We brought together the brightest minds from the youth work and academic sectors to share ideas, inspiration and hopes for the future of digital.
To celebrate Safer Internet Day on 6th February, we brought together the brightest minds from across the youth work and academic sectors to share ideas, inspiration and hopes for the future of digital.
On the day, we explored key issues concerning youth workers including cyber resilience, digital gaming, employability, young people’s online rights and – yes you guessed it – artificial intelligence.
Check out our roundup video to see the main takeaways from the day – hear from our keynote speakers Karen Renauld (Strathclyde University), Kaine Senkumba (5Rights Foundation) and Dr Andrew Reid (Abertay University) discuss some of the challenges facing young people online today; #iwill Scotland ambassador Rachael Hatfield explains how digital provided her with life-changing opportunities; and Dr Andrew Reid (Abertay University) explains the role of the gaming industry in supporting young people’s employability.
Finally, John McAtominey (CoderDojo) helps demystify coding for youth workers in an interactive workshop to widen access to digital learning.
We were also joined for the day by a five-strong team from the Cidatel Youth Centre in Edinburgh. Youth workers Willie Barr and Ryan McKay were joined by young people Amber, Jackie and Joshua to see how they can make digital a part of their learner journey. Find out how they got on in Ryan’s blog: From minibus breakdowns to breakthroughs: Insights from the Youthlink Digital Youth Work Conference 2024.
Please see some of the initial feedback we’ve had from delegates following our evaluation of the event:
I would like to see YouthLink Scotland continue to prioritise the Digital Youth Work Network and the free yearly conferences. It is so important that as many in the sector can attend as possible.
Delegate
I'm hoping to explore cyber resilience further and grow the case for training and capacity building opportunity for youth work organisations to develop their digital youth work offers.
Delegate
A great day full of opportunities to network and learn more about digital youth work, thank you!
Delegate
I appreciated the space to collectively come together and share challenges, experiences and approaches. This is the support I like to see continuing. This demonstrates and exemplifies how we facilitate our youth work spaces.
Delegate