TOY - Trainers Online for Youth
This is a reference for Nerijus Kriauciunas
General aim: This training will offer 30 youth workers to gain practical experience, knowledge and understanding of how to design a non-formal learning programmes that are fun, educational and engaging for young people and youth workers.
Objectives:
>To develop capacities of youth workers and partner organisations to design learning programmes based on the concept and methodology of rural expeditions;
>To create opportunities for participants and partner organisations to test various approaches, methods and technological tools by designing “Expeditions” address issues of rural youth;
>To put into practice the use of methods to assess and reflect non-formal and informal learning using European recognition tools (Youthpass and Open Badges).
>To collect innovative youth work methods which can be applied with inclusion youth groups, especially focusing on the issues of learning mobility, non-formal education and quality youth work.
>To create a learning group environment for peer-coaching and coaching from the trainers to support participants in applying their learning to practice during the follow-up phase.
28 participants from 8 countries have participated in this training course.
Participants profile:
> volunteer or work with young people who live in rural environments or small towns;
> want to learn how to combine outdoor education activities and use of GPS-based technology;
> ready to invest time into your personal and professional development;
> want to bring innovation back home to your young people, youth organisation and community
The course was based on the approach and methods of “Expeditions” where experiential learning and outdoor education is blended with the GPS-based location technologies. The idea of expedition implies "a journey undertaken by a group of people with particular purpose, especially that of exploration, research, or development". This concept inspires to create learning programmes and methods that embed challenges into a journey to reach educational goals. During this course, participants were learning in a practical way to design and implement experiential learning activities and educational programmes which later can be transferred to the daily practices with groups of young people from inclusion groups.
We asked participants also to share 3 most important learning outcomes of this training course. Here is a collective summary of participants responses:
> New approaches to work with youth people, how to combine technology and learning in nature (e.g. “Nature and GPS apps is a very resourceful and excellent learning combination.”), how to combine fun, educational projects and nature, Ways that this kind of learning can be applied - in rural as well as urban areas and different target group
> New ideas for working with people (group team building, allowing group members to contribute as much they want without pushing, common goal unites individuals), laid-back design of program with enough time for reflection and own activities.
> New digital tools, applications, definitely GPS based tech, using different EduTools (action bound, geocaches, AR), how to use action-bound and geocaching (repeats across responses from several participants), e.g. “learning about many different applications I can use for outdoor activities”, new apps, and ways to create activities
> Different realities from different organization
> Expedition as a method, how to design the expedition, create expeditions (e.g. “Knowledge to create an expedition myself”), expedition in general, some new tasks for expeditions, broader meaning of the word expedition, theory background of learning and the process of learning from the expedition, “I know how to design expedition”
Trainer