We’re thrilled to announce the launch of the ySKILLS child-friendly illustrated summary, now accessible online. This remarkable resource takes the shape of a participatory toolkit meticulously crafted to engage children and adolescents in exploring the digital skills of their peers. With interactive features like quizzes and self-assessment exercises, this toolkit offers educators, teachers, and stakeholders an opportunity to delve into ySKILLS findings alongside young individuals.
(Emilie Bossens, Bieke Zamen en Verónica Donoso)
Crafting a science story for and with children
Translating academic insights into an enticing science story that resonates with the everyday experiences of young people presented a significant challenge. To meet this challenge, we meticulously selected pivotal ySKILLS findings and illustrated them with real-life examples from the lives of youths.
The toolkit materialized as an interactive PowerPoint presentation, a product of iterative design and evaluation across 12 sessions involving children and adolescents from schools across the UK, Belgium, Germany, Portugal, Finland, Poland, Italy, and Estonia. Throughout these testing sessions, we gathered invaluable feedback from young participants, educators, and researchers alike.
Children and adolescents were also encouraged to creatively envision suggestions and recommendations for a positive digital future.
Interactive Engagement at Its Best
The child-friendly summary succinctly presents key ySKILLS research outcomes from 2022 in a manner that’s accessible and comprehensible for those aged 12 to 17.
Through visually supported storytelling via the PowerPoint presentation and an array of interactive activities, young minds are prompted to reflect upon the ySKILLS findings. Among the engaging activities are quizzes, a self-assessment exercise using the metaphor of the digital ocean, a guessing game, and a quote-based discussion.
Furthermore, the toolkit provides a comprehensive guide for adult facilitators (e.g., teachers) on how to conduct these sessions.
A Precious Resource for All Stakeholders
While this hands-on resource serves children and young people, its value extends to educators, teachers, and stakeholders. These intermediaries play a pivotal role, guiding youngsters through the toolkit’s contents and fostering meaningful group dialogues about digital skills.
The toolkit is structured into five modules, each addressing different facets of digital skills:
- What Constitutes Digital Skills?
- Insights from Research on Digital Skills
- Measuring Digital Skills: How and Why
- Survey Findings: Young People’s Digital Skills in Europe
- Enhancing Your Digital Skills
Sessions typically run for around 40 minutes, but there’s room for customization, allowing for a more focused or elaborate approach. For instance, select specific modules or use additional slides for follow-up sessions to extend the engagement with the toolkit.
Certain activities within the toolkit offer varying levels of difficulty, making it adaptable to the diverse needs and skill levels of participants. This ensures an inclusive and accessible learning journey for all involved.
Where to find the toolkit?
The ySKILLS participatory toolkit, comprising the PowerPoint presentation with speaker notes and a briefing document containing instructions, can be accessed on the ySKILLS website under the resources section (www.yskills.eu/resources) in both English and Dutch. As the ySKILLS project progresses, translations of the participatory toolkit will become available.
We invite you to explore the ySKILLS child-friendly summary and embark on a journey of discovery and empowerment in the digital world.
Together, let’s pave the way for a brighter digital future for children and young people in Europe!
