ON/OFF – Online and Offline Tools in Youthwork 2023

Period of Covid-19 pandemic showed us our relative unpreparednes for total tranformation to digital environments. Although during 2 year period, we learnt how to use digital tools with relative ease, there is still lot to learn about digital world in which, lot of us, is „digital migrant“.

Digital tools, are only one of the layers that digital youthwork offers and is dealing with. Internet security, gamification, FOMO, social media, merger of digital and real world, AI and others are just some aspect of vast digital world that we are visiting on daily basis (with increased frequency). Young people are exposed to this world even more, as they are „digital natives“.

This training course was created as iniciative in the beginning of Covid-19 pandemic as national training for teachers, educators and youthworkers in Slovakia. So far more than 15 trainings were carried out in 2 years period. During implementation of this training we found out that there is a need to provide similar format of training course in english so wider group of participants can join.

Thus international activity ON/OFF was created in 2022. It was a great success so we decided to have second edition. This training will offer insight into vast world of online threats and opportunities that anyone can use and learn about and will offer youthworkers and educators from different contries important conterporary skills, that are useful during online trainings and education, but are useful in offline evnironment as well.

Main goals of the training course:

• show different online tools and their functionality (tools like Kahoot, Mentimeter, Prezi, Google Suite, Canva, Adobe Expres (previously Spark), Videoscribe, Miro and lot more.
• show synergies and crossfunctionality of various tools, how to use them together, how they can replace or support each other and how it can be used to empower and strenghten teaching and youthwork
• introduce gamification and concept of „online escape rooms“ and various ways how to use it in youthwork, education, etc.
• learn basics of AI tools offered to public (image and text generation, voice generations, prompt engineering, etc.)
• learn about digital youthwork in general and understand what is its purpose in todays world, what are basic methods and why it is important

Secondary goals:

• participants will learn how to prepare effective online training
• participants will have networking opportunity with likeminded individuals and organizations across the europe
• participants will have an opportunity to try all of the tools in safe environment under guidance by skilled lecturers
• training will be led by using non-formal education methods

The training is for you if you:

• want to learn how to make your work more effective or attractive with the use of digital tools
• if you want to learn more about digital world and its importance in todays world
• want to network with other organization who use digital tools for their benefits and are in procces of learning