Juha Kiviniemi's presentation at the digital youth work training day "When, if not now?" in Ljubljana, Slovenia in October 2019.

1. When, if not now?
Digital youth work: the why, what and how
Juha Kiviniemi, Verke
Ljubljana, 15.10.2019

2. slideshare.net/verkeorg

3. Please interrupt!
There are no silly questions, only incoherent presenters.

4. Verke - National Centre of
Expertise on Digital Youth Work

6. Verke’s goals 2018-2019
1. Knowledge of ways of using digital media and technology
will increase and expand in the field of youth work
2. The structures of youth work will support the use of digital
media and technology in youth work
3. Innovative youth work services and concepts using digital
media and technology will be created

7. What does Verke do?
Train professionals:
Last year over 2600 participants
in 14 provinces
Produce materials:
videos, guides, article
publications, podcasts etc.
Consult:
Innovation partnerships,
memberships in steering groups
Facilitate networking:
SomeCamp, Friday chats, other events
Research:
Surveys on digital youth work,
research collaborations
Communicate:
newsletter, blog,
social media, #digi10-challenge

8. Why?

10. Some perspectives:
(adapted from Arthur C. Clarke)

11. ”The only way of discovering the
limits of the possible is to venture
a little way past them into the
impossible.”
(Clarke’s second law)

12. ”Any sufficiently
advanced technology is
indistinguishable from magic.”
(Clarke’s third law)

13. ”Every revolutionary idea —
in science, politics, art, or whatever
— seems to evoke three stages of
reaction. They may be summed up
by these phrases:
(Clarke’s law of revolutionary
ideas)

14. 1. "It's completely impossible —
don't waste my time”;
2. "It's possible, but it's not worth
doing”;
3. "I said it was a good idea all
along."

15. ”If youth work fails to embrace the
use of technology and social media
there is a risk of becoming
outdated and irrelevant to young
people who use youth work
services. ”
- Youth Worker, Screenagers -study
(2016)

16. 50 MILLION
DAILY USERS?

17. 38 years
lähde: www.sxc.hu

18. 13 years
lähde: www.sxc.hu

19. 4 years

20. 2 years

21. 7 months

22. 19 days

23. How does digitalisation affect young people?

24. Digitalization is not
something in the future.
It’s happening now.

25. The ownership of information
has irrevocably changed.

26. Young peoples methods, intensity and
speed of social communication are radically
different from our own.

27. Young people do not
”go online”.

28. Digital skills = citizenship
skills

29. Digital skills = digital life
skills

30. Who are the digital natives?

31. There aren’t any.

32. #punchacolleague
(please don’t actually punch them,
but you have my permission to
gently but firmly correct them)

33. Digital divide
(It’s not only about age!)

34. “The idea that someone would understand
everything about digital media [or technology] just
because of their young age is just just as ridiculous
as the thought of me understanding all there is to
know about the world just by sleeping in a library.”
- Anu Pöyskö, WienXtra - medienzentrum

35. Digital divide
• Access to technology
• Skills to use that technology
• Level of understanding how technology works
• Participation vs. Access to information - who is in control?

36. What?

37. Digital youth work

38. What is digital youth work?
• Digital youth work means proactively using or addressing
digital media and technology in youth work.
• Digital youth work is not a youth work method – digital youth
work can be included in any youth work setting (open youth
work, youth information and counselling, youth clubs, detached
youth work…).
• Digital youth work has the same goals as youth work in general,
and using digital media and technology in youth work should
always support these goals.
EU Expert group - definition of digital youth work

39. What is digital youth work?
• Digital youth work can happen in face-to-face situations as well
as in online environments – or in a mixture of these two. Digital
media and technology can be used either as a tool, an activity or
a content in youth work.
• Digital youth work is underpinned by the same ethics, values and
principles as youth work.
EU Expert group - definition of digital youth work

41. The diversity of digitality in youth work
Digital Youth Work
Digital Services
Digital Solutions
Digital Infrastructure

42. Examples from the field..

43. mBot

44. Using robots as a youth work tool
• Ready-made kits or built from scratch
• mBots, lego mindstorms, sphero..
• Can be used as a participative activity, group building tool or a
pastime (or a mix of these!)

46. Tinkering with microcontrollers
• Arduino, micro:bit, Teensy..
• Platforms / devices for teaching coding
• Can and should be used in creative ways!
• What if we combine them with existing youth work activities?

48. 3D printing

50. Digital storytelling

52. Whatever your workshop..
• This is all about youth work, not the technology
• What could I do with this in our youth work setting? Would it be
hard, would it be easy, what would we need? (training, staff,
expertise, equipment, space etc..)
• How could these things be used in other youth work settings?

53. Resources

54. Verke’s publications
All publications available as print or online @ www.verke.org

56. digitalyouthwork.eu

58. Council conclusions on digital youth work
• Will be adapted in November 2019
• Continuum for the council conclusions on smart youth work
(2017)
• Focus on supporting future foresight and systemic / strategic
development of digital youth work

59. Final quote..

60. ”There was only one thing of which
he could be certain now. Boredom
would not be a serious problem for
a considerable time to come.”
Arthur C. Clarke, “The city and the stars” (1956)

61. Please leave questions
• You have until lunchtime to post questions
• slido.com and the hashtag #whenifnotnow
• I will go through them and answer each and every one if I can by
the end of the day
• You can also contact me at juha@verke.org

62. Kiitos!