Using Global Networks and New Media in Youth Exchanges and International Projects
Global Networks and Youth Exchanges
Abstract:
Global networks change the life and human relations. They start to occur in every sphere of our activities. You could make business, enjoy, order home services, make a virtual love, exchange ideas with everyone. So, you go in a new, virtual world. Global networks crash barriers. Off course, we have to be very careful about their impact in the society. Global networks influence in youth NGO life and everyday activities.
Global Network is a quite general term. You could speak about human networks, organization networks and computer networks. Networking the activities is important in every big project. It is quite obvious in the international activities. You probably know that historically, people have established a number of networks - administrative, cultural, ethnic etc. To maintain the network, you could use both traditional and modern information transfer tools. For example, you could maintain the networks by the help of traditional post information exchange, by the help of people or experts exchange etc.. If we speak about technical term network, you probably know that there are also a number of types - telephone networks, TV networks, computer networks. The last ones are usually divided in global and local networks. Internet is the most popular global network. But, there are also other global networks. For example, in France, we could find Minitel network which was quite popular in France before the development of Internet.
The development of Internet poses a number of problems - the information war, the attempt to control the information, the attempt to build new information monopolists. We have to aware about all these problems.
Youth exchanges are usually international activities. They need a lot of preparation, discussions etc. Different forms of communication in Internet are powerful tool for developing youth projects. E-mail is the easiest way to communicate. But there are also other ways of communications in Internet - e-mail lists, newsgroups, discussion servers, message posting programs, audio and video conferences etc. This variety of communication forms is the powerful tool in the international project development.
Developing Internet sites and data-bases of youth organization or youth information center
Lecturer: Rossen Petkov - Chairman of SCAS and
Director of National Student Internet Center
The lecture presents the development of WWW sites of youth organizations. During the lecture we have presented the problems and steps occurring in the process of WWW sites realization.
Abstract:
Developing Internet sites of youth organization is not only a software engineering problem. Usually, in such sites you will find a lot of youth information directories, links, back-feeds, discussion rooms etc. The common site has at least three main elements: logical structure, data-base and user interface. In the lecture the problems of development of these three main elements were discussed.
As in every youth project, you have to spend a lot of time about exploring needs analysis. Needs analysis is the first and one of the most important steps of WWW site development. The youth workers and youth leaders should explore very carefully: 1/ why we need to develop a site; 2/ what kind of information young people need; Sometimes you feel some information is important but may be your organization members are not interested in it. In a lot of youth servers, for example, you could find youth information concerning: 1/ Job offers; 2/ Study possibilities; 3/ Exchange programs, summer activities etc.; 4/ Funding possibilities etc. In some counseling centers you could find also information about sex, drugs, family problems etc.
After needs analysis the next step is to describe the WWW site idea shortly and in a specific/professional terms. It is important to make a clear statement what kind of WWW site you are going to develop. It is also important to specify the aims of the site and the target group. Sometimes it is not very clear what is the aim of our Internet pages and who they targeted. The next step is to specify clear parameters/results of your WWW site. Every project, including the WWW site development, should have some quantitative parameters and features. If you specify since the beginning clear, measurable results it will be very easy to monitor and evaluate your work in the process and in the end. The next step is usually to find a good software designers and experienced youth workers and to make the team. As a minimum team structure we could recommend: 1/ project manager; 2/ programmer; 3/ screen designer; 4/ data-base expert; 5/ youth information consultant
/content designer/; The team could have project manager, the person who will be mainly responsible for the WWW site development. The programmer will program the site usually using some developing tool. The screen design is quite important for all Internet applications. The content designer will care about the content of the information. After all the above steps we could divide the work into stages in order to check and evaluate the results and errors more flexible. Off course, it is of critical importance to state some methods of error detection and fixing. Each of the stages should have some clear, measurable results.
Concerning the technical problems of WWW development, we could divide them in two kinds: hardware problems and software problems. Concerning the hardware you should be clear about which possibility you like to choose – to have your own WWW server or to paste the pages on some of the existing WWW servers. Having your own server has some advantages and disadvantages. You will be more flexible to change the data and also to put a big amounts of data but it is more expensive. You should also have a licensed line to Internet and some additional devices like licensed line modem, router etc. May be it is reasonable to have your own licensed line to Internet if you have many computers that you like to connect to Internet. Concerning the software development tools usually you could divide them in three categories: 1/ Common text editors using also HTML (like MS Word 97, Page Maker 6.0); 2/ Authoring tools (like Microsoft Front Page, Corel Designer etc.); 3/ Programming languages for Internet applications (like Java);
In most of the cases the authoring tools are most convenient, they are powerful and easy to learn.
Last but not least is the support of the youth sites. It often happens that there are very good sites but not updated. So, you have to plan resources for site updating. Concerning the youth sites it is recommend to upgrade them at least every three months. If you have a permanent job WWW designer and new information, you could upgrade the site every week. And, off course, you should advertise the site in the search engines and in the youth newsletters. It is also preferable to have a good statistic about visitors of your site.
Project management
lecturers: Rossen Petkov and Orlin Iliev
Abstract:
Another aim of this project was to give the participants knowledge about the project management, to train them to make a different projects like training courses, seminars, study visits, youth exchanges, etc. The main objectives of this input were to clarify the principle steps in a youth project development and to give some knowledge about specific features of the youth projects. The usual project development steps are:
• Needs analysis
• Problem identification
• Describing the problem in particular language/terms
• Formulating the general aim of the project
• Describing the target group
• Finding the Project Manager / Project Leader
• Finding possible partners/team establishment
• Formulating the measurable/concrete/quantitative results
• Dividing the project into stages
• Formulating the methods of evaluation - middle, final, long-term
• Cost planning/ budgeting
• Funding process
• Project implementation
• Testing
• Project’s results distribution
• Follow-up activities
In addition the lecturers describe the specific steps of projects using Information technologies and Media like: describing the present software and hardware resources, exploring the existing software/hardware/communication tools that might help for the implementation of the project, planing the media usage, choosing the authoring tool or programming language or general purpose software, user interface and screen design, support resources.
Communications - traditional and modern media,
problems in the youth work
lecturer: Diliana Ikonomova
Abstract:
Communications are important in everyday work and very important in developing youth projects. This presentation is separated in two parts - traditional communications and modern ones.
The lecture starts with two short experiments. The abbreviation KISS is written on
a poster. The words are mixed with the poster background. The participants are asked to explain what means KISS. Some of them say that this is a kiss, other say something connected with the poster on which this word is written. Finally, Diliana decodes the word explaining that it means Keep it Straight and Simple. This is one of the most important features of the successful communication. It is really important to make the information simple and straight. The second experiment was about the time. Diliana asked the participants to stand up, close their eyes and count one minute. After counting one minute they have to seat on their seats. She observed how the participants seat down and calculated in which time. The statistic (made by Diliana) was that some of the participants seat in 30 seconds, some of them in 50 seconds, some of them in 80 seconds. Some times the perception of time was related to the country participants come from. We pointed them that in the communication the problem of the time occurs frequently.
Concerning the modern communications there were presented different ways of communication - e-mail, message posting, Internet discussions, chats, audio and video conferences etc. It was mentioned that different forms of communications have some unwritten rules. For example, the e-mail is like a fax, you have to reply soon, sometimes urgently. And, off course, it is not polite to leave the mail without reply. Chatting is quite intensive work and it is usually preferable when you have to clarify some complex problems very soon. Some times chatting is more informal communication and make people friends. And, as was mentioned, you have to crosscheck the communications if you like to be sure your message will be received in a right way and time. For example, some people have an e-mail but they read it once a week because they don’t have access to Internet. In that case, may be the phone or fax will give you better results. And, because of the different cultural features, some people could interpreter your message in a wrong way. It is preferable to explain the most important things using multiple forms of communication. Finally, Diliana gave some examples from her experience about communication problems in youth exchanges.
The new technologies, global networks and
minorities
lecturer: Diliana Ikonomova
Abstract:
A new technology, global networks, modern media…. modern words which you can see and hear from everywhere. The end of the century gives us a lot of new things, which should improve our life-style, which should make us more informed, which should suffuse us with the light of knowledge, which should build new… barriers in the society. So, the question is “Do these all new things create new barriers?”.
On one hand the new technologies are immanent part of our life but on other hand they have some special features. For example, the global networks and new communications help to overcome the barriers between Western and Eastern Europe, Asia and America, etc. but it is dangerous for the cultural survival of the small communities and minorities. On other hand they (minorities and small nations) could use global networks to promote information about their culture, traditions, national peculiarities etc.
But the problem is that the modern information society builds new barriers between those who have access to modern communications and those who have not. Unfortunately the minorities are in the group that often can not or are not able to use the possibilities of new communications. In present days it is very important to take part in the modern trends in the field of information because if you want to spread information about whatever it is not necessary to publish it in a great number of newspaper, radios, TVs etc. If you have just Internet access it is not a problem to make your own WWW page with some data-base. Of course you can rent 24 hours access (if you have enough money), to build own WEB server with WWW site, e-mail server with a lot of e-mail lists etc.
So if we have one minority’s organization or some community and want to popularize its culture, traditions etc. we can build a data-base with information, WWW magazine or something else. First, because it is not complicated and second, because it is inexpensive and effective tool to coordinate common project on regional, national and international level. The using of global networks and new media from minorities get together different people with same problems, so they have possibility for integration in the society and in the global problems. This is also very big opportunity to promote activities of minority’s organizations, their present and future project, campaigns and activity results. That kind of WWW sites can contain information concerning interests of minorities, their social and economic developing and their actively participation in organizing activities on local and international level. The data-base, for example, may contain:
1. Events and future activities (seminars, forums, conferences, international programs and initiatives).
2. Youth projects in the sphere of art, education, social and youth work.
3. Discussion rooms where young people can discuss different problems concerning their interests.
4. Links to other useful places - international NGO, European institutions, etc. European and world programs and foundations supporting youth and minority projects
5. Information about Human Rights, women rights, a children rights, immigration counseling and etc.
The global networks, new communications and modern media help to overcome the feeling of isolation. Everyone can feel itself like a world citizen. In one moment he or she is in Europe, in next one in Japan or Africa and is able to take a first-hand look at the traditions and peculiarities of different countries, communities, minorities, organizations, people etc. or to learn more about mathematics, chemistry, biology, astronomy or whatever he/she wants. That is why we can say that the global network is a “sea” of every kind of information. That is the reason that we express a fear about the tendency that the global networks deprive the individuality of minorities and little communities. There is a real danger of their assimilation. In present days there is some particular popular culture using Internet as a field of implementation. This new culture has a born place which is some kind of interactive space. This culture has as creators all world’s citizens using the new technologies. It is a mixture of thousands of cultures and if some other culture wants to be independent part in it – the consequence is assimilation and disappearing.
That is why we can not think linearly of all “new things”. Indisputably they are very useful but on other hand they establish some extinction threat of the distinctive cultures and build new barriers as well.