Digital Guide

Aims of the tool

To help young people understand how attention works and how constant connectivity affects their focus, learning, relationships and well-being.
To give youth workers and educators ready-to-use, tested non-formal learning activities on attention and digital well-being.
To build practical skills in focus and time management, critical thinking and checking sources, online safety, and reducing digital stress.
To encourage young people to use technology on their own terms, with a healthier balance between online and offline life.

Description of the tool

The CTRL+ME Digital Guide is a collection of 12 non-formal learning activities on attention and digital well-being. It was developed and tested during “CTRL+ME – Youth reclaiming attention in the digital era”, an Erasmus+ youth exchange. The exchange brought together 29 young people, 5 group leaders and 2 facilitators from Denmark, Cyprus, Spain, Romania and Slovakia in Ebeltoft, Denmark, from 16 to 24 August 2026.

Each activity sheet explains how the activity works, lists its learning outcomes and shows a photo from the session. It also links to the facilitator and participant materials, such as QR-code stations, a Digital Passport, flyers, role cards, “attention money”, persona materials and presentations. This means any group can run the activity again.

The activities:
01 Introduction to Digital Education: groups move between QR-code stations, explore digital tools for learning and take notes in a Digital Passport.
02 The Importance of Attention: a team betting game about how attention works, what influences it and practical strategies to improve it.
03 Focus in a World of Distraction: puzzles and challenges solved while the facilitators deliberately distract the groups.
04 Look Again – Trip to Aarhus: city challenges completed without digital devices, conversations with local people and positive messages about digital balance.
05 Multitasking: groups analyse the attention economy, cognitive load, digital burnout, attention residue and multitasking, and present their findings on posters.
06 How Does Technology Affect Us?: an anonymous collage of shared experiences with technology, followed by a group discussion.
07 Critical Thinking – Attention City: a role-play with secret roles and “attention money”, in which participants assess real, false and misleading information before voting for a shared cause.
08 Digital Stress Reduction Plan: groups design a stress-reduction plan for a persona, using screen-time limits, tech-free zones and regular digital breaks.
09 Cybersecurity Basics: participants check for data breaches with the “Have I Been Pwned” tool and, in pairs, explore each other’s public digital footprint.
10 The Colour of Attention Challenge: teams explore their surroundings to find and document an assigned colour, using their senses instead of their phones.
11 Setting Your Priorities: the Eisenhower Matrix applied to everyday digital and personal activities, with group work based on personas.
12 Offline Wellbeing and Digital Toolbox: a personal action plan for digital balance (screen-time limits, tech-free zones, the Pomodoro method) and a review of digital tools that support focus.

Every activity ends with a group discussion and debriefing.

Learning outcomes. Participants:

understand how attention works, and how digital distractions, multitasking and the attention economy affect focus, learning and well-being;
recognise their own sources of digital stress and reflect on their technology habits without guilt or judgement;
can identify false, misleading or biased information online and check the credibility of sources;
know how to protect their personal data, accounts and digital footprint;
can prioritise tasks and apply focus techniques such as the Eisenhower Matrix, the Pomodoro method, screen-time limits and tech-free zones;
leave with a personal action plan for a healthier balance between digital and offline life;
strengthen their teamwork, communication, creativity, observation and intercultural skills.

How to use it: the activities can be run on their own or combined into a longer programme. They suit youth centres, schools, clubs, training courses and youth exchanges, and some of them take place without phones. The guide and its materials are free to use, adapt and translate under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0) licence. Besides English, the guide is available in Danish, Greek, Romanian, Slovak and Spanish.

Funded by the European Union through the Erasmus+ programme (project 2025-3-DK01-KA152-YOU-000384022). Views and opinions expressed are those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the Danish Agency for Higher Education and Science.

Available in 6 languages: English, Danish, Spanish, Greek, Romanian, Slovak.