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.
Share on Facebook
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.
Share on Facebook
At the end of each session each Beacon student has a log book which they have to fill in stating details such as their favorite part of the day, what they learnt, how they feel and so on. The member of staff for that day also fills out a section for each week detailing how they felt the student did. These log books are in paper format and are reproduced each time a new group starts. When speaking to the staff about the feasibility of transferring the log books to digital format they all stated that they prefer paper format due to the short attention spans of the young people that attend the course and the lack of computing facilities.
The team leader Chris, has trialled SMS messaging in the past and found that it worked extremely well, especially to remind parents about the passout parade details at the end of the course and to remind students about any particular equipment or spare clothes they will need for the session. However due the high demand of his time he found it hard to keep up the service and continue using it. It is something however that he would like to reintroduce. If this became a scheduled part of each member of staff’s day I believe that it could be managed successfully.
When asked about an online facility which would allow students, past, present and future, to share experiences, they agreed it would be useful but would be weary of the security issues. It was agreed that Facebook is an excellent way to promote issues and create discussions as well as keep in touch with students due to its popularity, but the filtering and monitoring of content would have to be investigated fully.
Share on Facebook
Hello!
I’m Kate, the new Emerging Technology Officer in Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service.
I will be using emerging technologies to encourage and capture innovation and creativity when working with Children and Young People. This will range from using YouTube and Social Networking to utilising Smart Boards and Podcasts.
Many people are not familiar with these initiatives and are therefore sceptical and anxious about using them, especially to aid learning and express creativity. Initially I will look at safer use of the internet in order to protect young people and adults, helping them to understand the risks and act accordingly. This in-turn will give users confidence when introduced to Emerging Technology and by creating an E-Safety policy, Emerging Technologies can be used to their full advantage.
Any research, ideas and projects that I carry out will be blogged onto OurOpenSpace to create a forward-thinking reflective space where others can comment, compare and share their own experiences.
Share on Facebook
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!
Share on Facebook
As we continue with our Emerging Technology projects we will be using the best in online software to share our work with our readers. We’re using Flickr.com to share our photos. For anyone not already familiar with the delights of Flickr, Flickr is a (free) online Photo Sharing Community. You can use it to store and archive your photos and to share them with your friends, colleagues and community. I have used Flickr for personal projects for ages and I love it. It’s also a great way to find people interested in the same things (work or fun) as you are. We will be sharing images from the Youth Engagement projects we’re working on via Flickr. A small selection of work so far is already there at our Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ouropenspace/
Share on Facebook
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.
Share on Facebook
I first heard about Katie Lips and Kisky Netmedia at a Merseyside Managers ICT User Group which took place in the Holly Oaks student bar at the Lime Pictures studios in
Liverpool November 2006. At the time I was keen to set up a project involving ICT and Youth Engagement. My thinking at the time was based on trying to understand how my own children used the internet whilst at school and at home. Further I attended a concert with my kids where only 500 people turned up in the audience instead of the 900 expected. It transpired that the event was not advertised on the net. The organisers did not use the technology available to engage with the youth and look what happened.
I invited Katie to a meeting at Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service HQ and we were joined by MF&RS Youth Engagement Manger Emma Dodd. The subject was to discuss the possibility of working together on a Youth Engagement project using dynamic technical innovation as the channel of engagement and in that meeting the ‘OurOpenSpace’ project was conceived.
Share on Facebook
The OurOpenSpace project is an initiative by Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service. The project is an exploration of Emerging Technologies and their use to support Youth Engagement projects. MF&RS is an innovator in Youth Engagement and acts as a mentor to other Fire Services in delivering best in class Youth Engagement projects.
Emerging Technologies can and are being used to support Youth Engagement work in a growing number of ways. MF&RS are working with Kisky Netmedia, a Social Media Consultancy to devise new projects in this area. This blog will discuss these pilot projects and disseminate our key findings and learnings. We aim to find and discuss related projects and to provide a growing resource of projects, ideas and conversations through this blog.
Share on Facebook
