis competence from early education
• The intervention addressed online safety awareness, ethical behaviour, critical evaluation, and participation

Limitations

The document does not provide specific quantitative results, effect sizes, or details about the comparison group (if any) to assess the magnitude of change. It does not indicate whether benefits persisted over time or how the intervention compares to other approaches.