futurelab’s greater expectation project – infocow - nexus 2010
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Futurelab’s Greater Expectation project – InfoCowWeb 2.0An investigation into the rights and entitlements learning journeys experienced by 14 to 19 year olds
www.infocow.org.uk
Overview: 3 year R & D project funded by Becta
Aims:
– Support young people’s aspirations and entitlements for their lives and learning, incorporating the enabling role that digital technologies play in achieving this
– Stimulate learner led activities, learner voice, greater motivation for and engagement in learning and more choice within the system
Greater Expectations
Context
• Childrens’ Rights: UNCRC
• National Policy Initiatives: Children’s Act , Every Child Matters, the Children’s Plan, Parent and Pupil guarantees
• Education Framework: National Curriculum, personalised education & learner voice
• IT Initiatives: Harnessing Technology strategy, digital literacy
Identify core principles relating to young people’s expectations, entitlements and aspirations and examine how digital technologies can help put them into practice
Develop and promote free resource, guidance and support for young people, teachers, parents and children’s professionals to put principles into practice
What did it aim to do?
The Resource: The Big Ambition
Process
Desk research
Analysis of policies, charters,
rights to develop ‘principles’
Consultation with
stakeholders
Feedback on ‘principles’
Field work in schools
Initial resource design
Field Work in Schools
• Children and young people at primary school, secondary school and college
• Primarily learners who may not find formal education engaging or succeed in school
• Interactive workshops to inform the content, shape and function of the resource
Field Work Findings
• Importance of young people’s voice
• Importance of autonomy and relationships, support and community for young people
• Young people have high comfort and interest levels withtechnology – but various range of use
• Range of ambitions, interests and aspirations for all young people – but these can sit alongside dissatisfaction with school and the feeling that they can’t change things
• Resource should have clear link to recognised policies and working frameworks
Evaluating ...
www.infocow.org.uk
Free to use resourceAimed at young people aged 14‐193 key features :
• Links to sources of inspiration and information to help young people take advantage of their rights and entitlements
• Gives specific rights information related on your search
• Is sociable: people, vote, comment and suggest resources. Can link to Facebook so people share useful sites between friends
•Overarching Aims of
support young people to explore their interests and aspirations
become more aware of their entitlements
Structured around 9 main ‘theme’ areas...
Creativity and Arts
Participationand Voice
Work and learning opportunities
Play and RecreationStaying safe
Health and Well Being
Identity, Respect, Equality
Community and environment
Friendships, relationshipsand support
Rights Information in
• Difficulty sourcing accessible language forms of rights information
• Most forms were long, legislative and out of context
• Children's Rights Alliance for England (Core Advisory Group member) created specific right contents
• Structured around themes and subthemes
Applications for
• In and out of ‘formal’ settings
• Informal tool to support young people in exploring their lives
• Formal Education
‐ PSHE
‐ Citizenship
• Extended services – support connecting young people to a ‘varied menu of activities’
• Part of youth engagement– connecting young people to opportunities, and extending staff knowledge
• Sharing your own resources
Audience engagement with
• 46 testing critical friends as partners (8 Schools, UK Youth and RNC for the Blind)
• Critical friends now run the site with support from Futurelab
• New form of online participation for excluded groups
• Young people are empowered to mediate the sites content and the value of content offered.
Audience engagement with
• Social media – shared digital space with young people
• Young people’s contributions to the site’s development form part of their assessment.
• Portal / Mediator = new Links to other providers of relevant new media content
• Priory Community College, Western Super‐mare – embedded on homepage / use with citizenship curriculum / integrating into VLE
Audience engagement with
• Live on 1st April / Launch on 8th July
• 2962 visits with 1934 unique visitors
• 11,521 page views
• Direct traffic 57% / Referring site 34% & search engines 9%
• 157 referrals from Priory Community School / 152 referrals from Twitter
• Top research terms ‐ Business / Jobs / Campaign / Music opportunity and Rights
Wider Research Questions ...
• What opportunities do socially mediated resources offer to formal education environments and processes?
What needs to change to make this happen?
• What affordances are there for this type of media, which operates in social spaces?
• What is the role of technology in enabling young people to realise their rights?
Get in touch to find out more! www.infocow.org.uk