R_U_Online?
Seminar on e-youth participation A seminar on realising online actions and potential for youth activities 2-7 October 2012 Oulu in Finland
FINAL REPORT
Introduction This seminar came after thorough reflections of how Internet and online practices influence life of people. The seminar followed the approach that youth work activity should be implemented where the young people are. Nowadays, many young people spend considerable time being online.
Participants got to know the Youth in Action opportunities and could develop ideas for future cooperation. Seminar brought together 34 participants from 11 European countries. The participants were coming in teams - 1 young person and 1 youth worker. Such combination gave opportunities to learn from different perspectives.
The seminar looked upon what are our online practices on personal and organisational levels, helped to reflect on how internet is shaping our lives and youth work practices, introduced to good online practices related to using Internet tool in youth work activities, offered opportunities for practical learning in international teams and in hosting city of Oulu.
Some of the participants were experience in the Youth in Action projects. But to the most of them, the Youth in Action Programme was new experience.
Training team: Paavo Pyykkönen, TCP officer at the Finish National Agency of the Youth in Action Programme, http://www.cimo.fi Clive Bonnici – facilitator Eduardo Rodrigues – facilitator Nerijus Kriauciunas – facilitator and report editor Venue: The Institute of Management and Technological Training (POHTO) in Oulu, https://www.pohto.fi/ October 2012 Oulu in video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhP2uAF4znY
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Concepts and understandings The seminar R_U_Online? served as a platform in which participants can speak about topics which are directly related to the world of internet and young people. Some topics were being discussed in certain depth and to summarize the below are the themes discussed and the conclusion which emerged through discussion from the participants.
Game and Work • The distinction between game and work is becoming increasingly blurred because young people are increasingly switching from game to work all the time due to constant connectivity to the internet. • Participants also concluded that since gaming is in itself also source of informal learning, therefore gaming should be used more as a tool to also process the learning achieved from these games. • Gaming is also changing the nature of work itself, people are today after flexibility at work which will allow worker to enjoy their time while working. It’s not all about the money anymore. • Gaming is also becoming a work in itself. Certain online games can actually be transformed into employment. Many people are earning good living by playing online games (Fantasy games, Multi User Dimension, etc)
Time and Space • Internet is increasingly attributing to the relativity of space. Today you can virtually speak with anyone around the world with an internet connection • Internet is also a two fold phenomena. It is helping people to save time by doing almost everything online, but on the other hand it also distracts people for their work because of constant chatting, browsing, games and all the entertainment the internet offers. • Internet is also helping people to keep connected so there is no further need of good bye, but more ‘See you online’ • Past of every individual is accessible to the world. Future and past are all the time blending in together “Highly informative. Makes you think about concepts that may be used for your organization or initiatives, that you may not have thought about before. Great way to brainstorm and share ideas and practical tips on cool online tools. And last but not least, great food, friendly people and FUN!”
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Safety and Risks • Internet is a positive tool which all users should be taught how to use it well to decrease online risks. • All users should be very careful about the information (especially photos and FB comments) which is posted online. This information will be accessible as long as internet exists. • Users should also pay special attention to copyrights and breaching of information and material which is found online. • Passwords are like toothbrushes...they are personal...they are not exchangeable...and they have to be changed regularly.
Humans and Technology • There is a shift from the city/village square to the virtual square. Discussions are taking place online in platforms like Facebook, Twitter and other blogs. Politicians, companies, organizations are also finding technology as a tool to convey their messages • Internet is a good tool to save time and money. It’s easier to buy things at a cheaper price and there is no need to physically go to stores to buy stuff, therefore its making people’s lives easier.
Power of Relationship • One in eight relationships in the US started with online interaction. • People can be all the time connected with friends and partner, therefore communication is continuous. • Network of friends is constantly increasing due to the fact that friendship is not limited to distance because with internet communication can be kept through established social networks. Learning • Internet is making people lazy because it does all the hard work for the users. • Learning can become more difficult since computers and other devices are storing lot of information which is needed for out daily use. Users are using less and less memory. We are risking the ability to memorize things in the future • Online learning also compliments offline learning. Users have more liberty to find their own way of learning. If they don’t understand something at school, they can Google it at home and understand better using online tools.
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Positive actions online and in Oulu During the seminar participants implemented practical projects in order to promote positive actions. They used variety of online tools and did actions in Oulu with local population. All of the teams were focusing on one of the annual priorities of the Youth in Action Programme.
Global environment challenges Reducing the plastic consumption by raising awareness through the Facebook page, dedicated website and by distributing leaflets in the streets of Oulu
Youth Entrepreneurship Encouraging the firsts steps in taking initiative by offering tools and resources on the web-page and by conducting opinion poll with using photography in Oulu
Youth unemployement Promoting volunteering and jobpractice opportunities through sharing information and connecting people on Facebook page and conducting survey in Oulu
Healthy life styles Promoting healthy life styles through the Facebook page and flashmob in the streets of Oulu and the local youth centre
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Actions against social exclusion Addressing the issues of foreigners’ integration through the blog posts and interviews with local population in Oulu
Youth Entrepreneurship Looking at how people can connect their hobbies and passions with their work prospects through conducting survey and publishing results on-line
Online tools for youth work activities Participants of the seminar shared and used various online tools for the youth work activities. Here is the comprehensive list of various online tools which can be used in the youth work contexts.
List of online tools for youth work activities: 1. Create text documents online http://piratepad.net 2. Create a timeline http://www.dipity.com/ 3. Social voting tool https://tricider.com/ 4. Online presentation tool http://prezi.com 5. Mind maps http://www.mindomo.com/ 6. Turning your photos into videos http://animoto.com/ 7. Working with sounds http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ 8. Make your own website http://www.wix.com 9. Visual ideas online http://www.easel.ly/ 10. Design Flyers http://www.smore.com/ 11. Graphic Blog http://www.glogster.com/ 12. Create stories http://storybird.com/ 13. Create comics http://www.comiclife.com 14. Collaborative file storage https://www.dropbox.com/ 15. Publishing documents online http://issuu.com 16. Easy video editing http://maker.mozillapopcorn.org
“I have learned a lot about internet and how to use is wisely and more about its history and maybe the future.�
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Good practice examples from Oulu Jeparichat Officers working at the juvenile crime squad of the Oulu police department use the chat service to advise, guide and support the youth in issues relating to police activity. A youth worker hosts the chat and answers general questions. Topics include police work and education, mopeds, legal issues, rights and intoxicants. Close to 200 visitors per chat session. Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXRiHXY-MrI
Byström youth services on the web Low-threshold-service for young people aged 12-25 living in Oulu region. They can come online and have a conversation about issues that concern you related to e.g. work, education, habitation, health, mood, personal relationships, sexuality, intoxicants, money issues and leisure time. http://www.irc-galleria.net/community/3400301
Game activity and youth work
Jeparichat in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXRiHXY-MrI
A tool for encounter (formerly billiard and playing cards), game space (a social secure environment where an instructor is present), gaming acticity between Oulu based youth houses (developing co-operation between youth houses and creating internal communality within each youth house), an activity form of small groups (for instance the boys’ gaming group in Helsinki), auxiliary activities combined to gaming (designing games: graphic design, programming, manuscript...)
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“Seminar was so fun and full of energy. It was so nice to meet these all people and I’m going to miss them! I always said that I’m not interested on international events but this seminar changed my mind!”
Evaluation results At the end of the seminar participants evaluated its content, methodology and organisation. They expressed their evaluation feedback by filling in the on-line questionnaire and verbally during the closing circle of the seminar. The following account is a summary of evaluation results.
Participants were generally satisfied with most of the topics and methods used during the R_U_Online seminar and felt it was above their expectations, with 82% of the participants stating that their expectations where fully met. They also affirmed that they believe the trainers where well prepared and facilitated well this Seminar with appropriate methods. A clear understanding of how the Internet is changing our lives was one of the most important outcomes of this seminar, and one of its main objectives, and almost fully met according to 32 of the 34 participants. Almost all the participants left this seminar with a feeling that they can use online tools in a very positive way and as a huge extra they also got to build partnerships for the seminar and most likely for future projects. The venue was appreciated by the participants with most of the participants agreeing that everything was comfortable and suited for a seminar. Individual comments suggested that there should have been more time to discuss the proposed subjects and also more time to share good online practices, but also suggested that this Seminar is quite an experience and something that will change them and the way they interact both Online and Offline.
“Energisers were very good and playful. Trainers were good and active, with good sense of humor. Maybe next time there could be more things that would give more practical tools for working online. Accommodation was comfortable.�
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Evaluation results I think that the trainers were prepared and facilitated well this seminar
I think that all the sessions were interesting and focused on the objectives set
I had the opportunities to understand better what I can do using online tools
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Now I know more about the Youth in Action Programme
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Was this ‘R U Online?’ seminar up to your expectations?
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I came to this seminar as...
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Young person Youth worker/leaders
Team evaluation
Follow-up
During the final evaluation team made the following The participants of the seminar came to the following ideas conclusions for the future developments of this seminar: for the follow-up of this seminar: • The participants’ selection was good. Only few participants had difficulties with communication in English. • Several outcomes were identified as result of this seminar: participants found partners, they developed good practice project, they learned new things. • The main learning outcomes: new knowledge and understanding of online practices, learning of new online tools to be used for youth activities, better awareness of the power of Internet. • The seminar offered diversity of methods combining online and offline methods. Technology was integrated on the good level however more careful considerations can be made in future. It was good at times letting participants work in separate group: young people and youth workers/leaders. • Team and participants evaluated the real practice projects as being most valuable for learning experience. It created for opportunities participants to practically learn whilst working in international teams, they could produce something tangible and they could interact with local community in Oulu. • Few sessions good be added to the content of the programme: workshop on youth participation, workshops on specific concepts related to Internet, local input by youth group on their lifestyle and online practices. •
• Youth Exchange on Food. The main idea of this exchange is to learn about eating habits of different cultures and learn about the healthy food practices. Participants will visit food production places, will share on how they choose food when shopping, will discuss issues around GMO. • Youth Exchange on Recycling. The main idea of this exchange is to raise awareness of being environmentally friendly. Participants will clean the town collectively, will learn about recycling practices in different countries, will share their cultural attitudes towards environment. • Youth Initiative addressing the issue of domestic violence. The main idea of this project is to raise awareness about the domestic violence experienced by young people in different countries. • Youth Exchange on Unemployment. The main idea of this exchange is to motivate young people to gain experience through volunteering and in this way to improve their employability opportunities. • Project on National Representing Videos. The main idea is to create new video which would represent Luxemburg online and offline.
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Final programme Arrival, 2 Oct Tuesday
Day 2, 3 Oct Wednesday
Day 3, 4 Oct Thursday
Day 4, 5 Oct Friday
Day 5, 6 Oct Saturday
Departure, 7 Oct Sunday
8.00-9.30 Breakfast Online friends search: What do we know about each other?
The Internet era: before, now and after
11.00-11.30 Break Open source: RSS feeds: differSeminar programme ence brought by the and expectations internet
Arrival
Youth culture and youth online services in Oulu Log in: Doing positive actions online
Refresh: sharing and debriefing yesterdays experiences 11.00-11.30 Break Installing‌Youth in Action
13.00-15.00 Lunch break r_u_online? Sharing and exploring online activities Copy and Paste: Sharing good practices of actions online 19.30 Dinner
Welcome evening
Show me your hits (if you love your country)
Internet CafĂŠ: Discussing Internet related concepts
Free time in Oulu
Uploading_Ideas for future projects iLearn! But what exactly? Save progress: Evaluation of the seminar
iLearn! But what exactly?
18.00 Log out: Doing positive actions in Oulu
18.00 Dinner out
20.00 Dinner out
19.30 Dinner
Sauna evening
Free evening
Exit evening
Going home!