How can you create a cost-effective and sustainable learning program?

I have found that in the pool of volunteers for an organization lay the talent and skill to create curriculum that explains culture, mission, methods, values etc. as well as provide personal growth and development. Create a collaborative group of individuals, give them the framework and let them, on a volunteer basis, help create this content. This creates value for your volunteers and keeps them coming back to serve.

To create a learning program, consider your audience and present information logically. Use short lessons and simple language. Avoid jargon and technical language and prefer active voice and verbs. Remember not to change the curriculum, add new information, or remove important concepts. By following these guidelines, you can create an effective learning program that meets the needs of your learners.

In my experience, learning is a continuous experience and process, which gradually builds new learnings. While we can decide for ourselves our own learning needs on certain specific topics or thematic subject, it also relates to an Individual's interest to pursue or discontinue the learning process. The other point is the influence that promotes or creates a need to learn. This generally is a forced/induced learning process, where we are required to undergo a new learning, which is a need to aquire. Lastly learning at a self paced tenure, with self interest and a conscious effort to un-learn and re-learn something is an important element to one's learning.

Creating a cost-effective and sustainable learning program in Volunteer Management involves strategic planning, efficient use of resources, and a focus on long-term impact. Here are main points to develop such a program: Needs Assessment, Goal Setting, Online Resources, Peer Learning and Mentoring, Collaboration with Partners, In-House Training, Gamification, Measuring Impact, Flexible Learning Paths, Sustainability Strategies, Feedback Loop, Documentation and Knowledge Sharing, Community Building, Recognition and Incentives and Continuous Improvement.

“Attempting to liberate the oppressed without their reflective participation in the act of liberation is to treat them as objects that must be saved from a burning building.” Paulo Freire ||| My take is that a cost effective & sustainable learning program has to be first rooted in the core needs of a community of learners, supported by parents or mentors and priced as a cost-recovery community investment. Key (long-term) sustainable partners should be involved from the outset –governments, foundations, business, relevant institutions, making the initiative a “we” – a sense of pride & ownership unfolds. Once you have these key ingredients in the sustainable mix, things fall into place, people start visualizing the results. (LCA) 🍁

You often don't know your audience on a personal level to realise what's needed. When building online courses, I realised how much time it took to rework other learning content to make it suitable for learning portals. Research showed online courses need to be presented for various learning styles, I thought it'd be quick, as I had the content. I hadn't factored the time to rewrite the content to suit independent learning. I.e. a user sitting on their own without access to me for trouble shooting or Q&A. Video recordings for both visual & audio learners was easy & fast if editing isn't a priority. But if editing professionally is needed, add budget & time to finalise.

Online courses and peer group learning methods are effective tools to enhance one's knowledge and skills. Teams are always the best places to put our opinions and create fruitful discussions.

I helped introduce online training in my current organisation. There are loads of different options. Our budget was low. So I recorded on video in 5 different parts. Uploaded them to YouTube. Introduced a quiz for the end of each section that emailed me their answers. This was all added to a webpage with password protection. It worked well as we can get people to go through the training at anytime and it was very cheap to do

This aspect should consider the learning styles of learners, requirements to deliver effective learning that addresses the learning needs identified including finding qualified and experienced trainers and the right platform to deliver the learning experience.

First, know your people. Then know their learning styles. Understood not everyone learns the same. Adjust the lessons, training, sessions to the needs of the different learning styles do not try to fit everyone into the same program. In doing so your money will be better spent and the results will be beneficial for everyone!

Planning is the most important part of success. Without planning we are everywhere but nowhere. When we put a plan together for our growth, we take the first step. First step is the difficult step and eventually we follow 'action and self discipline'. Then things get into a series and we learn step by step.

Consider an advisory group that includes members of your intended audience as well as stakeholders who can help with implementation.

Plan all you want! If your plans do not meet up with the expectations of the people you are needing to educate your plans will fall short or not meet your original vision.

When planning these activities, ensure this is tethered to the institution's mission. This is a good way to workaround any pushback and make volunteers more likely to understand the goals. It's also necessary to decide what activities are the most important and will have the most impact -- trying to pack in too much at once can be overwhelming and have the opposite effect.

Plan your learning activities thoughtfully by establishing a structured curriculum that aligns with your organization's goals. Break down the program into manageable modules, each addressing specific learning objectives. Incorporate a mix of interactive activities, assessments, and real-world applications to enhance engagement and knowledge retention. This strategic planning ensures a cohesive and sustainable learning experience.

One thing I have found helpful is to journal after a training program or workshop to work towards integrating what I have learned. Often times we attend conferences and training and put the materials away and don’t look at them ever again. Writing down a plan on how to incorporate new learning that resonated with you is integral to growing and succeeding!

To create a cost-effective, sustainable learning program centered on volunteer management, begin by assessing volunteers' learning needs using SMART goals. Develop a curriculum based on a research-oriented framework, ensuring it aligns with the identified needs. Utilize volunteer management software to streamline processes and consider a blended learning approach that incorporates various methods for optimal effectiveness. Lastly, regularly evaluate and improve the program to ensure it continually meets volunteers' needs and aligns with the evolving dynamics of volunteer management.

The implementation phase is equally important as the planning. If someone makes best plans but does not implement, it's not worth it. Planning and implementation go hand in hand to achieve result oriented goals.

I address implementation of our drug prevention program as if it was a franchise. This is necessary because other communities replicate it. As such, I have created a program model for prevention that can be downloaded from our website with a video training included. The live presentation to families is delivered via Power Point that can be downloaded complete with presenter notes. A digital program manual covers all aspects of our program as well as volunteer training details for the specific roles.

Effectively implement your learning program by: - Clearly communicating the program's purpose, goals, and benefits to participants. - Providing accessible resources and support systems for learners. - Using technology to facilitate easy access to learning materials. - Encouraging participation and engagement through discussions, forums, or group activities. - Regularly evaluating and adjusting the program based on participant feedback and evolving organizational needs. This proactive approach ensures a smooth and successful rollout of your cost-effective and sustainable learning initiative.

One thing I've found useful is to use a 360-evaluation form. This helps members (pilot group/test team) share their feedback by responding to questions based on how they participated in the training activity. They share views on how they understood the overall goals and objectives, how they contributed to the successful implementation of these activities, challenges they encountered, how they resolved or tried resolving it, amongst others. They wrap up their evaluation by sharing their impressions on how the project lead was able to explain the end goal to them and provide recommendations for future activities, if possible.

Being honest about your strengths and weaknesses is necessary when evaluating your learning program. It isn’t a bad idea to allow unbiased parties to evaluate your strengths and weakness. They can provide honest feedback to help you improve.

Evaluation and monitoring on intervals helps us how much we learn and how we learn. We also reflect on the methods through which we learn. Monitoring and evaluation steps are very important steps in any kind of project either personal growth or project implementation for a firm.

Setting goals before the program even begins is an objective way to measure success. Based upon the data that comes from the measurements an analysis can be conducted to evaluate progress.

For the fifth step, evaluate your program's effectiveness: 1. Data Collection: Gather feedback and data from volunteers and stakeholders. 2. Utilize Diverse Methods: Employ surveys, quizzes, interviews, focus groups, and case studies for both quantitative and qualitative insights. 3. Encourage Self and Peer Evaluation: Foster reflection and learning from personal and shared experiences. 4. Analyze Results: Identify the strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement and innovation in your learning program. This process ensures continuous growth and effectiveness of your program.

Always include lesson learning process in the program, this gives room for one to understand where gaps have been noticed and also feedbacks from stakeholders through impact evaluation process.

Creating a culture of continuous improvement comes from being willing to regularly and systematically review review findings and feedback. In addition to being hyper-focused on your stated outcomes be sure to include some sort of open ended question that lets your participants bring in what ever landed for them in the process. I've learned the most important and valuable things that I did not expect through this practice.

As you sift through the evaluation findings and immerse yourself in the valuable feedback, consider it a compass guiding you toward enhancement. This phase is your opportunity to fine-tune the symphony of your learning needs, methods, and activities. Imagine your learning program as a living, breathing entity that evolves and adapts based on the insights gleaned from your reflective process. When you've polished those edges and made those crucial adjustments, take a moment to revel in your achievements. Celebrate the victories, both big and small, and don't shy away from sharing the narrative of your journey; a dynamic presentation, an engaging blog post, or the buzz of social media, broadcast the success stories and the lessons learned.

One of the biggest wins I believe helps learnings and program development is focus groups. This allow anyone who really wants to have change made and sustainable is to get the buy in of those who you really want to help.

My contribution is a bit outside of the idea of creating the learning system and more on the cost effective side. It is extremely important to plan well and to implement carefully. It is crucial consider learning styles and do everything to encourage and motivate learners, to patiently help the person who is motivated but struggles to learn. However, there are times where a person refuses to put forth the effort to learn. I'm all about giving people grace but have learned there is a time to ask them to leave as well. When someone stays to long they discourage others and take a lot of time and resources with no positive return. Plan and implement well. Provide resources and give grace. Know when it's time to say goodbye.

Invest in the creative talents of those already employed. Give opportunities to share ideas and innovation. Create an environment of trust and buy in to the mission and direction of the company. Allow employees to volunteer on behalf of the company and announce successes.

To craft a cost-effective and sustainable learning program, consider leveraging open-source educational resources and platforms while customizing content to meet specific needs. Additionally, incorporating interactive elements and peer collaboration can enhance engagement. Personalizing learning paths based on individual progress fosters a more effective and tailored experience.

Some things that have helped in the creation of onboarding our volunteers was making sure that our needs aligned with the volunteers. It is pointless if the volunteers have no interest in the organisation's vision and mission. Transparency, communication and honesty is very important and it is equally important to note that sometimes there will be instances where the fit just is not appropriate. You have to know when this is happening and terminate amicably rather than cause resentment within the team.

I encourage students to create three folders to add value to their career e-portfolio. A Wins Folder, A Value Added/Skills Folder and an Ideas Folder