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Arts & Communication Fostering civic values through short animations

as a didactic tool proposing to treat the language of short the participants can be identified. This law incorporates
animations as an autonomous entity in the classroom. the General Data Protection Regulation of the European
In short, this digital resource enables us to recognize Union into the Spanish legal system and establishes the
short animations as appropriate teaching resources that obligations and rights that both companies and citizens
extend beyond mere entertainment or integration of must comply with in relation to their personal data.
short animations with a conventional and limited use, In the following section, we will explain the “didactic
confined to moments of lesser relevance or when another university practical activity.” The integration of the activity
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teacher must cover teaching absences. Short animation into the overarching research design serves a dual purpose.
encourages future teachers to develop critical thinking First, it functions as a practical application of the theoretical
and personal reflection that are essential for discerning concepts explored in the methodology section, providing a
and correctly selecting these short movies, where the hands-on opportunity for future teachers to engage with
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response and perception of the students interviewed were and internalize the civic values discussed. Second, it serves
positive toward the blended technique, compared to other as a means of assessing the efficacy of the instructional tool
methods. 19 by evaluating the ability of aspiring educators to translate
Therefore, harnessing visually oriented didactic tools their understanding of civic values into concrete classroom
in civic education could be crucial in shaping early-age activities. This alignment ensures that the research not
students into democratically participatory citizens. The only investigates the effectiveness of short animations in
integration of contemporary didactic resources, especially promoting civic values but also provides insights into the
short animations, seems to be essential for aiding younger pedagogical competence of future teachers.
generations in assimilating and internalizing various
messages, particularly those concerning civic values. 20 3.2. Didactic university practical activity: Short
animations and civic education
3. Methodology The ongoing practical task, named “short animations and

3.1. Study design civic education,” is being conducted with future teachers
to achieve the established objectives. The idea of exploring
This research employed a quantitative methodology the potential of this didactic tool arose in response to the
alongside exploratory, descriptive, and interpretative COVID-19 pandemic in 2019. This period was marked
analyses to meet its objectives. The total sample included by a significant rise in the widespread consumption of
89 university students from Spain. Among them, 92.8% educational audiovisual content within society, alongside
were females aged 21 – 23 years old. Education programs in the prevalence of misinformation. In this context, like
Spain feature a notable predominance of female students. numerous educators, we chose to explore resources on
All 89 university students were enrolled in Primary the Internet and social networks, acknowledging that not
Education degrees. all online content is reliable or valuable. The health crisis
After data collection, statistical analysis was also prompted a revaluation of the education system and
performed using SPSS software. The data collection tool stimulated increased academic interest in researching
was a custom online questionnaire developed on the digital citizenship behavior. 3
SurveyMonkey platform. The questionnaire encompassed The lecturer initiated the activity by sharing links
sociodemographic items and a set of multiple questions to short animations found on YouTube through the
strategically designed to align with the research objectives. university’s virtual campus. Participants then followed
The survey aimed to explore participants’ perceptions and a structured series of steps. Initially, they watched 20
experiences regarding ABL to teach civic values. It sought animated short films and were tasked with summarizing
to assess the potential of ABL as a didactic tool and its the plot of each work. In addition, they were required
perceived impact on critical thinking skills. In addition, it to identify the main characters and provide a detailed
aimed to evaluate opinions on the effectiveness of ABL in description of the civic values promoted by the author.
instilling civic values and to gauge overall satisfaction with Conversely, they were encouraged to assess any values or
the digital didactic tool. antivalues portrayed. Subsequently, participants presented
Regarding ethical aspects, the questionnaire was a clear and concise definition of the observed civic values
voluntary and anonymous, ensuring compliance with or antivalues, accompanied by arguments supporting
the Spanish Data Protection Organic Law 3/2018 of their significance in shaping good citizens or the lack
December 5, 2018, on Personal Data Protection and the thereof. In the final phase of the didactic task, university
guarantee of digital rights. Therefore, no personal data of students developed a complementary activity tailored to

Volume 2 Issue 3 (2024) 4 doi: 10.36922/ac.2806