The Online Guide (for Youth Workers)
You're a trusted figure in young people's online world, using digital platforms to provide a safe and low-barrier environment for personal guidance and observation. You bridge the gap between the online and offline worlds by coaching and supporting young people with their developmental needs.
Delivered Skills and Experiences This badge aligns with the Digital Competence Framework for Youth Workers and supports the development of:
- Supporting creative self-expression: You work on this competency by coaching and supporting young people in content creation. This is a facilitating role that enables the production of digital content, even if you don't create it yourself. You must understand how the process works and what tools are needed to guide young people effectively.
- Shared guidelines and peer-to-peer learning: This activity challenges you to gain a deep understanding of young people's online world, particularly their needs and problems. By observing online and linking those cues to offline observations, you gather and create new, reliable knowledge. You learn to use this information to build a bridge to other professionals.
- Digital rights: You act as a trusted person, guiding young people through the challenges of the online world, such as privacy and risky behaviour. This is an active role in supporting digital safety. You must help young people manage risks and make the online space safe for them.
- Critical digital literacy: You must be able to "read" young people's online expressions and assess them for signs of needs or problems (for example, in comments or posts). You must then effectively communicate this information to the young person themselves or to other professionals in the network.
- Identity growth: The entire activity is based on the principle that youth workers must operate within young people's online world, using platforms like Snapchat and TikTok. By being actively present on these channels and making contact, you demonstrate an understanding of digital youth cultures and build a relationship within that cultural context. You take on a new role, that of 'Online Guide', which is a transformation of your professional identity. By reflecting on observational moments and organising online sessions, you develop a new part of your professional identity focused on digital contact.
Tasks
Task no.1
Issued by organiser or scanning QR code
- Increase Online Discoverability: Create a brief guide (e.g., in a WhatsApp group or on an internal wiki) with tips for your team on how to quickly and easily make online contact with young people via DMs or Snapchat.
- Case Study: Write a short reflection on a recent online observation. Describe how you picked up on a cue (e.g., via a story, post, or comment), how you handled it, and what the next steps were (e.g., having an offline conversation).
- The Online Drop-in: Organise a brief digital drop-in session on a platform of your choice (e.g., Instagram Live or TikTok Q&A) to discuss a common theme (e.g., dealing with peer pressure or gaming). Document the interaction and young people's reactions.
Awero not-for-profit organisation manages this platform and develops it together with leading educational organisations. The European Union's programme Erasmus+ granted co-funding for building the first version of this platform. Contact support@awero.org.
Platform
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