Thank you for considering contributing your valuable expertise to the Youth Learning Designers Scholarship Program! Your insights are crucial in ensuring the accuracy, relevance, and impact of the well-being content created by our young learning designers.
1. Welcome & Your Vital Role
The Youth Learning Designers Scholarship Program is a 5-week immersive training initiative empowering young people (ages 15-18) to design short (5-10 minute) online courses on critical well-being topics.
As a Subject Matter Expert (SME), you will provide specialized knowledge and guidance, helping our youth create content that is both accurate and accessible. Your contribution will directly shape the quality of the educational materials and inspire the next generation of learning content creators.
2. Your Role as a Subject Matter Expert (SME)
Your primary role is to act as a knowledgeable resource and guide for our young learning designers. You will:
- Prepare Course Content: Assist in preparing the factual and conceptual content for their chosen topics, ensuring accuracy and relevance.
- Suggest Content Refinement: Help youth narrow down topics, simplify complex ideas, and ensure the content is engaging and impactful for their peers.
- Provide Content Validation: Offer insights and feedback on the accuracy and appropriateness of the well-being information the youth are including in their courses.
- Share Practical Perspectives: Offer real-world examples or considerations related to the well-being topics, enriching the youth's understanding.
- Collaborate with Young Designers: Work directly with the youth to provide constructive feedback and suggestions on their course drafts.
3. Content Guidelines for Your Expertise
The courses designed by our youth are 5-10 minutes in duration, aimed at raising awareness, sparking thought, and introducing basic concepts for young people aged 15-18. When providing your expertise, please keep the following in mind:
- Focus on Basic Awareness & Ideation: The goal is not to deliver comprehensive professional training, but to provide foundational knowledge that can raise awareness, encourage critical thinking, and prompt further ideation among young learners. Think of it as planting seeds of understanding.
- Narrow & Focused Topics: Each 5-10 minute course will cover a very specific, narrow topic within the broader well-being themes. Your guidance in helping youth distill complex subjects into manageable, bite-sized pieces is invaluable.
- Example: Instead of "All About Mental Health," a course might be "3 Quick Ways to Manage Test Anxiety."
- Engaging & Relatable: Content should resonate with 15-18-year-olds. Encourage the use of relatable scenarios, simple language, and practical tips. Avoid overly academic or clinical jargon.
- Impactful Takeaways: What is the one key idea or action you want a young person to take away from this 5-10 minute module? Help the youth identify and emphasize these core messages.
- Good References & Learning Aspects: While simplified, the content should be grounded in reliable information. You can guide youth on where to find credible sources or suggest key points that should be referenced. Encourage them to include simple learning checks or reflection prompts.
- Accessibility: Ensure the language and concepts are accessible and inclusive for a diverse youth audience.
4. Collaboration with Young Learning Designers
You will primarily interact with the young learning designers during designated feedback sessions (virtual).
- Constructive Feedback: Provide specific, actionable, and encouraging feedback. Focus on what works well and suggest clear ways to improve. Remember, they are learning designers in training!
- Suggestions, Not Directives: Offer your expertise as suggestions and guidance, allowing the youth to make the final design decisions. Empower their ownership of the content.
- Focus on the "Why": When suggesting changes, explain why a particular approach or piece of information is more effective for their target audience and learning objectives.
- Be Patient and Supportive: This is a learning experience for them. Your patience and positive reinforcement will be highly valued.
5. Time Commitment
Your involvement will be flexible, primarily consisting of brief consultation or feedback sessions as needed, likely totaling a few hours over the program's duration. Specific scheduling will be coordinated by our Volunteer Coordinator.
Thank you for being a vital part of empowering the next generation of learning designers and contributing to youth well-being!