Guides explore digital skills with Google activities
2 Guide units share their digital discovery adventures
What happens when you combine technical expertise and a commitment to empowering girls and young women?
You get Google and Girlguiding’s brilliant partnership - because technology is for everyone!
Nearly 30% of girls and young women told us they'd like to develop skills and learn more about tech. That’s why Google and Girlguiding’s co-created activities are so important. They provide girls with the skills, confidence and opportunities to navigate the digital world safely and thrive.
We find out how 2 Guide units from Wickford in Anglia marked Safer Internet Day with Google-inspired evenings. They share their experience of completing all 3 digital discovery activities for their section. And we hear how both units loved learning about coding, online safety and artificial intelligence!
When we shared both units' digital discovery adventures with Google, Nicole McWilliams, former Girlguiding member and Director of Software Engineering at Google, said:
We worked with Girlguiding to create the sorts of activities I'd have loved to complete back when I was a Guide. It's brilliant to see the girls engage with these topics and hear that they feel empowered to learn more about technology.'
Empowering digital discovery
Leader Meg shared that both Guide units couldn’t wait to dive into the specially designed activities:
Our Google-inspired evenings made learning about technology and online safety both engaging and memorable. The activities weren’t just about sitting and listening – they got Guides up on their feet, thinking critically, and having fun whilst learning crucial digital skills.'
One Guide perfectly captured how this hands-on learning makes a difference, especially around online safety:
It was so easy to understand [how to stay safer online and how technology works] because we can see it happening. It made us think with examples and by physically doing it - that helped you to understand better.'
Another Guide told us that with these activities:
We’re not just talking or being talked at, we’re engaging. We’re still learning and enjoying it. [The activities] were really good and I would definitely do it again.'
Digital adventures with a purpose
The Guides completed all 3 activities in our Skills for my future theme:
- 'To share or not to share?': an activity designed to help Guides understand how to protect their personal information online through interactive demonstrations. This practical approach helped girls understand online privacy in a way that really resonated.
At the end of the evening Guides shared that they ‘enjoyed learning about online safety’ and because of the activities they ‘feel safer online and more aware.’
- Chatter Matter introduced Guides to the world of software engineering, showing them how chatbots are programmed. The girls' imaginations shone through as they designed innovative chatbots, from robotic hair stylists to an ice cream seller with unusual flavours.
One Guide noted: ‘I think it has brought out my creativity... It's great to know how chatbots work and how they're created to be like humans.’
- Teach the AI Machine demystified artificial intelligence through hands-on learning. Girls discovered how AI systems learn and develop.
The Guides were really pleased that ‘the activity helped with learning about AI and how it works’. They discovered that ‘AI learns when asked questions’ and this ‘made me notice how things can be grouped and interpreted in many different ways.’
The impact of skills for a digital future
These activities are making a real difference to how Guides think about the digital world. After taking part, they commented how they ‘learned new things’ with hands-on activities that help with ‘different learning styles’ rather than just being told.
The combination of learning through engaging activities was evident in all the feedback, with one Guide capturing the spirit brilliantly: ‘[It was] a fun evening I'll never forget!’
Another Guide enthusiastically remarked, ‘Google should make more activities with Girlguiding, because it was so much fun!’
Ready to help your unit explore the digital world?
Check out the free digital discovery activities for your section.
There’s no need to have any digital experience or knowledge, the activities include all the information you need to run a hands-on evening for your unit.
Learning new digital skills will help them navigate the digital world. Plus, girls in your unit might just discover a new passion for technology and become the next generation of female tech leaders.
