Unit Objectives:

1. To provide participants with a better understanding on digital competences and how they can adopt them
2. To support participants’ self-assessment on digital skills

Unit Content:

The learning activities in this module are aimed at supporting youth workers to build an understanding on digital competence that enhances their digital needs of disadvantaged groups.

Learning Activities:

• 1 Content session
• Self-Assessment Activities
• 2 Exercises

Competence self-assessment tool for youth workers

The Skill IT for Youth Competence Framework covers 3 competences areas specifically relevant to Youth Workers who engage in Digital Youth Work and who are interested in supporting Young People develop 21^st Century Skills.

The competence areas:

Area 1: Learning and Innovation skills:

Creativity

Creativity encompasses the ability to discover new and original ideas, connections, and solutions to problems. It’s a part of our drive as humans — fostering resilience sparking joy and providing opportunities for self-actualization.

We recommend you watch this video on creativity (video in English).

Self-Assessment Activity 1 (5 minutes)

If you recognize that most of your answers in the self-assessment activity consist of no or answers, you can develop an approach based on,

• Creating and developing new ideas, then testing, refining and evaluating them
• Being open to other perspectives, with the capacity to contribute and work within an environment of originality and caring spirit of continuous learning, constantly looking for opportunities for success so that improvement can happen.

Our ability to generate innovative ideas is not merely a function of the mind, but also a function of five key behaviours that optimize your brain for discovery:

1. Associating: drawing connections between questions, problems, or ideas from unrelated fields
2. Questioning: bringing questions that challenge common wisdom
3. Observing: monitoring the behaviour of customers, suppliers, and competitors to identify new ways of doing things
4. Networking: meeting people with different ideas and perspectives
5. Experimenting: constructing interactive experiences and provoking unorthodox responses to see what insights emerge

Communication

” Communication is transfer of information from one person to another, whether or not it elicits confidence. But the information transferred must be understandable to the receiver – G.G. Brown.

We recommend you watch this video on communication (video in English).

Self-Assessment Activity 2 (5 minutes)

If you recognize that most of your answers in the self-assessment activity consist of no or answers, you can develop an approach based on,

• Listening effectively, including knowledge, values, attitudes and intentions
• Expressing ideas effectively in both individual and group situations (including oral, written and non-verbal communication)
• Consciously adjusting language or terminology to the characteristics and needs of the audience
• Presenting a message or idea utilising multiple media and technologies, as well as assessing the best possible impact on the message recipient

Collaboration and Teamwork

Both teamwork and collaboration involve a group of people working together to complete a shared goal. The key difference between collaboration and teamwork is that whilst teamwork combines the individual efforts of all team members to achieve a goal, people working collaboratively complete a project collectively.  Those collaborating work together as equals, usually without a leader, to come up with ideas or make decisions together to complete a goal, whereas team work is usually overseen by a team leader, and those within a team are delegated individual tasks to complete to contribute towards the team’s end goal.

We recommend you watch the videos below (videos in English).

Self-assessment Activity 3 (5 minutes)

If you recognize that most of your answers in the self-assessment activity consist of no or answers, you    can develop an approach based on,

• Working flexibly, effectively and respectfully within diverse teams or groups or those outside formal line of authority to accomplish goals
• Taking actions that respect the needs and contribution of others
• Compromising, contributing to and accepting the consensus
• Taking and sharing responsibility
• Giving importance to the strength of the team

Critical Thinking and Problem Solving

Critical thinking is the ability to think clearly and rationally about what to do or what to believe. It includes the ability to engage in reflective and independent thinking.

Problem solving is the act of defining a problem; determining the cause of the problem; identifying, prioritizing, and selecting alternatives for a solution; and implementing a solution.

Self-assessment Activity 4 (5 minutes)

If you recognize that most of your answers in the self-assessment activity consist of no or answers, you can develop an approach based on,

• Improving the quality of one’s thinking by skilfully analysing, assessing and reconstructing any subject, content or problem the thinker is faced with
• Self-directed, self-monitored and self-corrective thinking
• Committing to an action or judgement after evaluating the facts, data or possible learning from a situation
• Developing alternative courses of action that are based on logical assumptions and factual information, and that take into consideration resources, constraints, and familiarity with situations

Area 2: Media and Information Literacy

Media Literacy

Media Literacy encompasses the practices that allow people to access, critically evaluate, and create or manipulate media.

Information Literacy

It is defined as a “set of integrated abilities encompassing the reflective discovery of information, the understanding of how information is produced and valued and the use of information in creating new knowledge and participating ethically in communities of learning”.

You can watch the video below to develop a better understanding on the topics of media and information literacy (video in English).

Self-assessment Activity 5 (5 minutes)

If you recognize that most of your answers in the self-assessment activity consist of no or answers, you can develop an approach based on,

• Analysing Media by acknowledging the sources and purpose of messages, interpreting messages, considering differents points of view.
• Applying an understanding of issues on access and use of Media. When creating Media products, understanding and utilizing the most appropriate media creation tools, characteristics and agreements for use.
• Understanding and effectively utilizing the most appropriate expressions and interpretations in diverse, multi-cultural environments
• Recognising what information is necessary.

Being able to efficiently locate, accurately evaluate, effectively use, and clearly communicate information in various formats from a variety of sources. Managing the flow of information from a variety of sources and applying a fundamental understanding of legal / ethical issues surrounding the access and use of information.

Self-assessment Activity 6 (5 minutes)

Area 3: Life and Career Skills

Flexibility & Adaptability

Flexibility and adaptability skills are based on demonstrating that they can adapt to changing circumstances and environments and take on board new ideas and concepts. It is enriching to have people with the personal confidence to respond positively to change and new ways of working; people who are prepared to rise to the challenge of dealing with the unfamiliar and show they can cope with the new or unexpected.

We recommend you watch the video below (video in English).

Self-assessment Activity 7 (5 minutes)

If you recognize that most of your answers in the self-assessment activity consist of no or answers, you can develop an approach based on,

• Making changes to when, where and how one will work so as to better meet goals, responsibilities or objectives.
• Showing resilience and the ability to work well even in a climate of ambiguity and changing priorities.
• Giving and taking feedback constructively, negotiating, understanding and balancing views to support reaching solutions.
• Maintaining effectiveness in changing environments and with different tasks, responsibilities and people.
• Prioritizing, planning and managing work to achieve the intended result.
• Demonstrating additional attributes such as working positively, efficiently and ethically. Demonstrating commitment.
• Being reliable, punctual and professional.
• Collaborating and cooperating effectively within teams.
• Being accountable for results.

Self-assessment Activity 8 (5 minutes)

Use of digital tools in youth work

Digital tools have been actively used in youth work for the last 2 years. However, in order for the study to be carried out based on teaching, it is important to use the right tools for the right target audience and to transfer information to the evaluation structures through questions and answers after the implementation. Digital tools can be categorized differently in face-to-face and online youth work.

The tools are divided into Transfers, Diagrams, Maps, Online Tools, Web, Photo & Video, Screen Sharing and Gaming categories. In each category, applications with more than one free alternative that can be used in youth work have been introduced. However, due to the wide variety of applications, the vehicles could not be specified.

Under the title of “Tools”: Word Cloud, Competition, Storytelling, Create Together, Presentation, Design, Survey-Quiz applications are included. More than one vehicle promotion has been added for each subtitle, to allow preference.

It is important to remember that the use of digital tools is intended to support the process of learning and competence-building. It is not about using mobile devices at every step just to make our workshops modern and contemporary. Meaningful use of technology in the learning process enables us to achieve our educational goals faster and more effectively. When introducing new technologies to the sessions, it is worth asking yourself certain questions: what added value does using a given tool bring? What will the participants gain from the use of this technology? After all, we don’t want our participants to just say: “It was fun because we used smartphones”. One of our tasks is to prepare young people to enter the job market, to shape the necessary competences based on the use of new technologies.

Sometimes the lack of adequate equipment or access to such equipment can be an obstacle to the introduction of new technologies in the world of youth work. Today, however, we use smartphones more often than laptops or desktops. It is worth taking advantage of the fact that each of us has a device with access to the Internet in our pocket. The Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) approach postulates the use of personal devices during workshops and activities. Consequently, we do not have to worry about raising funds for the purchase of the right equipment. We can take advantage of the opportunities offered by the fact that the majority of participants in our workshops have smartphones and use them to incorporate new technologies into our projects. 

The same applies to software. The Internet is full of great educational resources that we can use free of charge. More and more often it is possible to use tools without having to create an account and log in. Digital tools for learning are intuitive and easy to use. 

Exercise 1

Exercise 2

Further readings:

DigComp 2.1: The Digital Competence Framework for Citizens with eight proficiency levels and examples of use

Sources:

Developing digital youth work

DigComp 2.0: The Digital Competence Framework for Citizens. Update Phase 1: The Conceptual Reference Model

Plataforma de autodiagnóstico en competencias digitales

The Digital Competence Framework 2.0

The Digital Competence Wheel

Useful tools

Quiz time

Finish the module with a short quiz