Redefining and supporting better digital literacy among children and young adults

We are seeking partners to develop an idea on improving digital literacy in adolescents and young adults. We have an existing team based in Scotland with expertise on community-based interventions and co-design approaches in public and digital healthcare. The project will collect data to first understand young people’s perspectives on the role of digital technologies and how they can be put to a good use. We also seek to expand the concept of digital literacy and consider what this means in the context of youth mental health (e.g. responsible use, identifying misinformation), and explore factors related to users and environments (app design, internet, socioeconomics, family, school, etc). 

We would like to then work with community groups and technology developers to co-design innovative practices that help children and young adults to build up digital literacy and use technologies in a safe and responsible way. We expect to identify tools and interventions, both digital and non-digital ones, that can be used by diverse community stakeholders (e.g. individuals, healthcare, schools, libraries, etc.) to jointly create an environment that boosts the mental wellbeing of children and young adults and minimises negative outcomes from the misuse of digital technologies. 

This project will generate three main outputs:  

1. Better understanding of young people’s perspectives on digital technology and how it interacts with mental health wellbeing.  

2. Co-design of digital  interventions and non-digital interventions in complementary to help manage mental wellbeing in the backdrop of widespread digitisation.  

3. An implementation plan to tailor and integrate these interventions into the practices of community groups and stakeholders.

4. Trial(s) to evaluate the designed intervention and achieve wider impacts.