After meeting with Alan and talking about how we can introduce innovative ideas into Youth Engagement I was eager to meet up with the Prince’s Trust Huyton Team; Richie Evered, the team leader, and Jade Cotter, the assistant team leader. The Team Programme is for those aged 16-25 who are unemployed. It is free of cost and does not affect Jobseeker’s Allowance. It is ideal for those whose lack of confidence or qualifications are holding them back. 
Ed and I went to meet Richie and Jade whilst their current Team of young people were there. This was so we could not only talk to the staff but also ask the young people what facilities they have now and what technology they use out of the programme.
We discussed the idea of using the Samsung devices with Richie and Jade who thought that it would excellent to have visual and moving footage of the team instead of still photographs. They felt that this would add a personalised touch to the presentation and would demonstrate the development of the young people from start to finish in a more effective way than the use of photographs. They also thought it would be extremely useful to have video or audio to complement the evidence that is required for the written Prince’s Trust log books, especially for those with difficulties reading and writing. The programme includes an action-packed residential week where the Team do activities such as rock climbing, gauge walking, caving and canoeing. Richie and Jade mentioned that the Samsung device may not be suitable for these activities. However it is on this week that the team really get to know each other and a great deal of progress in made in terms of team work, character building, group bonding and personal development as an individual. It would be a shame to miss out on the opportunity to get footage of these activities and the team working together. It was suggested that something like a head camera would be ideal for this week. This would enable the leaders to film all the action and forgot about having to switch a camera off and on and would free up both hands for the more challenging activities. It would also capture natural footage as the team would forget that they were being filmed.
The enthusiasm and forward thinking attitude that we received from Richie and Jade was extremely encouraging and we are really looking forward to working with them on this project.
Following my induction with Youth Engagement, Ed, Emma and I met up with Alan Ellis, the Principal Learning Technologies Officer from Knowsley City Learning Centre. Alan was involved with the project when it first started in 2007, so it was interesting to hear what he has been doing and tell him about where we are now up to.After discussing the ideas that have been formulated from my visits to the various teams, Alan introduced us to the new handheld devices that the Learning Centre has purchased;
the Samsung Q1 Ultra! 
These devices combine all the features you would find on a PC, multimedia device and PDA, not only this but it is compact and lightweight and has a 7” wide touch, colour screen! Although the capabilities are endless we focused on using them to create video and audio. The device has a built in front and rear cameras so is capable of ‘point and shoot’ filming. Once footage has been captured it is them possible to use Windows ‘Movie Maker’ to sequence a film with audio and export it as a video file. Having various internet connection options these files can then be uploaded, emailed, blogged or simply sent to a PC. Having these capabilities would enable young people and staff to create video diaries, starting from the day they start on a programme to the day they finish. This would not only track progress and be used to evidence activities and achievements but could also be used in the final presentation to show visually how each person has changed over the course of the programme in terms of personal development. Alan can offer us a number of these devices on loan within Knowsley so it was agreed that Huyton Prince’s Trust Team would be an ideal place to start.
Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service has recently embarked on a project to explore the potential use of Camera phones in various projects. The aim is to introduce camera phones in projects with young people. Ahead of that, a pilot project is testing the feasibility of introducing new gadgets to Fire Support Network Volunteers. A group of volunteers has been out and about in the community taking pictures and saving them online. So far so good, we’re exploring how they can be used to record the work of volunteers, to record fire hazards (and potential hazards), and to record Fire Safety events and promotional projects.
Pilot project…
Following initial feedback from the group of volunteers we are focusing the pilot on recording the work of the Fire Support Network. The next photos we will gather will be a series of community based events and, once captured, these pictures may be used in promotional activity. We will be using the camera phones as a simple mechanism to capture the work of the volunteers and their activities within local communities.
Technology…
Many phones now come with cameras, so it was easy to decide to use Nokia 6233 handsets which are pretty easy to use as phones and as cameras. We also needed to create some sort of image capture system; preferably online. Our solution came in the form of Flickr.com the popular photo sharing website. We are sending images from the phones to Flickr via email (MMS message), and then we’re using Flickr to manage them. Flickr lets us do all sorts of things such as add notes, create albums, and then obviously to publish them. Of course, using Flickr and MMS / email and 6233 handsets means we’re able to run a pilot project at relatively low cost. The project is testing how this technology can be used, rather than testing the technology itself.
Sharing…
More information on the pilot will be made available here, and eventually we will make some of these images public using Flickr; and here on the blog. Our Camera Action images are currently private whilst we all get to grips with the project, but we are sharing other images from the wider programme on Flickr on the “OurOpenSpace” Flickr page here.
More on this soon!
We are looking to explore potential partnerships within the UK and in Europe to work with Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service and Kisky Netmedia Ltd to establish funding for our emerging technology projects. We are exploring two avenues, one UK Universities and the other with The Merseyside Brussels Office.
Dr David Allen, Leeds University Business School and Dr Anoush Simon from Aberystwyth University visited MF&RS 17th May 2007 and presented their own research groups and discussed the types of projects which they had undertaken. The general conclusion was that we could work together on collaborative projects; however, it was important to note that the scale of the current activity (in terms of thought and scope) was wide and would have to be broken into a number of work packages or linked activities.
After meeting with Laura Bonacorsi European Policy Officer The Merseyside Brussels Office, Ed, Katie and I have decided to approach potential partners in Europe and we have just completed the partner search document and sent it to Laura.
We have been working to develop ideas for using mobile communications, particularly SMS in youth engagement. One key issue faced by the Fire Service was keeping up continued communication with the young people who participate in a variety of courses, after the courses have ended and they have moved onto other things. The Fire Service is in a position to offer followup courses, or potentially work experience and offers more general support to the young people they have got to know well. Can SMS be used to maintain contact? Will it work better than writing letters or sending emails?
We have implemented and embarked upon a new project recently to answer these questions. We’re using a simple online SMS sending tool to send SMS to groups. Following an initial training period with staff, we’ll be trialling this system and sending regular SMS communications to people on the courses as they start their journey with the Fire Service. We will be publishing our findings and learnings here.
The Connect Youth website is a great place to start researching European projects; Connect Youth is the UK national agency for the Youth in Action Programme.
“Along with the European Commission, our aim is to help young people discover Europe. On our site you will find information about Youth Exchanges and Youth Initiatives; European Voluntary Service, Youth in the World and Youth Support Systems.”
As well as information on all the various Connect Youth programmes, there is a useful database you can use to search for potential project partners.
(Image: http://www.connectyouthinternational.com/)
