Summary: New mini-social network for exploring youth work and new technology launched. Join here...
I've just been watching a fantastic presentation by Ewan McIntosh on how teaching should engage with social media and it provides yet another reminder of the need for informal educators to be developing a clear vision and idea of what work with young people should look like in the digital age.
What new ways of working are needed to engage with the 'constantly connected' generation of young people who are using digital devices to be in touch with friends and other peers almost every minute of the day? And what should we be doing to support the young people who remain disconnected - the wrong side of a new digital divide and excluded by lack of access to technology?
How can we harness new tools to support young people's creativity and exploration if ideas and identities? How can positive activities and developmental projects 'compete' with the many commercial media and entertainment opportunities open to young people? And how can youth work that involves digital media use it to contribute to young people's positive development - rather than falling into the trap of seeing media as an ends in itself, or casting projects as preparation for a career in the mainstream media?
How in a 'red button' culture of interactivity and participation can youth work offer participation that really means something - and leads to true empowerment and change for young people?
These are big questions (and there are many more questions to be asked). But - as the Youth Work and Social Networking research has been showing me - the answers are already out there in projects being run, ideas being developed, and conversations over coffee in youth centers between sessions. The challenge is in bringing those answers together.
And what better way to try and do that than with the new media technologies we're talking about. So - if you're interested in any of these big questions - and in working out what Youth Work 2.0 could be all about - come and start or join the discussions in the newly created UK Youth Online network.