About this project
The National Youth Agency have commissioned Practical Participation to explore the question:
“How does youth work best support young people to manage the risks and
make the most of the opportunities presented by social networking
technology?”
Our exploration is taking place in six parts:
1) An online survey of youth workers and youth work managers
Running from December 2007 till mid-January 2008 this survey will seek to identify youth workers current use of social networking technologies; their current role support young people to safely and effective use social networking technologies; their understanding of the benefits and risks of social networking technologies; their interests in developing their use of social networking technologies; and potential barriers to youth workers using, and supporting young people to use, social networking technologies.
2) A literature review
Looking to identify existing studies and literature, and examples of best practice, that address issues of workforce skills in supporting young people to use social networking technologies, recent work on young peoples social networking literacy, the role of youth work in social networking literacy work, the use of social media and social networking technologies by youth workers and relevant connected issues.
3) Focus groups
Taking place in early 2008 to explore in depth issues arising from the survey with three or four local youth services. We will to focus on opportunities, barriers and learning needs for youth workers to support young people to safely and effectively use social media and social networks, and to effectively use social media and social networking in their own work.
4) Action research projects
Working with one or more youth centres or youth projects to support them in developing their own approach to supporting young people in online social networking. We will be offering training and consultancy input, and seeking to identify key lessons about success factors and barriers to implementing change to develop effective approaches to online social networking within youth services.
5) Research seminar
We will be holding a small research seminar to explore initial findings from the project and to gain feedback from invited participants.
6) Case studies and research report
Our findings, along with a small series of case study examples of best practice, will be written up in an accessible report to be available my mid-2008.
A full copy of the proposal (with financial details removed) is available for download here. (YWSN - Research Proposal - for the blog.pdf). This research project is focussed on youth work and social networking in England only.
If you have any questions about this project, please contact tim@practicalparticipation.co.uk
1) An online survey of youth workers and youth work managers
Running from December 2007 till mid-January 2008 this survey will seek to identify youth workers current use of social networking technologies; their current role support young people to safely and effective use social networking technologies; their understanding of the benefits and risks of social networking technologies; their interests in developing their use of social networking technologies; and potential barriers to youth workers using, and supporting young people to use, social networking technologies.
2) A literature review
Looking to identify existing studies and literature, and examples of best practice, that address issues of workforce skills in supporting young people to use social networking technologies, recent work on young peoples social networking literacy, the role of youth work in social networking literacy work, the use of social media and social networking technologies by youth workers and relevant connected issues.
3) Focus groups
Taking place in early 2008 to explore in depth issues arising from the survey with three or four local youth services. We will to focus on opportunities, barriers and learning needs for youth workers to support young people to safely and effectively use social media and social networks, and to effectively use social media and social networking in their own work.
4) Action research projects
Working with one or more youth centres or youth projects to support them in developing their own approach to supporting young people in online social networking. We will be offering training and consultancy input, and seeking to identify key lessons about success factors and barriers to implementing change to develop effective approaches to online social networking within youth services.
5) Research seminar
We will be holding a small research seminar to explore initial findings from the project and to gain feedback from invited participants.
6) Case studies and research report
Our findings, along with a small series of case study examples of best practice, will be written up in an accessible report to be available my mid-2008.
A full copy of the proposal (with financial details removed) is available for download here. (YWSN - Research Proposal - for the blog.pdf). This research project is focussed on youth work and social networking in England only.
If you have any questions about this project, please contact tim@practicalparticipation.co.uk
