Digital Youth and Youth Engagement. Dwayne Gutzmer

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Powerpoint Templates
Digital Youth
& the use of
Electronic &
Multimedia
Strategies
for Youth
Engagement
Presented by
Dwayne Gutzmer
Dean, CARICOM Youth
Ambassador Programme
April 24, 2013

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Digital Native
A person born in the digital age who is
thoroughly familiar and comfortable
with computers and electronic
devices since childhood.
Also referred to as the Millennials

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Digital Youth / Millennials
• Millennials, young people 30 and under,
are coming of age in a world vastly
different from that of their parents and
grandparents.
• The Millennial generation is diverse,
technologically savy, open minded, and
committed to sexual health and rights.

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Digital Youth / Millennials
n Today’s Youth spend most of their lives
around the computers, videogames, digital
music players, video cams, cell phones, and
all the other toys and tools of the digital age
n Today’s average university student have
spent less than 5,000 hours of their lives
reading, but over 10,000 hours playing
video games (not to mention 20,000 hours watching TV)
n Marc Prensky Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants - From On the Horizon (MCB
University Press, Vol. 9 No. 5, October 2001)

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Digital Youth
The Digital Youth;
• often seek information and knowledge
by going on-line rather than using a
textbook
• little tolerance for delays and expect
instant results
– (Skiba & Barton (2006)

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Digital Youth
The Digital Youth;
• are fascinated by new technologies
• are “multi-taskers” - Multitasking is a way
of life for this generation
– (Skiba & Barton (2006)

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Digital Youth
• Grow up surrounded by digital devices and
regularly uses these devices to interact with
other people and the outside world.

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Internet Usage Growth Rate –
Latin America / Caribbean
http://www.data360.org/dsg.aspx?Data_Set_Group_Id=645

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Internet Usage and Population Statistics for the
Caribbean
CARIBBEAN
Population
( 2011 Est. )
Internet Usage,
31-Dec-2011
% Population
(Penetration)
Facebook
Subscribers
% Facebook
Saint Lucia 161,557 142,900 88.5 % 48,300 30%
Antigua & Barbuda 87,884 70,968 80.8 % 29,020 33%
Haiti 9,719,932 836,435 8.6 % 202,820 2%
St. Vincent &
Grenadines
103,869 76,000 73.2 % 40,000
39%
Cayman Islands 51,384 37,112 72.2 % 24,540 48%
Barbados 286,705 191,878 66.9 % 114,240 40%
British Virgin Islands 25,383 14,620 57.6 % 9,720 38%
Jamaica 2,868,380 1,581,100 55.1 % 629,440 22%
Trinidad & Tobago 1,222,505 650,611 53.2 % 435,240 36%
Bahamas 313,312 158,700 50.7 % 155,140 50%
Anguilla 15,094 6,940 46.0 % 6,100 40%
St. Kitts & Nevis 50,314 22,340 44.4 % 22,140 44%
Dominica 72,969 32,151 44.1 % 22,800 31%
Dominican Republic 9,956,648 4,120,801 41.4 % 2,233,360 22%
Turks & Caicos 44,819 14,760 32.9 % 10,620 24%
Grenada 108,419 34,961 32.2 % 29,640 27%
Monserrat 5,140 1,200 23.3 % n/a n/a
Cuba 11,087,330 1,702,206 15.4 % n/a n/a

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http://www.mediabadger.com/2011/05/the-chatty-caribbean-naturally/

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Digital Youth

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WHAT DOES THIS
MEAN FOR US AND
THE WORK THAT
WE SEEK TO DO?

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WE MUST REVAMP OUR
METHODS OF ENGAGEMENT

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WE MUST “GET WITH IT”!!
• Instead of the volume
of printed materials
• we must move to more
accessible & youth friendly
materials (ipad/kindle/mobile).

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WE MUST “GET WITH IT”!!
• Instead of continuing to
train peer educators to
execute duties traditionally
• we must instead invest in
developing their capacities &
equipping them with tools
needed to take advantage of
current technological trends!

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WE MUST “GET WITH IT”!!
• Instead of the continued
use of static information
• we must move to more
interactive methods
CLICK TO
PLAY!

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Surveys & Questionnaires
• “Millennials are
more willing to
share
information
online,
especially if
they get
something in
return.”

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Shifting Trends
• Technology is changing everything
around us;
– The Banking Industry
– The Newspaper delivery methods
– The features in our car
• So too must educators and
health professionals embrace
this change!!

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Imagine???
Social Media Personal

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Imagine???
Web Streaming: Lectures, Training, Courses, Meetings, etc

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Imagine???
Mobile Apps: Games, Data Gathering, Resources, Safe Spaces

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Imagine???
DIGITAL YOUTH ENGAGEMENT STRATEGIES
WORKSHOP
UNFPA -
YAG
CARICOM
Youth
Ambassadors
NYC, etc..

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Imagine???

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Imagine???

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Well lets stop
imagining and
start working to
make it happen

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Some Benefits
• Wider Reach
– Categorize audience
– Information on audience
– Increased awareness about product /
brand
• Promote Active learning
– Interactive sections were persons have to
complete a quiz before moving to the next
section
• Lower cost for Data Dissemination
• Obtain quick feedback
• Tracking the number of views

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Way Forward
Going forward we must seek to;
• reach the youth where they are!
– Building an Online community ( Policy
support, Advocacy, etc)
– Texting
– Interactive face to face presentation
• ensure that our activities / strategies /
programmes / presentations evoke the
necessary excitement needed to keep the
attention of the youth!
– Less words more pictures
– Less “talk/lecture” more “action/activities”

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Way Forward
Going forward we must seek to;
• Put the technology to work for us
– Gather data
– Dissemination of information
– Connect with stakeholders
• continually “top up” our own knowledge on current
technological trends in order to have meaningful
youth-adult partnership
• Continually engage our youth on
– Issues that affect them and possible solutions
– The role they see themselves playing in the solution
– Resources needed (financial, technical, etc)

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"Never before in history has
innovation offered promise
of so much to so many in so
short a time."
Bill Gates

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Thank You