Web 2.0 applications and social software mark a change in our use of computers from consumption to creation. Young people are increasingly using technology for creating and sharing multi media objects and for social networking. A Pew Research study (Lenhart and Madden, 2005) found that 56 per cent of young people in America were using computers for ‘creative activities, writing and posting of the Internet, mixing and constructing multimedia and developing their own content.

Jenkins at al (2008) have said it is not just the material and functional character of the technologies which is important but the potential of the use of mobile devices to contribute to a new “participatory culture.” They define such a culture as one “with relatively low barriers to artistic expression and civic engagement, strong support for creating and sharing one’s creations, and some type of informal mentorship whereby what is known by the most experienced is passed along to novices.... Participatory culture is emerging as the culture absorbs and responds to the explosion of new media technologies that make it possible for average consumers to archive, annotate, appropriate, and recirculate media content in powerful new ways.” (Jenkins et al, 2006: p8).

This paper wants to describe the pedagogic approach behind a new established video community called “Draufhaber.tv” (dab hand.tv). The video community aims at young people who produce how-to-do-videos with mobile devices. Draufhaber.tv will contribute to the “participatory culture” defined by Jenkins et al. (Jenkins et al, 2006: p8).

The goal is to reach socially disadvantaged youth with practical abilities who show their competences through videos. The vocational action competence is emphasized here in its functional conception (Breuer 2006) . The demonstration of vocational skills within the videos shall help to overcome barriers in the school-to-work transition. Videos will be used as e-portfolios and can supplement a job application. 

As for any other video platform, all levels of finished / unfinished content will be available. The platform will have a video editing tool integrated through which any content from the platform can be remixed. Members of the platform can use their own content and remix it with foreign content from other members of the platform, fostering the idea of bricolage by Claude Levi Strauss (2009). Credit will be given to the video producers as well as to the remixer in terms of achievement points.

The paper wants to explore possible contradictions between the remix culture of the Web 2.0 applications like draufhaber.tv and the analog world of vocational education.

Breuer, K., 2006. Kompetenzdiagnostik in der beruflichen Bildung–eine Zwischenbilanz. Zeitschrift für Berufs-und Wirtschaftspädagogik (ZBW) 102, Nr. 2: S. 194–210. Jenkins, H., Purushotoma, R., Clinton, K.A., Weigel, M., and Robison, A. J. (2006). Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century. White paper co-written for the MacArthur Foundation. Accessed July 14, 2008 from: http://www.projectnml.org/files/working/NMLWhitePaper.pdf Lenhardt, A., & Madden, M. (2005). Teen content creators and consumers. Retrieved April 21, 2007, from http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Teens_Content_Creation.pdf. Lévi-Strauss, C. (2009). Das wilde Denken 14. edit. Frankfurt a. M.: Suhrkamp