Social media services ecosystem for marginalized youth to access adult education

1. The projects is funded by the European
Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and
Innovation Programme, Contract No. 693388
Social media services ecosystem for
marginalized youth to access adult education
Kai Pata & Sille Paas
kpata@tlu.ee; sille.paas@taltech.ee
LTEC 2019, Zamora, Spain
The Edumap research was supported by EU Grant 693388 in Research an Innovation actions YOUNG -3-2015.

2. The projects is funded by the European
Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and
Innovation Programme, Contract No. 693388
Research goal
This paper proposes an empirical study based design solution how to
support marginalized groups of young adults to be part of society,
enhancing their access to adult education (AE) opportunities with
social media based ecosystem of services.
It suggests to multiply visibility and access to media content and
training through partnerships with civil society organisations, local
institutions, public service and commercial media.

3. The projects is funded by the European
Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and
Innovation Programme, Contract No. 693388
Some background from EduMap findings
Social networks are the most effective ways of passing on educational information to young
people and heightening chances of follow-up.
Digital media can be an effective means to reach out to young people if used in conjunction with
direct communication through personal and professional networks close to young people.
Mobile device ownership is most wide spread, though in some cases (like the Romanian Roma)
they can be shared in the family. WhatsApp is the most used and preferred application among some
groups, also Facebook and YouTube are more used. The use of Instagram, well established in some
contexts, appears to be popular especially among the younger people, 16 to 18.
Communication challenges: Some young adult groups are difficult to reach. Many young adults in
vulnerable situations lack the capacity to navigate social services. Young people’s digital practices
tend to be more focused on entertainment rather than on active information research about
learning opportunities.
Accessing adult education requires active mediation by advisers using blended channels. Language
barriers often prevent young refugees and migrants from accessing AE information.
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4. The projects is funded by the European
Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and
Innovation Programme, Contract No. 693388
Some background from EduMap findings
Young adults from vulnerable backgrounds cannot be unified under the limited number of
category types. We propose considering the vulnerability through the set of characteristics
presented in the service target group model.
Desjardins and Rubenson (2011) provide a model of characteristics that influence
participation in AE:
i) Individual characteristics: social background, being immigrant, age, gender, education
and qualification, competences, experiences, actual competences;
ii) ii) Work-related characteristics: job context, job tasks, need for competences, usage
of competences, organizational structures, innovation and adaptation level of
organizations, career opportunities, training opportunities, work safety, salary,
effectiveness, flexibility of work;
iii) iii) Environmental characteristics: socio-cultural norms and practices, trade unions
role, political context.
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5. The projects is funded by the European
Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and
Innovation Programme, Contract No. 693388
Methods
In EU FP project Edumap (http://blogs.uta.fi/edumap/)
- Partners conducted the research in Adult Education environments,
within selected groups of young people at risk of social exclusion
- In seven EU countries (Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Romania,
Spain, UK) and Turkey.
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6. The projects is funded by the European
Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and
Innovation Programme, Contract No. 693388
Communicative Ecologies reports
Concept-mapping of cases
Conceptual reference model of interactions
Scenarios of interaction with social media
Evaluation of scenarios
Interaction patterns for enhancing
interaction among stakeholders in AE
The methodological approach for design
Focus group
Open ended surveyInterviewsSecond chance school

7. The projects is funded by the European
Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and
Innovation Programme, Contract No. 693388
“Communication ecosystem
with social media”
“Hidden advisor”
“Social facilitator”
“Alumni network”
“Voluntary help network”
“WhatsApp learning group”
Interaction patterns as generalized problem solutions

8. The projects is funded by the European
Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and
Innovation Programme, Contract No. 693388
Focus group with CEO Helpific
Focus group and interviews
“Voluntary help network” “Hidden advisor”
“Social facilitator” “Alumni network”

9. The projects is funded by the European
Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and
Innovation Programme, Contract No. 693388
How to use the design patterns?
Scenarios serve as the reference
architecture to design social-
media aided access to AE in
countries context
USE REFERENCE MODEL
OF INTERACTIONS TO
DETECT SYSTEM
COMPONENTS, MAIN
AGENTS, TOOLS AND
MEDIA IN COUNTRY
CONTEXT
USE SCENARIOS FOR
NARRATING DESIGN
PATTERNS TO
STAKEHOLDERS AND
GATHERING
FORMATIVE FEEDBACK
• Has to be embedded to existing systems
& stakeholder roles in countries
• Cannot be a cross-countries’ multi-
language forum solution but a toolbox
• Growing functional dependency of social
media corporations in advertising AE
• Requires data-tracking, monitoring,
advising databases
• Can be means for gathering IDSS data or
using IDSS in advising
Implications

10. The projects is funded by the European
Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and
Innovation Programme, Contract No. 693388
Links to the scenarios
https://www.pixton.com/schools/storyboard/e6ieff80
https://www.pixton.com/schools/storyboard/97ek6mj1
https://www.pixton.com/schools/comic/3epp70kk
https://www.pixton.com/schools/storyboard/xjixt5am
https://www.pixton.com/schools/storyboard/4iqo27t4
https://www.pixton.com/schools/comic/ja6n1tcb
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