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CONTRIBUTIONS FROM PRACTITIONERS
THE PREPARATORY PHASE: BREAKING THE ICE, ENABLING PARTICIPATION, SETTING THE TONE
AUTHOR: MICHAELA JACOBS – HAUS AM MAIBERG
A long journey, unknown surroundings, a foreign language and new people: the first project day is often like jumping in at the deep end! Preparing for such exchanges with online tools can help. Participants can get to know each other via video conference, gather information about the event location and express their interests regarding the programme and the content.
The videoconferencing tool Zoom ( k p. 31) offers quick, simple access to a shared digital space with invitation via link. Online meetings in particular ought to be dynamic and interactive. Online energisers (with participants expressing their current mood by post - ing a GIF), surveys, emoticons and small workgroups can be useful here. To emphasise the social aspect of online meetings, participants should always be encouraged to leave their cameras on. Digital spaces are versatile. A joint introduction session, e.g., “Hands up everyone who…!” can be done by turning cameras on and off. Participants can then be split up into small groups where they get to know each other better or discuss their expectations of the project. So-called breakout rooms are great for allocating Zoomers to separate spaces. Experience has shown that smaller groups in particular enable participants to overcome “digital distance” and really talk to each other. The results of those sessions can then be documented in a survey, for example using Zoom’s poll function or Mentimeter ( k p. 45). Moreover, organisers can provide first impressions of the venue as well as information about the pro- gramme. Zoom’s screensharing function allows everyone to share their device’s desktop view and to present information using PowerPoint or Prezi. Pre - paratory meetings enable participants to go beyond
simple “alibi participation”. Organisers often decide upon and plan programmes and topics in advance, and for good reason. If participants are involved at this early stage, this gives them a voice and the possibility to have a say. Participants’ feedback and interests can be used as input for a project topic by asking them a series of questions using tools such as Padlet ( k p. 39) or Mindmaster. Along with giving feedback on content, participants can form working groups and plan their own programme elements or otherwise provide input for the project, for example via WhatsApp ( k p. 53). There is no doubt that international youth work predominantly relies upon personal exchange and experiencing new environments. Nevertheless, online communication solutions can significantly contribute to achieving the goals of international youth work. Gen- eral knowledge about online communication tools has increased dramatically especially since social distancing measures were introduced in response to the Corona - virus pandemic. International youth work, where there are large geographical distances between participants, should make good use of that! Online tools offer rela - tively simple access to shared communication spaces that can be easily adapted to fit one’s objectives. This can strengthen participation, subject orientation and the sustainability of international projects.
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Contributions from practitioners
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