Paper Type
Complete Research Paper
Description
Youth is a period of rapid emotional, physical and intellectual change, where young people progress from being dependent children to independent adults. Young people who are unable to make this transition smoothly can face significant difficulties in both the short and long term. Although the vast majority of young people are able to find all the resources they need for their health, well-being and development within their families and living environments, some young people have difficulty in locating resources that can help them and moreover, difficulty in integrating into society. One way to support this transition is to create an environment that enables youth to be well supported through the provision of information and the creation of a community where youth feel empowered to collaborate with their peers as well as decision makers and legislators. This article focuses on the exploring the use of the Internet by youth and how youth well-being can be improved through the design of a youth-friendly web space. This article begins with a definition of youth well-being and what this means in the context of the Web. We propose key requirements for the design of youth web spaces that will result in their well-being. We use these requirements to analyse existing web spaces and conclude with the problems and issus that need to be addressed. These problems, issus and requirements then motivate us to propose a framework and architecture for the design and implementation of Wikis for enhancing youth well-being.
YOUTH WEB SPACES: DESIGN REQUIREMENTS, FRAMEWORK, AND ARCHITECTURE OF WIKIS TO PROMOTE YOUTH WELL BEING
Youth is a period of rapid emotional, physical and intellectual change, where young people progress from being dependent children to independent adults. Young people who are unable to make this transition smoothly can face significant difficulties in both the short and long term. Although the vast majority of young people are able to find all the resources they need for their health, well-being and development within their families and living environments, some young people have difficulty in locating resources that can help them and moreover, difficulty in integrating into society. One way to support this transition is to create an environment that enables youth to be well supported through the provision of information and the creation of a community where youth feel empowered to collaborate with their peers as well as decision makers and legislators. This article focuses on the exploring the use of the Internet by youth and how youth well-being can be improved through the design of a youth-friendly web space. This article begins with a definition of youth well-being and what this means in the context of the Web. We propose key requirements for the design of youth web spaces that will result in their well-being. We use these requirements to analyse existing web spaces and conclude with the problems and issus that need to be addressed. These problems, issus and requirements then motivate us to propose a framework and architecture for the design and implementation of Wikis for enhancing youth well-being.