Dear readers,
We are happy that you have chosen to read this Handbook and hope it will be useful for your future work! The publication brings all the up-to-date issues and topics needed for youth workers read/get to know when starting online youth work with their beneficiaries. The publication will also serve as theoretical and conceptual resource for youth workers and other educators when organising further education, training and mentoring of youth workers in changing their mind-sets (blockages towards online youth work) and inspiring them for reaching youngsters online when working on inclusion of immigrants.
Youth work incorporates both informal and non-formal learning, but today, we have to move those two types of learning in an online environment to reach youth who are rather spending their free time online, than in our youth clubs. Our Handbook explores the benefits of social media (form of informal online learning) in youth work, as well as the methods and activities youth workers can use to engage youth, both in informal learning, as well as in non-formal online learning setting. Social media is a very powerful tool for connection and communication, but it is also a form of informal online learning.
Online youth work aims to introduce the participants to concepts of inclusion and acceptance of diversity. Online tools nowadays can be presented for sure as the best instrument to catch the attention and interest of youngsters because it is the closest medium to their daily life. Using online communication means speaking the same language of youngsters and through this medium it is easier to get an impact on awareness about the topic of violence, bullying, hate speech that many times are so present in our society, also as cause of messages that youngsters receive online. During this project, and also thanks to this O4 Handbook on online youth work for inclusion of immigrants, we also aim to overcome the mentioned problem by trying to use online platform as medium for youth workers to suggest activities with a positive socially inclusive message for youngsters that otherwise do not attend/visit youth club/centre.
We hope that with this publication and handbook, you will get acquainted with the most important things related to online youth work, with specific focus on immigrants. Inside, you will find different theoretical and practical concepts that will help you in better implementing your activities and will help you in raising your level of competence in this field.
We wish you a happy reading!