The Future is Here
A New Digital System Is Loading…
It’s been a dream since the beginning of the new youth program journey, and it’s coming soon. A new digital system for Scouts Australia will be launched later this year.
A dynamic and exciting digital system has been part of the Program vision throughout every step of the journey. From the beginning of the youth program review, through to the launch of the Program at AJ2019, we have been excited to embark on a journey to develop a revolutionary digital system to support and empower our members into the future.
Our vision and design brief were clear – to create the best personal progression and programming tool for youth members and adults. Our new digital system will be focused around the creation and the delivery of our youth program for members, as well as effective reporting to help youth and adult leaders continue to grow Scouting.
Our new system will deliver:
Programming
- Modular, flexible programming which can adapt to however youth members want to program.
- Automatic and simple linking between program items youth members create and their Achievement Pathways, including:
- Attendance/participation, to the next relevant Milestone
- Milestone assist and lead
- Event information
- Duration
- Challenge Area
- Logistics
- Location
- Scout Method elements linked
- Youth members can contribute ideas for program items to a sharing library for inspiration.
- Relevant and appropriate parent access to the program.
- Engaging Review> features.
Achievement Pathways
- Full details of achievements and partial achievements will be maintained. This includes Program Essentials, Outdoor Adventure Skills, Special Interest Areas, peak awards and other awards.
- Members can use the system to access factsheets and more information about a component of the program.
- Youth members can nominate parts of the Achievement Pathways as the next step that they want to learn, participate in or work towards.
- Links between achievements will be automatic, for example in parts of the Outdoor Adventure Skills.
- Members will be able to upload photos, links, videos, files and documents to show completion.
- Length in section & in Scouting can be tracked.
- Youth members will be able to visually track their achievements, programs and peak award progress across their entire Scouting journey.
Outdoor Adventure Skills
- Dynamic tick box based statements of competency that youth members can complete.
- These are continuous across all Sections.
- I-Statements & guidance statements for the whole of the Outdoor Adventure Skills will be available when required.
- A feature packed log book will track a youth members journey throughout Scouting.
Special Interest Areas
- The system will support a youth member through all Plan>Do>Review> steps of a Special Interest Area.
- Multiple projects in the same area are possible for any youth member.
- Subject matter experts can confirm completion of a project.
- An interactive ideas builder will support project development.
Personal Progression
- Youth members will have access to their own personal achievements, Unit programs and information.
- Youth members will use the tool to Plan>Do>Review> everything they do in Scouting.
- Parents will access the data of their younger youth members.
- Adults, the Unit Council and Patrol Leaders will be able to approve different levels of activities, events and personal progression.
- Ability to record Milestone achievements and participates, assists and leads; also personal milestone reflections.
- Youth leading, adult supporting with awesome support for Patrols, Unit Councils, Project Patrols, and youth councils.
Administration
- Youth members in leadership positions will be empowered to support their Unit’s administration.
- Key elements of the system will be accessible offline.
- Automatic draft saving.
- The whole system is Child Safe including any planning and communication.
- Simple and efficient notifications which take the member to the action straight away.
- A diversity of reports will be provided to support program development at all levels of Scouting.
It’s going to be a system that will be just as dynamic and modern as our new youth program is, and we know it will further improve the Scouting experience for all members.
Development started in January 2020 and we are well underway, with great progress so far. It will take some time to build all of the features that we know are needed to support the program and our members. Ongoing Review> and refinement is an important part of our plan, so keep in mind that some of these features might take time to perfect.
Working with our developer over the last few weeks, we have been inspired by their creativity, innovative problem solving and passion for this project. Their dedication, hard work and deep understanding on what Scouting does and why we all love to be involved is proudly on display. They’re talking our language! There is strong collaboration between the developers and Scouts Australia, and we are building the best system possible.
We intend for this system to launch in the middle of 2020.
There’s plenty more to do. We will be testing the system to ensure we’ve developed a tool that can do everything to support the delivery of the youth program. We are really excited for launch day and hopefully you are too!
