Sparse and Selective: Digital Responsibility Practices in Lower Secondary English Classrooms in Norway

Despite broad agreement that schools should support students in becoming digitally responsible citizens, research suggests that this dimension of students’ digital competence remains underdeveloped, even in highly digitalised educational settings. Addressing this issue, the present study explored the prevalence and characteristics of digital responsibility practices in Norwegian lower secondary schools’ English classrooms. Utilising a tracing comparative logic, it examined classroom practices over time, following the same student cohorts across Grades 8 and 10 (ages 13–15). Video recordings from 63 naturally occurring English lessons and 9 teacher interviews were quantitatively and qualitatively analysed. The findings indicate that digital responsibility was the least prevalent dimension of digital competence across both grades, with teachers rarely seizing opportunities for students to gain insight into – or to reflect on – digital responsibility and seemingly de-prioritising progression across grades. Instead, digital responsibility instruction primarily occurred in response to student queries and was often overshadowed by the teaching of functional digital skills. The findings suggest the need to support English teachers in better integrating digital responsibility into classroom practices.