Growing up online? - New technologies and young people

New technologies are central to modern life and sensitive topics are often discussed on the internet rather than face to face. However, this could be potentially damaging, especially for young people. The European project Virtual Stages Against Violence (VSAV) discovers possible risks concerning the use of new technologies  and offers teaching and learning pathways for a sensible use of the internet and new technologies. The project has started in March 2011 and the project team has already developed innovative products for teachers, students, schools, youth organisations and so on.

It is interesting to see how young people use the internet without consideration. The project VSAV offers methods to show them playfully how to avoid possible dangers and recognise the great opportunities of the internet. However, the interaction with other people in virtual life seems to be more and more overwhelming. This phenomenon has been highlighted in the last months in the project Virtual Stages Against Violence. For instance, a free online game “The Big Brain” as well as the theatre play “Channel Troy” have been developed particularly for teachers, students, parents and youth institutions. The whole theatre play can be viewed here:

http://www.dieberater.com/consulting/fit-fuer-europa/laufende-projekte/channel-troy/
 

Similar theatre plays have been developed in Italy, Romania and Germany and will be translated into English. A DVD of "Channel Troy” (also with English subtitles) can be obtained for free at die Berater® (b.ilijic@dieberater.com).

With the Online-game “The Big Brain” and the theatre plays young people may learn how important it is not to reveal personal data or passwords when using new technologies. These innovative materials also show young people how false identities on the internet can be damaging. Besides the risks of new technologies the project VSAV especially addresses the positive potential that new media and other technologies entail.

In the following months a toolkit will be written in order to cover all the main findings of the VSAV project. The toolkit will contain various training materials regarding a sensible use of the internet. It will enable teachers at schools to train students on internet safety in order to avoid a variety of incidents by an inappropriate use of websites or social networking sites.  The toolkit will offer a review of the risks that young people face when using the internet and video games. In using new technologies it is important to adopt safe and responsible practices, which will be a part of the toolkit. The training of teaching staff in the VSAV project will be essential and two pedagogues from each country: Austria, Romania, Italy and Germany will come together in Palermo, Italy and will be trained in September 2012. With this training the pedagogues will be able to train young people and students in schools or in youth institutions on the use of new technologies.

The Wiki Way: Using Wikis to promote collaborative learning

Source: http://www.austriamusik.at/images/Puzzle.jpg

Traditional learning environments are often characterized by one-way knowledge transmission processes in which the teacher, as the only source of knowledge, assigns a learning activity that is carried out autonomously by the student. Wikis as a form of collaborative learning implie a change in the roles of the instructor and students because knowledge is enhanced by both, the instructor and the peers.

Collaborative learning activities can include collaborative writing, group projects, joint problem solving, debates, study teams, and other activities. In a wiki-based learning scenario, participants co-write and co-edit web pages. Students learn expressing their questions, pursuing lines of inquiry together, teaching each other’s and seeing how others are learning (Stahl et al., 2006).


Wikibooks, Wikiversity, Wikiquotes, Wikitravel or Wikipedia are just view examples for worldwide known wiki platforms.


Usage of wikis in educational settings
A wiki is based on the two simple functions EDIT and SAVE. Therefore, a Wiki software is very flexible, and can be adapted to a wide range of learning environments and to various educational levels.
Wikis can be used for

• the development of research projects, with the wiki serving as ongoing documentation;
• the creation of summaries of thoughts from the prescribed readings, building a collaborative annotated bibliography on a wiki;
• the publication of course resources;
• the use of wikis as a knowledge base, enabling teachers to share reflections and thoughts regarding teaching practices;
• the use of wikis as map concepts (e.g. for brainstorming);
• the use of wikis for presentations, which students can directly comment.
  
  (Source: Duffy and Bruns, 2006)
  
  

EU Project WikiSkills
Within the European project WikiSkills die Berater^®promotes innovative pedagogical approaches to foster digital literacy, as well as social skills, writing skills and critical thinking.

Wikis foster creativity and enable the transfer of knowledge and provide a common web space for trainings, projects or whole organisations.

The European project WikiSkills aims to analyse and apply benefits of adopting a wiki-culture to promote lifelong learning opportunities.Therefore the WikiSkills consortium will develop, test and implement a wiki training to teach educators how to make the best use of wikis.


Videos on how to use wikis can be viewed on the WikiSkills webpage www.wikiskills.net

"YES" to New Skills for New Jobs!

There is a clear mismatch between skills available on the labour market and the demands of the economy. The European Union’s lead initiative New Skills for New Jobs is trying to bridge this gap by promoting upskilling of the work force, acute anticipation of changing skill needs, and through promoting close interaction between education and the economy.

The New Skills Network has now selected 22 Best Practice projects out of more than 300 originally proposed by EU programme authorities for their outstanding contribution to the New Skills for New Jobs strategy.

YES, coordinated by die Berater®, is one of them. YES provides SMEs with coaching and training support in employing “difficult” young people, i.e. young job seekers with a low level of qualification or from disadvantaged backgrounds. This support can help overcoming the absurd situation that there is - youth unemployment on the one hand, and unfilled job vacancies because of lack of suitable applicants on the other. A brochure can be downloaded here. For a hardcopy and CD please send an E-Mail to eu@dieberater.com

The YES support offer was presented and discussed with policy-makers and other stakeholders at the Final conference of The New Skills Network, Skills for the Future, in Copenhagen on 9-11 May 2012.

Experienced & motivated - Engaging seniors in volunteering

Volunteer work is often seen as something carried out by young people.
See for example the following article.

Nevertheless, volunteering is one of the most appreciated activities chosen by seniors to feel part of the community and to stay active. Older persons have a capacity and an appetite for being active which tends to be insufficiently recognised.

Engaging in mentally stimulating activities is important for the development and preservation of capacities in later life. Such possibilities need to be greatly expanded. Involving a larger number of seniors in voluntary work might turn out to be a major tool in active ageing strategies.

With 2012 being the European Year for Active Ageing and Solidarity between generations, the EU project RIVER by die Berater® addresses the invaluable effect senior volunteering has on our societies.

RIVER stands for Recognition of  Intergenerational Volunteering Experiences and Results.

Voluntary activities can form either structured learning activities (so-called non-formal learning) in which the volunteer intentionally participates in unintentional and unstructured learning (so-called informal learning). In both cases, volunteers’ learning usually is not certified. Recognising volunteering as a form of learning is therefore a priority of EU action in education and training.