Comment by Dave Graydon on April 21, 2010 at 23:56

I think there is still a very real fear of new technologies. The policies on using social media are written by corporate communications and are seen still as a way to share information not engage with Children, Young People and the community. I think young people should have an input in the qualification strategy, young people would identify socail media & digital skill as a key area.

Comment by Davy Nijs on April 22, 2010 at 9:15

Dear Tim,
I just discovered and joined this network, mostly because from a Belgian point of view I'm having the same kind of questions. As a service to Belgian social workers we're rolling out a programme on what is called e-practice skills (digital skills for social workers). The concept of this programme consist of the following topics:

1. eCulture amongst children, youngsters and adults
2. about the e in Social Work
2. ICT and internet as a springboard to... (practical)
3. eLitteracy
4. ICT and internet for leisure (practical)
5. (un)Safe internetuse
6. ICT and internet for special children, youngsters and adults
7. Legal and ethical facts
8. Office 4 social work (Word, Excel, Powerpoint en Access) (practical)
9. Overall seminar (study day)

In the course of the programme participants create a practical application of what they've learned aimed directly to the service they work in.

This is not directly an answer to your question about the needed competencies, but from a lecturers (and practitionar) point of view, I can not more agree with the need to detect these competencies and the need to coach students (and social workers) on it.

Comment by Joanne Jopling on April 26, 2010 at 21:26

I think something along the lines of
E safety for workers and young people
Internet safety - with a focus on how to educate young people on risks they take online and for workers to understand the many platforms that young people engage with.
support and services available ie ceop and anti bullying
;Understanding of the platforms and media young people engage with and how we can use them as 'youth work tools'
postive use of the internet and how both young people and workers can promote postive youth work issues using various platforms. Also how to use these platforms to increase face to face interaction.

probably think of a hundred other things as i walk away from this message lol

Comment by Suze Youde on April 27, 2010 at 10:54

The difficulty we're having with providing training for the YS is keeping e-safety messages consistent but also relevant to YS rather than schools. I'm currently looking at identifying young people to act as 'digital champions' across the county and deliver training to workers and their peers - I believe that encouraging young people to keep each other safe through peer mentoring will be more effective than warning them about the 'scary' Internet.
I like Davy's core skills because there's a strong emphasis on practical, positive use not theoretical threat. I think I'd also include, building on Joanne's point, a practical understanding of platforms and social media as it relates to youth work and professional development - there's so much that can be done to build professional networks and communities of practice through social media that workers are often unaware of.

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