Learning Of Young People Research Articles

El aprendizaje de los jóvenes con medios digitales fuera de la escuela: De lo informal a lo formal

The dissonance between what teenagers learn in classrooms and their everyday lives is not a recent phenomenon, but it is increasingly relevant as school systems are unable to follow the evolution of media and society beyond traditional concerns regarding the protection of young people. An overly scholarly view of learning continues to prevail in our society, which seems to marginalize the knowledge that young people develop with and through media and digital platforms. Based on questionnaires, workshops, and interviews conducted with Portuguese teenagers, aged 12 to 16 years old (N=78), attending an urban and a rural school in the North of the country, this paper aims to understand how these teens are learning to use the media, what motivates them, and if their media practices contribute to the acquisition of skills and competencies useful to their lives inside and outside school. The research main results confirm the existence of a gap between formal and informal education. Informal education is mainly motivated by their needs and peer influence. Colleagues and family, alongside the Internet and self-discovery, appear as important sources of knowledge. Another important conclusion is that informal learning strategies contribute to the development of skills and competencies that are useful from a school viewpoint. La disonancia entre lo que aprenden los jóvenes en clase y en su vida cotidiana no es un fenómeno reciente, pero es cada vez más relevante, ya que la escuela no es capaz, evidentemente, de acompañar la evolución. En nuestra sociedad, sigue prevaleciendo una visión demasiado escolarizada del aprendizaje, que parece marginalizar los conocimientos que los jóvenes desarrollan con y a través de los medios y de las plataformas digitales. Basado en cuestionarios, entrevistas y talleres realizados con jóvenes portugueses entre los 12 y los 16 años (N=78), de una escuela urbana y otra rural del norte del país, este artículo pretende comprender cómo están estos jóvenes aprendiendo a usar los medios, lo que les motiva y si lo que hacen con ellos contribuye a la adquisición de capacidades y competencias útiles para sus vidas dentro y fuera de la escuela. Los principales resultados de la investigación confirman la existencia de un foso entre la educación formal e informal. La educación informal es sobretodo motivada por sus necesidades y por la influencia de sus pares. Los compañeros y la familia, junto con Internet y con lo que descubren por ellos mismos, aparecen como importantes fuentes de conocimiento. También se concluyó que las estrategias informales de aprendizaje contribuyen al desarrollo de capacidades y competencias útiles desde un punto de vista escolar.

Pedagogical Strategies to Promote Mediated Learning Experiences in Vulnerable Contexts

Education is conceived as a multifaceted, multidimensional and complex process of social transformation; nevertheless, schools operate within a passive environment that restricts the learning of young people from vulnerable contexts. This qualitative study explores the pedagogical strategies of four educators from one public institution in Valdivia who work with students who have been associated with episodes of law infraction. Analytical procedures rely on content analysis following the logic of grounded theory and In-depth Interviews. From a biographical perspective, the present study identifies the pedagogical strategies of these autonomous and optimistic educators to favor the construction of modifying active environments in this vulnerable context. It also seeks to generate new lines of research on critical pedagogy in vulnerable educational contexts, strengthening and enriching the competencies of educators from Mediated Learning Experiences.

Young people learning about health: the role of apps and wearable devices

ABSTRACTYoung people’s engagement with digital health technologies is dominated by risk narratives. Yet, there are very limited understandings, from the perspectives of young people, about the health-related issues and opportunities generated by digital health technologies. This article presents new evidence on the types of health-related apps and devices young people find, select and use, and the reasons for their choices. Data were generated from a participatory mixed method design with 245 young people (age 13–18). The data were analysed using a content-led pedagogical framework. The data illustrate, vividly, young people’s agency in digital health contexts and the complexity and fluidity of young people’s decision-making. Schools, PE lessons and sport, as well as family members and peers, were powerful influencers on young people’s digital health-related knowledge and behaviours. It is argued that better understanding young people’s agency in digital health contexts offers important insights into developing effective health-related pedagogies.

Ministries guiding of services for children and young people in eleven countries – a comparative study

Introduction and aim: Several countries have been reforming promoting the health, welfare, growth and learning of children and young people. The national structures of guidance of the have also been transformed and there is lack of comparative knowledge about the present ministry structures across the countries. The aim of this study is to explore which ministries are guiding the organization of children and young people’s in eleven countries: Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Germany, the Netherlands, England, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. These countries were included in the study because they have developed integrating services. The study is part of a larger study funded by Finnish Government’s analysis, assessment and research activities. Methods: The scoping review was used. Search engine and database searches were made but the majority of the literature was found by using the so-called hand search. That information was sought from the websites of governments and other authorities in selected countries. Results: The most typical structure was that the of children and young people were under the guidance of several separate ministries. In five countries, there was a Ministry of Children Denmark, Ireland, Norway and New Zealand or Ministry of Children and Families Germany. The Minister for Children and youth existed in five countries Denmark, Ireland, Norway, New Zealand and Sweden, and the Minister for Children and Family affairs in further two countries Germany and England. However, Ministry or Minister of Children or Family affairs did not have the responsibility on all the of children and young people. For example, in England, the Minister for Children and Families was not responsible for health services. In Ireland, the Department of Children and Youth Affairs has been set up in 2011, and it is responsible for reforming children and family services. They have a shared goal of a common policy on children and family, which means close cooperation between all the ministries related to children’s and young people’s issues. For example, such a body is the Children and Young People's Policy Consortium, which has actors from five different ministries. Discussion and conclusions: It is important to identify all the ministries whose responsibilities include issues of children, youth and families. Furthermore, there is a need for the harmonisation of policy and provision across Government in most countries. This includes e.g. national children’s strategy as well as novel cooperation structures to ensure the integrity of guidance on children’s and young people’s services. Limitations: One limitation of the review is a conceptual challenge: the concepts of “integration” and children's services are problematic, and the spectrum of related concepts is extensive and definitions vary from country to country. Another limitation was the fact that knowledge of children and young people’s seems to be fragmented. Suggestions for future research: Further study is needed on statutory and non-statutory guidance on the service integration in the field of children’s and young people’s in different countries.

Randomized Trial of Tablet Computers for Education and Learning in Children and Young People with Low Vision.

SIGNIFICANCEMobile devices such as tablet computers have become widely available as mainstream devices and are also used in some schools, but there is an absence of robust information regarding the efficacy of any optical/electronic low vision device or tablet computer in supporting education of young people with low vision.PURPOSEA randomized controlled trial (RCT) is needed to measure the impact of tablet computers on education, specifically on independent access to educational material, in children and young people with low vision. We conducted a pilot RCT to determine the feasibility of conducting a full-scale trial.METHODSThis was a randomized multicenter pilot trial across two sites in the United Kingdom and one site in India. Forty children and young people aged 10 to 18 years with low vision (best-corrected visual acuity for distance between <20/60 [0.48 logMAR] and 20/400 [1.30 logMAR] in the better eye) in the United Kingdom (n = 20) and India (n = 20) were randomized to two parallel arms, with a 1:1 allocation ratio, to control (n = 20) or intervention (n = 20). Control group participants received standard low vision care. The intervention group received a tablet computer (iPad) with low vision applications and instruction in its use, including accessibility features. Four primary outcomes included (1) 6-month recruitment rate, (2) retention of participants for 3 months, (3) acceptance/usage of device, and (4) accessibility of device.RESULTSNineteen participants (95%) enrolled within 6 months in the United Kingdom, and 20 participants (100%), in India. Retention at 3 months was 85% (n = 17) in the United Kingdom and 95% (n = 19) in India. More than one half of participants reported using a tablet computer at school at least once every day. The majority (90%) found it easily accessible.CONCLUSIONSThis study demonstrated that it is feasible to recruit children and young people with low vision into an international multicenter RCT of electronic assistive technology. Regardless of geographical location, children and young people with low vision reported using tablet computers at least once a day at school and accessed them easily.

Implicit sequence learning in young people with Tourette syndrome with and without co-occurring attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Impaired habit-learning has been proposed to underlie the tic symptoms of Tourette syndrome (TS). However, accounts differ in terms of how habit-learning is altered in TS, with some authors proposing habit formation is impaired due to a deficient 'chunking' mechanism, and others proposing habit-learning is overactive and tics reflect hyperlearned behaviours. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) frequently co-occurs with TS and is known to affect cognitive function in young people with co-occurring TS and ADHD (TS+ADHD). It is unclear, however, how co-occurring ADHD symptoms affect habit-learning in TS. In this study, we investigated whether young people with TS would show deficient or hyperactive habit-learning, and assessed the effects of co-occurring ADHD symptoms on habit-learning in TS. Participants aged 9-17years with TS (n=18), TS+ADHD (n=17), ADHD (n=13), and typical development (n=20) completed a motor sequence learning task to assess habit-learning. We used a 2 (TS-yes, TS-no)×2 (ADHD-yes, ADHD-no) factorial analysis to test the effects of TS, ADHD, and their interaction on accuracy and reaction time indices of sequence learning. TS was associated with intact sequence learning, but a tendency for difficulty transitioning from sequenced to non-sequenced performance was suggestive of hyper-learning. ADHD was associated with significantly poorer accuracy during acquisition of the sequence, indicative of impaired habit-learning. There were no interactions between the TS and ADHD factors, indicating young people with TS+ADHD showed both TS- and ADHD-related atypicalities in habit-learning.

Young people's learning trajectories in the digital age

The immersion of societies in the digital and networked age has led to an increase of opportunities for young people to learn across countless face-to-face and online contexts. However, youth disaffection towards school remains high and access to opportunities across and within countries is remarkably unequal. This article builds on the results of two ethnographic case studies conducted in Spain and the learning stories narrated by 22 youth about their transitions across home, school, spare time, extracurricular activities, trips and virtual environments. The analysis of the stories show how young people establish connections and feel tensions across their experiences, creating continuities and discontinuities that are key for their learning. It also evidence that secondary school is only one node of the big sociocultural network through which young people learn. Building on the results, the conclusions raise the question: might a better understanding of learning trajectories favor a more inclusive educational system?

Implementation of Markerless Augmented Reality Technology Based on Android to Introduction Lontara in Marine Society

Local language learning had been leaving by people especially young people had affected technology advances so that involved lack of interest to learn culture especially local language. So required interactive and interest learning media for introduction Lontara. This research aims to design and implement augmented reality on introduction Lontara on mobile device especially android. Application of introduction Lontara based on Android was designed by Vuforia and Unity. Data collection method were observation, interview, and literature review. That data was analysed for being information. The system was designed by Unified Modeling Language (UML). The method used is a marker. The test result found that application of Augmented Reality on introduction Lontara based on Android could improve public interest for introducing local language particularly young people in learning about Lontara because of using technology. Application of introduction of Lontara based on Android used augmented reality occurred sound and how to write Lontara with animation. This application could be running without an internet connection, so that its used more efficient and could maximize from user.

On Educational Advocacy and Cultural Work: Situating Community-Based Youth Work[ers] in Broader Educational Discourse

Background/ContextThe current educational market nestled in neoliberal and market-based reform efforts has shifted the nature of public education. Community-based educational spaces are also shaped within this context. As such, given the political and educational climate youth workers are situated in, their role as advocates, cultural workers, and pedagogues warrants greater exploration within educational scholarship. Although previous scholarship captures the significance of community-based youth workers in the lives of marginalized youth, their voices and experiences are absent from broader educational discourse. Subsequently, community-based youth workers’ relationship with schools, engagement with youth, and their pedagogical practices remain underutilized and undervalued.PurposeThe purpose of this article is to highlight the critical space youth workers occupy in the academic, social, and cultural lives of Black youth within community-based educational spaces. This article critically examines the intricate roles that youth workers play in the academic and social lives of youth and proposes deeper inquiry into the practices of youth workers and implications for broader education discourse.SettingThe study takes place at Educational Excellence (EE), a community-based educational program operating after school in the Northeastern part of the United States.Research DesignThis study employed a critical qualitative design with ethnographic methods. Participant observations occurred at program events for youth and their families over 13 months, events during the holidays (2), middle and high school retreats (2), staff retreats (2), parent orientation meetings (4), curriculum planning meetings (13), and staff-development trainings (10). In order to triangulate participant observation data, every youth worker was interviewed individually (n = 20) and observed during (or in) staff meetings, organizational events, and interaction with coworkers and students in the program. A total of three focus groups, lasting between 60 minutes and 90 minutes were held with participants.Findings/ResultsFindings indicate that a combination of factors contributes to the important role that youth workers play in the lives of students. From their vantage point, youth workers are community members that have extensive knowledge of the current educational landscape and the ways in which it shapes the experiences, opportunities, and outcomes of youth in their program. As former school administrators, teachers, and life-long community-based educators, youth workers’ understanding and analysis of students’ experiences in schools is extremely significant to their understanding of educational problems and the needs of their students. As such, youth workers were able to revive students through culturally responsive and relevant curricula and engagement that gave students an opportunity to think critically about the world around them and to also think more deeply about their social, academic, and political identities.Conclusions/RecommendationsYouth workers within community-based educational spaces serve as essential actors in the lives of young people. Recognizing and validating these educators and community-based spaces as distinct, equally important, and complimentary spaces to schools and classroom teachers is an essential step in the process of reimagining the possibilities of youth work in community-based settings and in broader conceptions of educational opportunity. Further research and practice should recognize community-based spaces as vital sites of learning and growth for young people. In addition, education research and policy should acknowledge the distinct value and pedagogical practices of community-based educational spaces from traditional school spaces.

Omega-3/6 Fatty Acids and Learning in Children and Young People: A Review of Randomised Controlled Trials Published in the Last 5 Years

Helping children to learn and focus is a central part of educational pedagogy. Given that the human brain is around 60 per cent fat the present review sets out to evaluate the role of omega-3/6 fatty acids in relation to aspects of classroom learning. This is particularly relevant in modern day given that there has been a shift in children’s fatty acids profiles, with movement towards an increased ratio of omega-6 to 3. Using the National Centre for Biotechnology Information PubMed database, a search was made for all studies published between 2012 and 2017 that met defined inclusion criteria. A total of 29 Randomised Controlled Trials (RCT) were identified which used Omega 3/6 fatty acids as interventions. Twenty-two studies (n=3,336) showed overall benefits, ranging from improvements in blood fatty acid levels to improved sleep. Eight trials (n=768) recruiting children and young people with ADHD at baseline reported specific improvements in ADHD symptoms. Six studies (n=1092) showed that omega 3/6 fatty acids can support learning (improved reading ability, spelling, behaviour, attention and reduced hyperactivity and aggression). Strongest benefits are seen amongst those with: 1) ADHD or comorbid learning conditions, 2) suboptimal omega-3 status or 3) who underperform at baseline. RCTs focusing on vulnerable groups such as Looked After Children (LAC) and those with specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia and dyscalculia who could also potentially benefit from omega-3/6 fatty acids warrant further investigation.

Dyslexia in SNS

The paradigm of neurodiversity provides a theoretical scaffold to challenge the idea of dyslexia as a deficit, by considering how difficulties related to literacy may reflect possible cognitive strengths and opportunities for learning. In this paper we adopt this perspective which associates dyslexia with strengths in visual, oral and three-dimensional thinking. Our goal is to understand if and how the multimodal affordances of SNS mediate participation and new literacies for dyslexic youth, and how these affordances interact with identity work. Seven young people struggling with literacy were interviewed about their use of SNS. Our results show that the visual affordances of SNS enable new forms of participation and expression, furthering our understanding of visual literacies. Nonetheless, despite the pervasive use of visual affordances to perform identity work, we also find that young people's learning differences are not always obviated but re-constructed, or even confronted in SNS.

Active Methodology in the Universities

Within the areas of education, pedagogy and psychology, there is a constant conversation about the most appropriate methodologies for favoritism the cognitive development (acquisition of knowledge through the perception) of the human being. It is General consensus that young people's learning of the sciences known as experimental (biology, physics, chemistry, etc.) is greatly facilitated when concepts and phenomenon are approached with an experimental complementation, which proves the model and concepts studied and the perception at the place of the phenomenon addressed, favoring in the end the fixation of knowledge. The project entitled Active Methodology in the Universities, from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, from University of Taubaté aims to expand the experiments to other disciplines, so to include the concept of active methodology first to the students of the Department and in the future to help teachers of other institutions. In this way it offers a greater support to the students of the courses of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanical Production Engineering that as future professionals of the area can, still in the university scope, associate the theoretical concepts with the experimental ones. The Project will always be presented by students linked with the University of Taubaté, either as presenters or even assistants, receiving at the end of each month a certificate of completion.

Readings

Readings

Learning the price of poverty across the UK

In 2016, the British Educational Research Association (BERA) Commission on Poverty and Policy Advocacy brought together several academics from across the four jurisdictions of the UK already engaged in work on poverty, education and schooling. The aim of this BERA Commission was to build a network of research-active practitioners across the UK and, internationally, to engage in knowledge building about poverty and multiple factors of deprivation as these find expression in education and schooling. The Commission also aimed to facilitate counter discourses to be voiced and articulated in contrast to the dominant pathologising discourses of poor people and their education. The Commission therefore addressed the question: what can research tell us about the ways that different devolved policy contexts impact on the learning and well-being of young people living in poverty? This article describes the methodology used by the Commission to bring together researchers, policymakers, practitioners and children and young people to learn about the price of poverty in education and to reflect on the implications for policy. In so doing, the article addresses some challenges, opportunities and outcomes in terms of knowledge production, as well as implications for critical scholarship, with a focus on poverty and education.

New Models of Learning for New Media: Observations of Young People Learning Digital Design

There are numerous discourses that seek to define the relationships between young people and digital media. These discourses have different and sometimes contradictory ways of constructing learners and the learning environment (Facer et al. 2001). On the one hand there are panics around new media which position children and young people as being at risk from the dangers of digital technology. In this view children are in need of careful teaching and controlling, as they are unable to learn the correct and safe way to use digital technology on their own. In complete contrast, there are discourses around new technologies which position children as ready learners and technology as offering endless easy-to-use resources for worthwhile learning. This latter view of children as „natural cyberkids’ overlooks many aspects of learning and digital technology, not least the socio-cultural aspects of learning or the possibility that there might be a developmental progression of skills related to learning new technologies.

Collecting and using youth development outcomes data to improve youth work practice

There is increasing scrutiny on the factors necessary to ensure that youth development programs consistently enhance the learning and development of young people. One of these key factors is the involvement of high-quality youth work practitioners who can facilitate an individual or group process to the benefit of all participants. While the practice of reflective learning is a core best-practice principle of youth workers, there is little emphasis on their own structured learning and development beyond their initial qualification. Based on findings from a pilot project testing the first practitioner-led outcomes framework in New South Wales, Australia, this article examines the role of outcomes data in contributing to the ongoing development of youth workers and youth development organisations. It argues that external performance data is both critical to individual and organisational development, and can enhance existing reflective practices such as workplace supervision.

Exploring teacher competences for relational health in schools

This paper focuses on new professional competences that teachers are developing as they conjoin with music/arts therapists in face of young people who experience post-traumatic stress disorder or developmental trauma from earlier adverse childhood experiences. Data have been collected through the common use of a semi structured interview schedule across the interventions of the LINK Project. Responses from teachers of three schools in three different countries explore how educational pursuits are theorised/supported in order to promote relational health in schools. Findings point to a need to reassert social models of learning for teachers and young people alike. The consequences of reducing the range of disciplines that influence teacher education become apparent. It is noted that the disciplines of psychology and philosophy of education are necessary to address the current demands of inclusive education and inter-professional collaboration. Respondents are interested in new psychological knowledge that helps them reconceptualise educational rationales as professional teachers with a difference. These emergent perspectives arise from a re-engagement at classroom level with significant cultural resources that are already being used by music and artsbased therapeutic health practitioners.

Tablet computers versus optical aids to support education and learning in children and young people with low vision: protocol for a pilot randomised controlled trial, CREATE (Children Reading with Electronic Assistance To Educate)

IntroductionLow vision and blindness adversely affect education and independence of children and young people. New ‘assistive’ technologies such as tablet computers can display text in enlarged font, read text out...

Learning from the Young: Therapeutic Implications of Emerging Sexual Knowledge in Working with Families

ABSTRACTThe lack of formal sex education and informal family communication about sex affects youth, families, educators, and clinicians. This lack limits young people in learning about accurate and developmentally appropriate sexuality in safe and supportive contexts, and inhibits clinicians in helping families provide information and support for youth to develop agentic sexuality. Although parents are expected to be their children’s primary sex educators, peers and media are now likely to assume that role. Guided by a feminist perspective, narratives written by 644 students from an undergraduate course, who reflected on viewing a sexual image for the first time, were examined. Implications for therapists in gaining and sharing sexual knowledge in their work with youth and families are addressed.

Learning Along Lines: Locative Literacies for Reading and Writing the City

The “everyware” paradigm opens up new possibilities for learning on-the-move with technologies through urban spaces while also raising questions about emerging literacies required of users to understand and use the digital traces these technologies generate. This article develops locative literacies as a way of understanding place-based, digital modes of reading and writing different representational forms at the scale of the city. I explore a new analytic unit, learning along lines, as a tool for supporting the design and analysis of learning contexts where the leading mode of engagement for young learners was physical and digital mobility through the city. Learning along lines emerged from a design study in which youth produced counter-maps of their neighborhood to share with city stakeholders. Using a spatiotemporal framewo rk, I analyze youth learning locative literacies along lines they made of their neighborhood through a designed task, global positioning system (GPS) drawing. First, I focus on young people learning to scale their mobility to a neighborhood grid along lines they made through walking and gesture. Second, I focus on young people learning to negotiate inscriptions along lines they made by walking with maps and GPS devices through their neighborhood. Third, I focus on youth learning to re-member their embodied effort along lines they made discursively during moments of reflection. The analyses are intended to push the field’s understanding of mobility in conceptualizing and designing new forms of learning locative literacies. Learning along lines foregrounds humans not merely as consumers or generators of texts but as being part of that text, literacy agents of a text they populate.