“Team Up Youth – digital creativity & employability in school education” Erasmus Project

Project Title

“Team Up Youth – digital creativity & employability in school education”

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for school education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2014

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Early School Leaving / combating failure in education; ICT – new technologies – digital competences; Inclusion – equity

Project Summary

The project “Team Up Youth – digital creativity & employability in school education” accomplished by 5 project partners (AKO, BURT, VCS, SHIFT, Y4M) from 4 European countries (DE, DK, MK, UK) contributed to help enhance the employment rate of youths, strengthen participation and the social inclusion of (disadvantaged) youths. It aimed to reduce early school leaving and youth unemployment in the EU. Many pupils are using mobile phones, TV and PCs mainly for leisure pursuit, mostly as consumers. The Team Up project wanted them to get active and creative with digital media. They gained media literacy, critical thinking, social skills, civic and personal competences for a better participation in society and a succesful transition into the labour market. In the framework of a holistic approach the key competences of pupils were empowered by the implementation of manifold attractive methods, school workshops and projects like radio / TV, blogs, AV job application coaching, video production and digital measures.
Extended educational concepts such as cultural education, cooperation with businesses or other outside school actors were implemented by the project promoting creativity, new ways of thinking, inclusion and social cohesion. The project aimed to provide young people at school with the skills to become lifelong learners, to empower employability, inclusive active citizenship and learning mobility.
The project provided flexible educational pathways to combine school education and first practical work experiences targeted at pupils (with fewer opportunities). It also provided access to open educational resources (OER) in the education and training fields, supporting ICT-based teaching and assessment practices.
The project turned to young (disadvantaged) people and people with special social needs. The main target group were young people from secondary modern schools, special schools and comprehensive schools with special needs in the range of language, learning, listening and communication, physical and motoric as well as mental and emotional development. Also some of these people had a difficult social background whose need for support leads back to several multiple problems. By targeted and sustainable support of the personal, social and media competences they were supported in the transition time from school to an independent work life. Within this project teachers and youth workers were qualified and a lot of young people were intensively supported in (school) workshops and training activities.
One project output is the „Practical Guide for teachers and youth workers“ (IO1). This guide outlines coherent approaches for the cooperation of schools and carriers of non-formal youth media education with the aim to initiate and establish sustainable projects to empower media competences of pupils at school. The handbook demonstrates the use of the digital tools foto, video, radio and internet. It offers manifold inclusive methods to empower pupils with fewer opportunities .
The project also developed Training / Teaching Materials (IO2) and provides access to open educational resources (OER) supporting ICT-based teaching and assessment practices.
Team Up also worked out a recognition concept (IO3) which acknowledges and certifies the qualifications gained and certifies. It can be looked at as an individual portfolio of the learning results which are presentable and therefore transparent. It can influence school teachers positively and improve the grades of disadvantaged pupils. This recognition concept (IO3) was included in and embedded into the Practical Guide (IO1).
Throughout the course of the project 2x multiplier events took place in the form of 2x conferences, one midterm conference in September 2015 in Skopje (MK) and one final conference in June 2016 in Münster (DE). Both conferences were filmed in their entirety and are available as videos. Additionally 2x learning / teaching / training activities respectively courses with several (digital) workshops took place, one also in September 2015 in Struga and Skopje (MK) as well as one in also June 2016 in Münster (DE). Both multiplier events respectively conferences were embedded into the scope of both training activities respectively courses. To the training activity respectively course a “Making Of” – video was made and is available.
Besides that, several articles were written and published online in the frame of this project and its activities. Additionally 2x blogs were created, one (European Workshops For Change) in Struga / Skopje (MK) in September 2015 and one (I Am Media) in Münster (DE) in June 2016. Alongside both conference videos, 3x futher videos and 1x audio report were created.
On regional, national and European level the dissemination of project information reached schools with its teachers and several NGOs, community media stations, school education training institutions, business owners, experts on educational issues and school education.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 142782,67 Eur

Project Coordinator

Arbeitskreis Ostviertel e.V. & Country: DE

Project Partners

• EUROPEAN YOUTH4MEDIA NETWORK EV
• ASSOCIATION OF VOLUNTEERING VOLONTERSKI CENTAR SKOPJE
• Sheffield Independent Film & Tv Ltd
• Boerne- og Ungdoms TV