Digital Youth Work Academy - DigYouWork(A)

Aims & objectives

Aims
- Promoting, among youth workers, the European Digital Competence Framework (also known as DigComp), which offers a tool to improve citizen's digital competence;
- Training youth workers to use digital tools in their work within their organisations and with young people;
Promoting digital youth work cooperation at the European level.

Objectives
- Further use and awareness of the European Digital Competence Framework (DigComp) and assessment of participants of the competences in the areas of DigComp;
- Mapping current trends, challenges and stakeholders in the youth work field in connection with the digitalization;
- Training the participants in using several digital tools focused on (1) reach out (how to better reach specific segments of target groups); (2) communication and promotion of youth work activities; (3) internal communication; (4) collaborative work and (5) promotion of youth e-participation;
- Elaborating an action plan for each youth worker, focusing on the adoption of appropriate digital tools in their work.
- Experience the organisation of a digital event: European Digital Youth Summit - #EDYS20 (www.edys.eu) is a multistakeholder event aiming to bring together representatives of organizations, companies, authorities, media, academia, and young people in order to discuss the current challenges of the internet governance. DigYouWork(A) participants will have the chance to join the event as moderators, contributors, and communicators.

Target group & international/intercultural composition of the group & team

The course started with a total of 40 participants from 18 countries: Armenia, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Egypt, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovenia, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey.

Training methods used & main activities

The training course was based on the non-formal education methodology including the following types of activities:
- HOP platform: weekly multimedia materials, forums, brief theoretical inputs, 2 mandatory tasks + optional tasks each week, feedback provided by the other participants and by the trainers;
- ZOOM: 2 weekly online meetings of 2hours on the topic of the week;
- Availability for online coaching sessions with one of the trainers;
- EDYS2020: possibility to attend the event as a study visit to observe digital engagement of youth and to get involved as a participant, communicator, and rapporteur.

Outcomes of the activity

- 40 participants from 18 countries had the chance to develop their skills in the field of digital youth work: to get a better understanding of the context, to share various practices with their peers, to discover and work with various tools;
- the participants supported the organization of EDYS2020 - European Digital Youth Summit, an event organized by GEYC under the high patronage of the European Parliament;
- within the training, the participants worked on 6 communication campaigns aimed at raising awareness among young people on various topics (online safety, youth participation, environmental issues, burn out and sports);
- each participant was invited to develop an Action plan to develop their skills further and adopt new tools and practices in their organizational work;

Your tasks and responsibilities within the team

I was one of the two trainers leading the pedagogical process. My role included:
- preparatory activities: setting up the HOP platform, planning the learning activities, and designing the group dynamic;
- leading the pedagogical activities during 2 weeks (content, online meetings) and supporting the co-trainer in the other 2 weeks;
- managing online interaction on the HOP platform and providing feedback;
- supporting the engagement of the participants at EDYS2020 (study visit);
- 1-to-1 coaching with the participants (upon request);
- monitoring, evaluation, and reporting.

I worked on this training for 4 weeks days as a full time trainer.