Digital creative practices for critical awareness: augmented reality and cybersecurity in the school context

Résumé

This article analyses an educational project developed by students as part of the Cybersecurity in Socio-Educational Contexts (CSCS) course, part of the Multimedia Production in Education degree programme at the Polytechnic Institute of Santarém. In this CU, students planned and developed a multimedia production project for a socio-educational context by designing an exhibition with digital posters in augmented reality on topics related to cybersecurity, to be displayed publicly at the National Meeting that marked the 20th anniversary of the SEGURANET programme. This exhibition was planned, designed and set up for primary school pupils, but it was also visited by adults, namely individuals who were present at the event, teachers, initial training students and other education professionals.
The posters developed by the students were displayed, with the main mission of raising awareness among all those who participated in the event and contributing to the promotion of the well-being of children and young people in the digital age. The project frames this practice in the field of digital artivism, understood as the intersection between art, activism and digital technologies, and discusses its contribution to critical training in digital citizenship. Methodologically, a mixed approach was used, with a special focus on collecting qualitative data from the students’ testimonies. The project was an innovative educational practice, combining aesthetics, pedagogy and critical awareness of digital risks.