TOY - Trainers Online for Youth
This is a reference for Mojca Galun
The training activity aimed to develop and strengthen new competencies among staff in our organizations and other local youth workers. By empowering participants with visualization skills, the training promoted creativity and innovation. The use of visual tools indirectly improved the quality of youth activities, particularly non-formal education, as it is known that young people retain up to 40% more information with visuals. Additionally, due to the popularity of the topic, we created a website to share knowledge about visualization tools, which we plan to maintain post-project to continue spreading awareness. The training also fostered stronger partnerships, with plans for future projects.
By learning the basics of simplified drawing and trying out different visual tools, we aimed to enhance the quality of our youth work and non formal education. Visualization helps increase memory retention by 40% and to fill the gap for a comprehensive list of visual tools online, we created a webpage where youth workers can find resources in multiple languages. This initiative enriched non-formal education with knowledge of visual tools.
"Make it Visual!" was a training course on visualization and the use of visual tools, bringing together partners from Slovenia, Estonia, Hungary, Poland, France, Germany, Italy, and Slovakia.
The training emphasized non-formal education methods to enhance participants' visualization skills and foster collaboration. We began with icebreaker activities, such as drawing shared portraits and engaging in "Snap Shots," where participants visually expressed their identities and interests. In paired exercises, they drew visual responses to each other's answers, building connections through creativity and dialogue.
Basic graphic elements were introduced through experiential learning that focused on drawing various subjects, including simplified shapes, people, and actions. Participants practised different lettering styles and learned techniques to add colour and shading for emphasis, all within a relaxed and supportive environment. During a field trip around Slovenia, they created visual messages inspired by their surroundings, allowing them to practice visual storytelling in real-life contexts. They shared all their creations with the group, promoting peer feedback and collaborative learning.
Participants reflected on their experiences in sketchbooks, noting key takeaways and insights daily, which reinforced the importance of self-assessment in education. They also had opportunities to collaborate with others on daily reflections and, in the end, finalize everything in a collective evaluation session.
We build the page in all partners languages:
http://socialna-akademija.si/makeitvisual/
As a trainer, I took the lead on sessions focused on creating a visual alphabet and practising doodling, helping participants build their skills in visual storytelling. I also facilitated group team-building activities and developed a visual vocabulary and dictionary to support their learning. Additionally, I guided participants in graphic recording techniques and oversaw collaborative work on project outputs. Beyond the sessions, I supported participants in preparing their workshops to implement back home, led reflection groups to encourage self-assessment and growth, and conducted the final evaluation to gather insights on the overall experience.