The document discusses the G8WAY project which aims to support young people's educational transitions using technology. The project brings together organizations from 8 European countries and will develop scenarios and personas of young people in transition. It will also create an online portal providing tools and resources to help young people reflect, learn about options, receive guidance and develop skills necessary to navigate their transition from education to employment. The portal will take a personalized approach tailored to individual needs and pathways.

1. Careers 2.0: Scenarios and personas for technology enhanced educational transitions T. Fischer, T. Schlimbach, G. Attwell, M. Balica, R. Preisinger-Kleine

2. About G8way project G8WAY stands for ‘Web 2.0 Enhanced Gateway To Educational Transition’; G8WAY is funded by the Lifelong Learning Programme (LLP), Key Action 3 ‘Information and Communication Technologies’ (ICT) of the European Commission; G8WAY brings together 8 European Organisations from 7 European countries; G8WAY combines the expertise of private R&D organisations, Higher Education institutions, innovation and local development agencies as well as educational research bodies.

3. About G8way project Deutsches Jugendinstitut (DJI); Halle, Germany; P&W praxis und wissenschaft projekt (p&w), Ingolstadt, Germany; Pontydysgu, Pontypridd, UK; City Conversity AB (CCAB); Lund, Schweden; Sociedade Portuguesa de Inovacao (SPI); Porto, Portugal; Menon Network EEIG; Brussels, Belgium [commissioned to the Lambrakis Foundation, Athens, Greece]; Il Filo D´Arianna; Bologna, Italy; Institute of Educational Sciences (ISE); Bucharest, Romania.

4. Basic Assumptions 1. Young people are facing today a growing differentiation of educational, vocational and occupational opportunities, pathways and biographies. 2. There is a wider recognition of the importance of providing support to young people on their way into employment. 3. There is an interest in the potential of Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) to provide support for the challenges of transition.

5. 1. High demands and increasing pressures on young people on their way to employment; 2. Educational transitions are specific learning settings; 3. Educational transitions are intensive learning periods: to orientate themselves; to identify realistic job scenarios; to further develop their abilities and competencies; to meet the labour market requirements; to place themselves on the labour market; Project Background

6. Supporting young people Utilising and exploiting the potentials of Web 2.0, Social Software and Learning 2.0 (or probably 3.0); Developing ‘proto-typical ‘ transitional scenarios and ‘personas’ in transition (through story telling and analysis of ‘real’ life cases); Setting up an online portal combining different methods and tools under a common pedagogy framework; Allowing users to follow their preferred learning pathway Project Objectives

7. 45 cases from 6 countries L earning in transitions as a process that largely depends on individual experiences and the construction of meaning of the young person; Contextualising interactions in transitions (e.g. tools, objects, roles, community); Looking at social as well as societal learning and the role of ‘more knowledgeable others’ in transitions; Reading difficulties or negative transition experiences as challenging obstacles to improve learning skills and competences. Methods - Scenarios & ‘Personas’

9. ‘ The Determined’ – Key Attributes (School to Work; HE to Work) Independent Passionate Confident Motivated Ambitious Rich resources Clear aims (No Plan B) Congruent steps  Motto: “I did it my way.” (Frank Sinatra)

10. Aware of the desired outcome but unsure of how to get there Deal with problems as and when they occur Unsystematic look for appropriate help Nevertheless motivated Open to suggestions Active, experimenting with different strategies Less resources than the ‘Determined’ Many distractions Extended/multiple transitions Following complex pathways ‘ Meandering’ I – Key Attributes (School to Work)

11. ‘ Meandering’ II – Key Attributes (HE to Work) No straight forward pathway No detailed plan, n o Plan A Not so determined on final destination Positive outlook on opportunities Open for change Rather independent but influenced by circumstances Experimental learning approach to the personal future Stepwise and micro transitions  Motto: “Det är vägen som är mödan värd” (Karin Boye) (“It is the journey that is worth the effort, not the stay at a destination”)

12. ‘ Stagnant’ – Key Attributes (School to Work; HE to Work) Few personal resources Multiple family, social or financial issues Need of support on a general social and personal level Lack of enthusiasm Difficulties to prioritise effectively Late decisions for a field of interest Low self esteem Rather bad prognosis for life career  Motto: “We will always tend to fulfill our own expectation of ourselves.” (Brian Tracy)

13. The G8WAY e-Portal Reflection and assessment e.g. interests, preferences, dreams: (not classical Competence/Skills/Abilities or Personality Assessment) a) Self-reflection; b) External-, mentor assisted Information on options: a) Education and Training (E&T); b) Job profiles; c) Labour market data; d) European job opportunities/exchange/mobility; e) Legal structures (e.g. founding a company); f) Available jobs Professional Orientation (especially School  Work: which job?) Professional Adaptation (especially HE  Work: adapt knowledge and skills to company needs) Exchange with / Learning from Others: a) Experienced others; b) Peers (direct); c) Cases; d) Story telling (indirect); e) Mentors, guides, counsellors, G8keepers (incl. an intergenerational component)  not prescribed, “cloud” of mentors, BUT required competence of mentors, legal aspects e.g. child protection Presentation / Documentation (of 1 to 4): “Trans-folios” = personal, short term Meeting & Matching Space e.g. visits, internships, trainee programmes, speed dating, job interviews, applications, CVs, job profiles

14. The G8WAY e-Portal Germany Greece Italy Portugal Competence Management Educational games CV training Job market management Skills assessment CV training e-Portfolio Knowledge Sharing Digital storytelling Links to existing services Case studies Digital storytelling Collective space Communities of Practice Collective space Digital storytelling Case studies Digital storytelling Collective space Communities of Practice Job/Training Information Links to existing services Links to existing services News List of job and E&T opportunities List of job and E&T opportunities Guidance Mentoring incl. training of mentors Mentoring Links to existing services e.g. at university Page on Facebook with multimedia content

15. The G8WAY e-Portal Romania Sweden UK Competence Management Explorative tools Self-assessment tools CV & contract negotiation training Self-assessment tools Recommendation system Individual space for communication, reflection and presentation Knowledge Sharing Digital storytelling Collective space Communities of Practice Ex-post evaluations Digital storytelling Collective space Communities of Practice Job/Training Information Access to labour market information Guidance (Peer) support groups

16. G8WAY aims to support young people to “explore, dream and discover” (Mark Twain) G8WAY builds upon a positive development model (Jane Seale) and aims to support individual growth, enhancement and empowerment To finish with ....

17. Join the G8WAY Community @ http://www.g8way-eu.net Contact me @ [email_address]