Information and communication technologies move the world and social media have become an important part of our lives. They influence people´s mind and behaviour. They make our lives easier and more enjoyable, but on the other hand they can be easily misused to manipulate people from an early age. The fact that teenagers spend most of their free time on social media is alarming. They use social networks for social interaction. Our project is the reflection of the fact that teenagers don´t spend their free time effectively and meaningfully, they confuse virtual world with reality and tend to be dependent on their performance on social media what might lead to negative phenomenon and decrease the quality of their lives. What is more, some of the risky behaviour such as casual sex, drug abuse and some kinds of bullying are shown as exciting and cool on social networks. Teenagers challenge themselves with the activities that are actually meaningful. Such kind of behaviour leads to unconcern, disrespect and selfishness among the people. Teenagers are becoming the members of different groups on social media which influence their personal development in a very negative way. Sometimes they are motivated by the curiosity and they don´t find their behaviour harmful, but from different point of view they push the limits of aggression and manipulation. We need to make teenagers think, be critical and make them more responsible for their lives and the society in general. There is no doubt that social media and networks connect people. However, they can make people isolated in reality too. We believe that this project is essential to point out all the risks of social media and networks. And on the other hand show the possibilities how we can use them for an educational purpose because they are no doubtly the source of information that we can get very easily. However we need to to sort out this information and learn how to use social media and networks for our benefits. During implementation of the project the following methods will be used: discussions, interviews, analysis, peer to peer learning, learning by doing, cooperative learning, problem based learning. brainstorming, brainwriting, observation, study and analyis of documents, critical reading and comparison. The target group of our projects are the students from 14 to 18 years old. We have chosen this target group because we think they are the most vulnarable and easily manipulated and they need to be shown differences. We would like the teenagers to learn by doing and to find out the options when we can use social media and networks for educational purpose. GENERAL OBJECTIVES- improve the level of key competences and skills of young people- language competence, digital competence, social and communication competences (also those with fewer opportunities)- provide such an environment and such situations where all participants will have equal opportunity for intercultural and intergenerational education and lifelong learning- promote democratic life in Europe, promote intercultural dialogue, social inclusion and solidarity- enhance the international dimension in education and training, promote mobility in Europe- promote young people´s involvement- strengthen digital integration in learning, teaching, training and youth work at various levels- be aware of the idea of a United Europe with its different customs, traditions and cultural heritage according to the countries- promote respect, harmony, tolerance, acceptance and global understanding among people of different cultural and social backgroundOBJECTIVES RELATED TO THE PROJECT IDEA- Study and analyse the behaviour and performance of teenagers on social networks- Point out risky behaviour on social networks and possible negative consequences for the society in general- Analyse the groups active on social networks focusing on environmental changes study and preparing media activities related with this topic- Analyse the groups active on social networks focusing on economic crisis and changes in the world and preparing media activities related with this topic- Analyse the groups active on social networks that present extreme ideas and ideologies and preparing media activities related with this topic with the aim to prevent people from manipulation- Analyse the hobby groups active on social networks according to the students preferences and preparing media activities related with the topic of free time and hobbies of teenagers- Analyse the groups active on social networks that provide information about the possibilities to work or travel abroad and prepare the media activities related with this topic- Create a FB page where all the information about the project will be uploaded to share with public, the activities on social media and social networks will be updated there, anybody interested can download activity sheets and use them
The fact that teenagers spend most of their free time on social media is alarming. This project has been essential to point out all the risks of social media and networks, and on the other hand to show the possibilities how to use social media for an educational purpose, because they are no doubt the source of easily accessible information. General objectives were improving the level of key competences and skills of young people - language competence, digital competence, social and communication competences (also those with fewer opportunities), providing such an environment and such situations where all participants had equal opportunity for intercultural and intergenerational education and lifelong learning, promoting democratic life in Europe, promoting intercultural dialogue, social inclusion and solidarity, enhancing the international dimension in education and training, promoting mobility in Europe, promoting young people´s involvement, strengthening digital integration in learning, teaching, training and youth work at various levels, being aware of the idea of the United Europe with its different customs, traditions and cultural heritage according to the countries, promoting respect, harmony, tolerance, acceptance and global understanding among people of different cultural and social backgrounds. Objecitves, related to the project idea were studying and analysing the behaviour and performance of teenagers on social networks, pointing out risky behaviour on social networks and possible negative consequences for the society in general, analysing the groups active on social networks focusing on environmental changes study and preparing social media activities based lesson plans related with this topic, analysing the groups active on social networks focusing on economic crisis and changes in the world and preparing social media activities based lesson plans related with this topic, analysing the groups active on social networks that present extreme ideas and ideologies and preparing social media activities based lesson plans related with this topic with the aim to prevent people from manipulation, analyse the hobby groups active on social networks according to the students preferences and preparing social media activities based lesson plans related with the topic of free time and hobbies, analysing the groups active on social networks that provide information about the possibilities to work or travel abroad and prepare the media activities related with this topic. During implementation of the project the following methods have been used: discussions, interviews, analysis, peer to peer learning, learning by doing, cooperative learning, problem-based learning, brainstorming, brainwriting, observation, study and analysis of documents, critical reading and comparison. The target group of our projects were students aged 14 to 19. We chose this target group because they are the most vulnerable and easily manipulated and they need to be shown differences. During the project teenagers were learning by doing, while discovering options to use social media and networks for educational purpose. There were five schools involved in the project, four of them being secondary level general education (form Italy, Turkey, Poland, and Slovakia) and one being vocational high school (Slovenian). During the project two questionnaires related to social media use (for teachers and students respectively) were prepared and they were filled in by 20 teachers and 100 students at each organization at the beginning and at the end of the project. Furthermore, each school was responsible for preparing social media-based lesson plans on different topics (described above). The lessons were performed during the teaching learning activities meetings with host students, observed by participating teachers as well, and discussed afterwards. The questionnaire analyses and comparison between the first and the second year has proven teachers and students to be more aware of social media being a useful educational tool. Publishing the document with the social-media based lesson plans on website as well as sending it to other English teachers in our countries will enable other teachers to use the prepared materials, thus improving their as well as their students’ awareness of social media role in educational purpose.