Abstract:

Currently the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) play an essential role. We might even say that they have become indispensable, for both economic and social development of citizens, as also of regions, nations ... This requirement represents a serious risk of marginalization for people who do not have access to these technologies and a decrease in their opportunities of social participation.

We are living in the information society and this implies also changes in social interaction, teaching, learning ... Therefore, one of the key elements in guaranteeing equal opportunities is the access to information and, for that, it is also necessary to have personal tools and resources.

Spain is already involved in the introduction of technology into schools, by adoption of the policy “one computer per child” (School 2.0 program) and the “Institutes of Technological innovation”. But it is necessary to know the initial and final digital competence of students participating in these innovation projects. Our project aims to explore how using technology in the classroom can improve:

a) their skills when using the Internet,
b) the increase of knowledge based on the information quality,
c) the production of online content using Web 2.0, and
d) their social participation.

The school cannot simply perform functional literacy training in the use of ICT but it is necessary to train new generations to be able to lead self-directed lives and generate processes of empowerment, awareness and civic engagement on the basis of these technologies to get a real impact on the society and the people’s life.

Keywords:

Citizen participation, functional literacy, Web 2.0 technologies, technologies uses in education.