The Social Impact of Digital Youth Work: What Are We Looking For?

Abstract

Digital youth work is an emerging field of research and practice which seeks to investigate and support youth-centred digital literacy initiatives. Whilst digital youth work projects have become prominent in Europe in recent years, it has also become increasingly difficult to examine, capture, and understand their social impact. Currently, there is limited understanding of and research on how to measure the social impact of collaborative digital literacy youth projects. This article presents empirical research which explores the ways digital youth workers perceive and evaluate the social impact of their work. Twenty semi-structured interviews were carried out in Scotland, United Kingdom, in 2017. All data were coded in NVivo 10 and analysed using thematic data analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006). Two problems were identified in this study: (1) limited critical engagement with the social impact evaluation process of digital youth work projects and its outcomes, and (2) lack of consistent definition of the evaluation process to measure the social impact/value of digital youth work. Results of the study are examined within a wider scholarly discourse on the evaluation of youth digital participation, digital literacy, and social impact. It is argued that to progressively work towards a deeper understanding of the social value (positive and negative) of digital youth engagement and their digital literacy needs, further research and youth worker evaluation training are required. Recommendations towards these future changes in practice are also addressed.

Bridging the gender digital divide: an analysis of existing guidance for gender digital inclusion programmes’ evaluations

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“…Such pre-determined impact assumption might also influence stakeholders' participation and their willingness to produce genuine evaluation data. Within the existing power evaluation dynamics many programme participants feel obliged to be overly polite and take on the roles of grateful and empowered participants in their evaluation feedback (Anokwa et al, 2009;Pawluczuk et al, 2019). Previous research revealed that some digital inclusion programmes practitioners (and their participants) feel under pressure to produce positive impact evidence (e.g.…”

“…leaving only nice comments on evaluation surveys). It is also clear that many digital inclusion stakeholders have no choice but (feel pressured) to report success stories to fulfil funding criteria (Pawluczuk et al, 2019).…”

Digital youth inclusion and the big data divide: examining the Scottish perspective

“…Many youth digital inclusion programmes take place within the Scottish youth community education sector, which has been severely underfunded in the last decade. In light of these funding cuts and an increasing need to provide evidence of impact to funders, many youth digital inclusion practitioners have no choice but to prioritise functional and easily quantifiable skills over critical thinking (Pawluczuk et al, 2019). To address this challenge, digital youth practitioners should be provided with appropriate and commercial interest-free support to reevaluate their practice, and when possible, try to implement some of my considerations into their practice.…”

The role of new literacy and critical thinking in students' vocational development

“…New literacy helps students understand the social impacts arising from the use of digital media. This not only helps students add information but also increases sensitivity to social phenomena (Pawluczuk et al, 2019).…”