Values and Virtues in a Tech-Driven World:A Transnational Erasmus+ Approach to Digital Literacy and Values Education among Teenagers

Dr. Gonca GÜVEN AKIN

Bart Van MALDEREN

Teacher, Eskişehir Fatih Fen Lisesi, goncaguven@gmail.com, 0000-0002-3782-8341

Teacher, Campus Fenix Go! Atheneum Grimbergen, bart.vanmalderen@kagr.be, 0000-0000-0000-0000

ABSTRACT

The increasing influence of social media on young people’s beliefs, behaviors, and values presents an urgent educational challenge. This research article presents the outcomes of “Values and Virtues in a Tech-Driven World[1]”, a 15-month Erasmus+ KA210-SCH transnational project involving secondary schools from Belgium, Hungary, Spain and an NGO from Türkiye. The project aimed to investigate how digital platforms shape teenagers’ ethical perceptions, foster values education, and build digital resilience through inclusive, collaborative learning approaches. A mixed-methods research design was employed, including baseline and final surveys, participant observation, peer assessments, and focus group feedback. Over 120 pupils (aged 14–18) and 40 teachers participated in activities across six transnational modules covering topics such as cyberbullying, misinformation, digital ethics, and online safety. Quantitative analysis revealed that pupils demonstrated a 50% improvement in awareness of digital safety practices and a 90% increase in their ability to identify misinformation. Qualitative findings confirmed growth in empathy, intercultural understanding, and ethical decision-making online. Key intellectual outputs include a multilingual e-book on media literacy, a SafeNet handbook on responsible internet use, a series of educational videos, and a collection of open-access lesson plans. The project also established values-based school clubs and achieved broad dissemination through a dedicated website, webinars, and the eTwinning platform. The findings highlight the potential of coordinated school-NGO partnerships in fostering responsible digital citizenship and promoting civic values across borders. This research contributes to the field of values education, offering a replicable model for integrating media literacy into school curricula. The article concludes with recommendations for educators and policymakers seeking to address ethical challenges in digital environments through participatory, value-driven approaches.

Key words: Digital Citizenship, Media Literacy, Values Education, Erasmus+, Cyberbullying Prevention, Misinformation Detection, Digital Ethics

Plain Language Summary:

Today’s teenagers spend a large part of their lives on social media platforms, messaging apps, websites, etc. While these tools offer great opportunities, they can also expose young people to risks like cyberbullying, fake news, and harmful online behaviour. Our Erasmus+ project, “Values and Virtues in a Tech-Driven World”, brought together schools and teachers from Belgium, Spain, Hungary, and Türkiye to help students become more responsible and ethical digital citizens. We worked with over 120 students and 40 teachers using surveys, workshops, creative activities, and school clubs. Together, we explored important topics like online safety, empathy, misinformation, and respectful digital behavior. We found that students improved their awareness of digital risks by 50% and were much better at spotting false information online. We also created helpful tools: a multilingual e-book, lesson plans, videos, and a SafeNet handbook for teachers and families. Our goal was simple: to make the internet a safer and kinder place by teaching values and critical thinking to the next generation.

Introduction

The increasing integration of digital technologies into daily life has transformed the social and ethical environment that young people navigate. Adolescents today are not only consumers of online content but also creators, sharers, and influencers within digital networks. However, this pervasive digital presence raises urgent concerns regarding the development of values such as empathy, critical thinking, and responsibility (Ribble, 2011). Educational institutions have a crucial role to play in preparing students to become ethical digital citizens, but many schools still lack concrete models for integrating values education into digital literacy curricula (Buckingham, 2019). In response to this need, we launched the Erasmus+ Ka210-SCH project, “Values and Virtues in a Tech-Driven World” to explore how values-based education, when combined with media literacy and cross-border collaboration, can help students engage more ethically and thoughtfully online.

The project was carried out between February, 2024 - May, 2025 by four partner organizations; secondary schools in Belgium, Spain, and Hungary along with an educational NGO from Türkiye, working in transnational cooperation. The aim was to evaluate the impact of structured educational interventions on students’ understanding of digital ethics, their ability to recognize and challenge misinformation, and their capacity for empathy and responsible digital behaviour. The approach was grounded in European education priorities such as digital inclusion, active citizenship, and intercultural understanding (European Commission, 2020). By combining theoretical learning with practical, student-led activities, the project offered a multi-dimensional strategy to address the social and ethical challenges young people face online.

Main Results

A mixed-methods research design was employed to evaluate the project’s outcomes. This included pre- and post-surveys administered to students and teachers, structured observation forms, peer assessments, and focus group discussions. The surveys were used to measure students’ awareness and competencies before and after their participation in project activities. Quantitative analysis of the survey data showed clear gains in key areas. For example, students’ awareness of online safety practices improved by approximately 50% from baseline to final measurements. Most strikingly, their ability to critically detect misinformation; a skill tested through examples of manipulated news articles and social media posts, increased by over 90%, as measured through validated assessment tools. These results echo earlier findings by Livingstone and Helsper (2007), who emphasized the importance of critical literacy in addressing the digital divide not just in terms of access but also of meaningful understanding.

The project also sought to foster qualitative changes in behaviour and mindset. Through structured peer evaluations, journal reflections, and teacher interviews, participants reported improved interpersonal empathy, greater tolerance toward differing perspectives, and more mindful use of social media. Approximately 70% of students demonstrated significant behavioural changes in how they responded to ethical dilemmas in digital contexts. These results align with frameworks such as the Council of Europe’s Competences for Democratic Culture (2016), which identifies empathy, civic-mindedness, and critical thinking as essential competences for youth in multicultural and digital societies.

The project produced a collection of adaptable lesson plans focused on key topics such as media literacy, online safety, cyberbullying, empathy, and responsible digital behaviour. These resources were designed to be flexible and aligned with the diverse educational contexts of the partner schools. Teachers implemented the plans during regular lessons, school club meetings, and thematic project days, engaging students in interactive and reflective activities. Beyond their use in the classroom, the lesson plans are intended to serve as open educational resources (OER) for wider dissemination. They have been published on the project website and shared through the eTwinning platform, enabling access for educators across Europe. The project team also encourages their use in teacher training, school professional development sessions, and future Erasmus+ initiatives. By integrating these plans into school curricula, sharing them through public education networks, and including them as supplementary material in academic dissemination, the project aims to ensure lasting impact and transferability beyond the initial partnership. In addition to the lesson plans, the project produced several key intellectual outputs: a multilingual e-book on media literacy, the SafeNet handbook on responsible internet use, and a collection of short educational podcasts, digital stories co-created by students to raise awareness of digital ethics and citizenship.

Sustainability and student agency were additional priorities. Each school established a values-based digital citizenship club under the shared theme “My Values and My Digital World”. These clubs provided a platform for ongoing student engagement and local dissemination of project resources. They also enabled students to organize awareness campaigns, peer mentoring, and even parent education (seminars) workshops on topics like misinformation and screen-time habits. In Hungary, a student-led debate on digital privacy sparked wider interest, leading to its broadcast on the school’s internal media channel. These efforts show that when given ownership, students can become powerful agents of ethical change within their communities.

Conclusion

The broader implications of the project suggest that values education and media literacy are mutually reinforcing and should be integrated systematically into formal education. Current debates on digital citizenship too often focus on safety and regulation without addressing the deeper ethical and civic dimensions of digital life. Now, we see that digital citizenship should involve not only what students can do online but what they should do, and under what principles. This project supports that view by showing that when students are provided with ethical frameworks and real-world applications, they develop stronger, more reflective digital habits. Furthermore, the findings demonstrate that meaningful change occurs when teachers, students, and civil society actors co-create educational experiences.

In conclusion, we offer a replicable model for schools across Europe seeking to address the moral complexities of life online. The project’s structure was built on collaboration, inclusion, and student leadership and also enabled participants to improve both their digital skills and their capacity for ethical judgment. Through teaching materials, and intercultural dialogue, the project has shown that schools can be incubators of responsible digital citizenship. Its outcomes contribute to the emerging field of values-based digital education and respond to the European Union’s call for educational innovation that is both inclusive and socially relevant. The next step is to scale such approaches, embed them into national curricula, and ensure that all young people, regardless of background, have the opportunity to grow into thoughtful, ethical participants in the digital world.

References

Buckingham, D. (2019). The Media Education Manifesto. Polity Press.

Council of Europe. (2016). Competences for Democratic Culture: Living Together as Equals in Culturally Diverse Democratic Societies. Strasbourg: Council of Europe Publishing.

European Commission. (2020). Digital Education Action Plan 2021–2027. Retrieved from https://education.ec.europa.eu

Livingstone, S. and Helsper, E. J. (2007). Gradations in Digital Inclusion: Children, Young People, and the Digital Divide. New Media & Society, 9(4), 671–696.

Ribble, M. (2011). Digital Citizenship in Schools: Nine Elements All Students Should Know. ISTE.

UNESCO. (2021). Guidelines for Digital Learning and Media Literacy. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

[1] This project is funded by the EU Commission with the project reference number “2023-2-BE02-KA210-SCH-000170998”.