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FACE ON: Training seminar on the quality of online facilitation

2020-3-NL02-KA105-0032372020Youth mobilityfinalized
Countries: NL|ES|BE|EE|UK|IT|AT|DE|EL · Grant: €17,022.96
ICT - new technologies - digital competencesYouth (Participation, Youth Work, Youth Policy)New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses

Objectives

There has hardly been a dull moment since the pandemic. We have been shown the widespread consequences, which have proven to be much more far-reaching than a health crisis. Nonetheless, amidst all the hardships and challenges, youth organisations abruptly moved their (international) activities to the online space. This showed how the field is incredibly adaptive to challenging situations in remarkably creative ways, in order to keep reaching out to youth groups, volunteers and active members. The number of youth activities offered online was unprecedented, unexpected and by far unanticipated. For most youth workers, going virtual took a learning by doing turn though and it provided a great quantity of opportunities, challenges and limitations. Following the hectic developments in many youth organisations during the huge increase of online activities, SIW took the initiative to implement a survey among youth workers regarding the challenges and opportunities that come with online facilitation. Only one youth worker mentioned not having had any struggle in online facilitation, while 98% of the respondents did indicate running into one or more challenges. The partners involved in this project specifically indicated challenges regarding technical issues, inactive participation of young people, insufficient young people that join in the online activity and difficulties in using the right methods to facilitate online sessions. In particular, e.g., Basilicata Link (IT) expressed the obstacles in adapting non-formal education from the live-setting to the online one. Community Youth Ventures (UK) is in the need to make their online activities attractive to reach out to new youth groups. ESTYES (EE), on the other hand, would like to learn more about new digital interaction tools. At the same time, the partners also gathered quite a vast amount of experience and best practices regarding using the online space and the methods created to facilitate an online dialogue among local and international youth. They therefore all underlined the necessity to learn from each other and to improve the online activities by increasing the online facilitation skills. Given that online facilitation of (international) activities won’t be just limited to the pandemic, it is to be acknowledged that its relevance and importance will be much more permanent. This acknowledgment can be found in the blended educational approach of the new Erasmus+ programme 2021-27, where online activities will further support and enhance the offline ones. In order to prepare ourselves for that, the project consortium organised FACE ON with the aim to increase the quality of online activities to provide young people with fewer opportunities with improved activities to connect, exchange, engage, learn and develop at the local and international level. FACE ON had the following objectives: - To train youth workers’ facilitation skills for non-formal education activities for young people in both the online and offline space; - To exchange youth organisations’ experiences and best practices in online facilitation; - To create and implement online sessions at the European in cross-cultural groups; - To virtually evaluate the online activities organised; - To set an action plan for the participants at the local and international level to implement what they have learnt in the seminar.

Project partners (12)