1. Introduction

2. Theoretical framework

This programme is part of what the professional community has been considering as information literacy services. Information literacy is key to all education and training, to any educational stage and to any professional practice, and also -more and more urgently- to build an informed and ethical citizenship. Information literacy spread internationally in basic education, especially with the Big Six Skills model (^{Eisenberg and Berkowitz, 1990}) which posits learning as problem solving, and in Higher Education through the impetus given by ^{ACRL/ALA (1989}), which described it as “competence for survival in the information age”. Years later, information literacy was also claimed as a “basic human right in the digital world” (^{IFLA, 2005}), among various statements on its importance (UNESCO, 2020).

From an information literacy perspective, the key lies in educating critical thinking, and today it is conceived from an integrative perspective, in relation to digital literacy and media literacy, as has been highlighted for years by U^{NESCO (2013}, ²⁰²¹), together with recent initiatives such as ^{MILA (2023}), to foster a multiple literacy (with information literacy as the axis) in an integrated and holistic manner in the digital society, and highlighting its backbone role in the configuration of a citizenship based on values of equality and democracy. In this conceptualisation, we consider the current definition of ^{CILIP (2018}) to be of reference:

Information literacy is the ability to think critically and make balanced judgements about any information we find and use. It empowers us as citizens to reach and express informed views and to engage fully with society. (...) Information literacy incorporates a set of skills and abilities which everyone needs to undertake information-related tasks; for instance, how to discover, access, interpret, analyse, manage, create, communicate, store and share information. (...) Information literacy is associated and overlaps with other literacies, including specifically digital literacy, academic literacy and media literacy. It is not a stand-alone concept, and is aligned with other areas of knowledge and understanding.

In its full version (^{CILIP, 2018}), this definition rightly situates information literacy in five contexts essential to the lives of all people: everyday life, citizenship, education, the workplace and health. It emphasises that the information literacy that lies at the heart of lifelong learning is of real value in all circumstances, that is, for everyone and throughout life. This perspective converges with that of the DIGCOMP Framework, which focuses on digital competence, with the information dimension as the first area of an inclusive competence framework for citizenship education.

In the “+que Emple-A” Project, the starting point of the content programme is the concept of digital competence understood as a set of knowledge, skills and attitudes that enable the application of technologies to personal and community needs in a critical, reflective and intentional way. It is a constantly evolving competence, which can be mastered gradually (basic, intermediate, advanced and highly specialised), and which should be applied in a contextualised way. We can speak of a digital competence in the professional field in which we work or of a teaching and scientific digital competence, aimed at teaching or research, but in this case we are referring to a digital citizenship competence: the one that all of us require to solve our needs in our daily lives and as members of a community. In the programme, the design of contents was oriented towards this last dimension of the digital competence, for its application in the different facets of personal and community life, and aspiring to the B1 level of proficiency, which is the first level at which it can be used with autonomy according to the DIGCOMP 2.2 Framework which underpins the project.

The DIGCOMP Framework is an initiative developed by the European Commission that addresses the growing need for digital competences in society, introduced in 2013 (^{Ferrari, Punie and Brečko, 2013}) as part of the “eSkills for Jobs” project, after having included these skills among the eight basic competences of European citizenship (^{Council of the European Union, 2006}). In the European educational sphere -and specifically in Spain, where our project is being developed- DIGCOMP is the reference framework most commonly used in the programmes for learning this competence in the formal educational system. It provides a transferable, adaptable and scalable model from a holistic perspective around the knowledge, skills and attitudes required for digital competence.

The DIGCOMP establishes five basic dimensions (information, communication, content creation, security and problem solving) that integrate a total of 21 sub-competences for a comprehensive digital competence:

Figure 1: Competence areas according to the DIGCOMP 2.2 Framework (^{Vuorikari, Kluzer & Punie, 2022}. Taken from: https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/digcomp_en ) 

3. Methodology

3.1 Adapting the e-IRIS Project’s e-Citizenship Programme

For the development of the “+que Emple-A” programme, the content structure proposed within the framework of the e-IRIS initiative and the “Digital Citizenship Spaces” methodology has been taken as a reference. The initiative, promoted by a group of entities including the University of Murcia, Cepaim Foundation, the Spanish Federation of Archives, Libraries, Documentation and Museum Societies (FESABID) and the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP), visualises the Spanish network of public libraries as a means for the construction of citizenship in which a fundamental element is digital training and the so-called “e-Citizenship” (^{Gómez-Hernández & Vera-Baceta, 2021}; ^{Vera-Baceta & Gómez-Hernández, 2021}). These trainings are combined with other types of actions (e-Inclusion: Individual guidance and care services for people at risk of social and digital exclusion to respond to their specific needs; e-Connect: Meeting spaces to promote social inclusion and cohesion through discussion forums, talks, reading workshops, storytelling, theatre, exhibitions or competitions that allow the interaction of different social groups, and e-Innovate, spaces for artistic creation and social and cultural innovation), whose structure is shown in the table below:

Table 1: Proposed content structure in the framework of the e-IRIS initiative 

4. Results

The programme designed, based on the selection of the contents considered most necessary for the personal and social empowerment of the participating women, includes different activities related to the use and management of information, structured in the following four areas:

Aspects ranging from the fight against the digital divide, access to and use of electronic devices, to issues more closely linked to full participation as citizens in the territory of which they form part, are addressed. Specifically, the first module related to the “Use of information in the digital context. Basic digital tools” deals with training on the value of being informed and making responsible, critical and safe use of information in an increasingly digital world. The second module focuses on the “Use of digital resources for socially excluded groups. Useful tools for your life in Spain” in contexts such as health, family, social services, work or housing. The third module, on the “Use of digital resources in life contexts: Internet and personal development”, provides training in different technological tools to, for example, learn how to create a curriculum, develop online training to continue learning, use of mobile banking or aspects related to digital disconnection. And, to conclude, a final module on “Citizen development and exercise in the digital context. Applications to simplify your daily life” deals with contents and activities related to the handling and management of digital documents, social media or issues of collaborative economy and citizen participation. The following table shows the final contents taught (Table 2).

As can be seen in the comparative presentation (Table 3), the adaptation of contents has maintained a high correspondence with the one planned in e-IRIS and the reference to the DIGCOMP approach, but orienting itself in a more direct way to the instrumental skills identified as more basic for the target group.

The development of the teaching is based on micro learning units (videos, presentations or infographics) with a simple, visual and basic design, with different levels of understanding adapted to the level of the participating women. In addition to these contents, “meeting spaces” are planned in which work will be carried out, both in person and online, on issues such as citizen participation, stereotypes, the construction of alternatives to discourses or messages of hate or knowledge of local history and historical memory, through various sources such as archives and digital libraries.

For the delivery of the programme, a group of educators has been selected, who have been immersed in the contents of the programme and have received specific training for its teaching-learning. After that, they have started the training with the target group of women, supported by a technological platform in which the contents and learning actions are managed, the initial and final diagnoses of the participants are carried out, as well as the monitoring of the results in the different lines of action, so that the economic resources contributed to the project by the financing entities can be validated and justified. This platform, which centralises the educational content, will also serve as a workspace for mediators in the literacy process, and can be an open knowledge portal on the contents of the programme (^{Guerrero-Romera et al., 2021}).

The training activities begin with explanatory videos, followed by a series of brief conceptual contents on the competence to be developed, and some practical exercises to be carried out, supported by guidelines that set out the steps of the tasks. Finally, each unit includes a multiple-choice questionnaire to be answered through the learning platform. The following images show some views of the training on the platform.

Image 1: Overview of the course in the platform 

Image 2: Overview of practices and tasks on the platform 

Image 3: View of explanatory videos in learning units 

Image 4: Overview of an evaluation test on the platform 

As for the results, although they are not yet available as this is an ongoing research, they are expected to be obtained from an evaluation based on a pre-test and a post-test questionnaire, as well as a qualitative assessment through the analysis of the experience by those who have taught the programme and the participating women, who are undoubtedly the protagonists of this project. For the time being, some initial assessments can be made on the basis of informal testimonies from the participants and their trainers, which show very positive results: a high level of motivation and involvement on the part of the participants is perceived, there have been no withdrawals from the programme, and the contents have been considered adequate, although in some cases they have been considered somewhat extensive, and difficulties in understanding the terminology have been highlighted (due to the participants’ level of studies or knowledge of Spanish). For these reasons, there is also a clear need to include more visual clues to support comprehension, to use a greater number of interactive videos, and to revise the difficulty of some of the practices or tasks, reinforcing where necessary the guidance to improve the use of electronic devices.

5. Final reflections

The ^{European Declaration 2023/C 23/01 of 23 January 2023} on Digital Rights and Principles for the Digital Decade places people and their rights at the centre of the digital transformation and focuses on improving their daily lives and building a more inclusive and healthy society, in which the intensive use of technology is also extended to all people. Our digital competences training programme aims, along these lines, to provide tools, to put public resources at the service of people for the exercise of citizenship and the improvement of well-being and quality of life. And to do so, in particular, with those in situations of vulnerability and digital exclusion in mind, to provide them with a training base that can contribute to improving their lives.

We believe that this could be a unique project in Spain and in Europe, for the validation of methodological models of inclusion complementary to the perception of the Minimum Living Income, which in this case focuses on migrant women in situations of inequality, and in which there is an intersectionality due to their double condition as women and migrants. It is a project that weaves alliances of people, spaces and resources, based on the concept of networking, shared leadership and varied wills (political, institutional, university and social), to recover women in exclusion and accompany them in their process of social inclusion and citizen participation. This may lead to a form of social innovation through the management of solidarity and inclusion, in which the territory is proposed as a space for intervention and digital education to address a triple gap: the social, the digital and the gender gap. These divides are addressed through six key elements:

The analysis of the experience by the different agents that have participated in its development and the assessments following its implementation may provide elements for reflection and methodological tools for intervention, and for the development of digital training initiatives linked to social inclusion itineraries that contribute not only to greater access and interaction with the digital world but also to an increase in citizen involvement and participation.

We consider it essential that the mastery of digital competences is seen in government policies as a fundamental aspect for everyone. Having the skills to cope in a changing and hyper-connected digital environment is a determining factor for social inclusion and citizen participation in general, but it is especially sensitive for certain vulnerable groups that may be excluded by not providing adequate mechanisms for technology to reach them without generating a double gap, both digital and social.