Over the past months, AIDA has been listening to young people, youth workers and organisations to better understand how digital technologies and artificial intelligence are changing the way we learn, communicate and participate.
The research phase has been an essential step in the project. Rather than starting from assumptions about what young people “need to learn” about AI, AIDA has focused on gathering experiences, identifying challenges and understanding where support and new learning opportunities could make a real difference.
Now, this work is moving towards its next phase: turning research insights into learning opportunities.
From questions to evidence
AIDA’s research activities have explored young people’s digital skills, their experiences with AI and online environments, their confidence in identifying misinformation, their approaches to privacy and responsible technology use, and the barriers that can affect digital participation.
The research has also involved youth workers and organisations, looking at the challenges they face when implementing digital education and AI-related activities and at the kinds of support and training that could strengthen their capacities.
This multi-perspective approach is important because digital participation does not happen in isolation. Young people develop their skills within schools, organisations, communities and online spaces, supported by educators, youth workers and peers.
Identifying needs and barriers
One of the central purposes of the research phase has been to understand not only which digital skills matter, but also what can make digital participation more difficult.
Access to technology is only one part of the picture. Confidence, previous experience, accessibility, inclusion and the ability to critically evaluate information can all influence whether young people feel able to participate meaningfully in digital environments.
The AIDA research therefore looks at digital skills together with inclusion, intercultural cooperation, online participation and responsible use of technology. This reflects the project’s broader approach to digital citizenship: being digitally competent also means being able to participate, collaborate and make informed choices.
From research to Grow & Go
The next step is to translate what has been learned into learning design.
The findings from the research phase will contribute to the development of AIDA’s Grow & Go online course, creating a bridge between what young people and youth workers have identified as important and the learning experiences the project will offer.
The goal is not to create a generic course about artificial intelligence.
Instead, AIDA aims to connect AI literacy with the real situations in which young people encounter digital technologies: learning, communication, creativity, collaboration, participation and everyday decision-making.
This means that topics such as misinformation, bias, privacy and responsible AI use can be approached not as isolated technical concepts, but as part of a wider process of developing critical and active digital citizenship.
Inclusion remains at the centre
As AIDA moves from research to learning design, inclusion remains a cross-cutting priority.
Digital learning needs to take into account different levels of experience, different barriers to participation and different ways in which young people interact with technology.
The same principle applies to virtual exchange.
For AIDA, virtual exchange is not simply a way of connecting people online. It creates opportunities for young people to encounter different perspectives, communicate across borders and develop intercultural awareness while engaging with digital tools.
The combination of AI literacy, inclusion and intercultural learning is therefore central to the project’s approach.
Learning across borders
Digital citizenship is also connected to how we communicate with people whose experiences and perspectives may be different from our own.
Virtual exchange can create spaces where young people from different countries collaborate, discuss ideas and reflect on digital challenges together. In this sense, digital competence becomes closely connected to intercultural dialogue.
Learning about AI can therefore also become an opportunity to ask broader questions:
How do technologies affect the way we communicate?
Whose perspectives are represented?
How can we participate respectfully in online spaces?
How can digital tools support collaboration rather than create new barriers?
These questions help connect technical skills with the social and civic dimensions of digital life.
What’s next for AIDA?
The research phase marks an important transition in the project.
The next stage will focus on turning evidence into learning, using the insights collected from young people, youth workers and organisations to shape future activities and the Grow & Go course.
The upcoming work will continue to connect:
research → learning design → AI literacy → inclusion → intercultural dialogue → digital citizenship
This is an important step for AIDA. The project is moving from understanding the challenges to developing practical ways to address them.
Because the goal is not simply to help young people understand AI.
It is to empower them to use digital technologies critically, creatively and responsibly—and to participate actively in the digital society they are helping to shape.