Youth workers Online Learning Opportunities

Digital Youth Work and Online Learning of youth workers is high on the agenda in Europe and initiatives are met by stakeholders and practitioners with a lot of good will and enthusiasm. Nevertheless the experience of the last years also shows that the initial enthusiasm tends to drop significantly when online courses are put into practice on a European level– lack of time, of a common reality of youth work or of formal recognition of the achievements are among the most mentioned reasons. Still we see a great potential in online learning and believes that digital approaches have reached everyday practice in youth work – at least on the level of engaging with young people in online environments and concrete activities. We also see that our practice might lack incentives for youth workers to stay involved in online learning – such as formal certificates, fun and experimental methods, tailored offers to the real needs of youth workers, trainers that are equipped to function in those online settings.