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Digital Youth Work

2020-2-DE04-KA105-0201322020Youth mobilityfinalized
Countries: DE|PT|EL|ES|EE · Grant: €12,566
Open and distance learningICT - new technologies - digital competencesYouth (Participation, Youth Work, Youth Policy)

Objectives

The training course „Digital Youth Works" was intended to enable youth workers to develop their competences in setting up and implementing quality digital youth programs in the field of international youth work a well as for local youth work. As the reactions to CoVid-19 pandemic have shown, being ready to work with your target group digitally is a necessity for youth workers all over the world. At the application stage, we did not know yet for how long CoVid-19 related restrictions woulf keep in place and travelling internationally would be impossible. Thus, new ways and concepts are necessary to get in touch with your international partners, to work with them successfully and above all to reach young people and to give them the opportunity to meet and get to know each other even when personal contact is not possible. All of us are using digital tools when working in an international environment. We use video calls, e-mails, social media and shared documents and many more tools to organize our daily work. But when it comes to implementing youth programs, a lot of youth workers still use the very effective "old-fashioned" methods, that rely on personal contact and exchange between participants - no matter, if those participants are from different countries or from the same neighbourhood. All of us agree, that these methods are very valuable and can have the biggest impact on participants. When thinking about youth exchanges, not only the daily work that participants do and that we offer for them widens their horizons, but also the pure fact, that they have to live together with participants from other countries, that they have to share free time activities, cook together etc. This is something, that should always be taken into consideration, when planning a project. Nonetheless, a lot of projects can be based much more or only on digital tools, without participants having to "miss out" on something. This training course did focus on this aspect. At the same time, young people are using their smartphones and the tools they have to offer constantly, whilst the set-up of classical non-formal education often denies the possibility to work digitally. This is due to a lack of knowledge about tools, due to lack of time to actually get to know the tools and due to uncertainties about data security with youth workers. During the training course, we did want to have a look at: Which tools are there? How can they be used effectively and suitable to the learning environment of participants? Which data security restriction do they have? The main objectives of this training course were: - Developing a broader understanding of the opportunities and challenges presented by digital youth work tools and methodologies - Explore and review digital youth work tools and methodologies - Develop increased digital skills and recognise how to apply them in youth work - The chance to test using traditional methods in digital spaces - Opportunities to share your own expertise and learn from international peers

Project partners (5)