Finding the Digital Edge

You know when you catch up with someone who you previously worked with and they are doing really cool things – well that happened to me earlier in the summer.

I caught up with Katie Bacon who used to work at Devon as a Youth Engagement Practitioner and who I helped worth through a complex set of policies to help her explore the use of social media about 3-4 years ago…well time flies and it appears so is Katie and she has recently published some interesting survey results relating to Digital Engagement

The survey was conducted earlier this year and involved (60 professionals) and group discussions (25 professionals) to understand and gain an insight into the experiences of youth practitioners and teacher’s use and application of social media within their everyday professional practice. As there is increasing awareness of the need to adopt and integrate social media and digital tools into the everyday professional practice of youth professionals and teachers.

You can access the Finding the Digital Edge Survey Results (2013) Full report here.

The research identified 77% of 85 youth practitioners/teachers use social media in their work with young people. Of note there is nearly an equal split in usage between communication (broadcast, notify, connect) and teaching.

It also identified a remaining cohort, 23% of respondents, who advised that they did NOT use social media in their work with young people. Within this group there was a real sense of the concern around the blurring of professional boundaries and potential imposition on the privacy of young people. This continues to be one of the challenges facing people and is one of the most common I still hear at the council and rightly so.

The outputs have been summarized into 3 groups including Students, Practitioners and Senior Management each with a 2 page summary identifying opportunities and challenges followed by a page with recommendations.

Please drop Katie an email if you would like to learn more about our Digital Edge Social Media course for young people/adults info@katiebacon.co.uk