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Troop Committee Challenge Online


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I have not looked at the online version either but I object on principle same as nldscout. Having taught the modual several times I know the difference in achievment at the unit level when a single person attended and when I presented it to a unit committee as a group. Sometimes making it easier to be "Trained" is counter productive to the intent of the training. All that said if it comes down to online training or no training (becasue leaders just will not attend) then I'll go with online.

LongHaul

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I went to the site and did the Troop Committee Challenge, Fast Start, Safe Swim Defense, Safety Afloat and Youth Protection Training. Combined, the five modules took a total of an hour and a half - and thats reading every word, listening to every audio, taking every test and printing out the certificates. I did not have to waste an hour driving to and fro, waste another 15 minutes for the trainer to wait until more people showed up, did not have to listen to the same information being repeated 3-4 times, and did not have to put up with hearing the 'war stories' and 'opinions' of people more interested in talking about themselves than learning or instructing. There were a few things I picked up on that I do not recall from live training. I was able to do it while half paying attention to American Idol and eating a bowl of chocolate almond ice cream.

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I like the fact that it is online. Our council does not deliver this training. They deliver what has to be the most deadly-boring and useless troop committee training on earth. (well ok, I wouldn't like to judge that competition! But it is really, really bad.) When I've asked in the past about TCC, various district training folks have informed me alternately that a) TCC does not exist, b) there is no syllabus for it, or c) there might be a syllabus but no one has it. At least this way, people who would like to actually learn something from training have a fighting chance of doing so, without wondering whether they're going to get a trainer who even knows anything about the program.

 

That said, yes of course putting a group training online encourages individuals to do the training in isolation. But here's a thought: troop committee chairs could ask people to do segments of the training and then use them as a springboard for targeted discussion at the next committee meeting. Sort of an on-going approach to training.

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Lisa just hit on something I have been thinking about, but was hesitant to post...

 

But since you brought it up....

 

Would it be too off the wall to set up a computer with Internet and a projector in a group training environment and run through a module with the group? You could have discussions on key elements of the training.

 

Just a thought.

 

Eagle Pete

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  • 2 weeks later...

I like the online training for two reasons.

One:I have been a Troop committee member for 7 years now and have never been able to take the official class as it was only offered once a year and always conflicted with something.

Two: If the trainee looks at all the links, then it would be safe to assume that each person viewing the training module will receive the same content. That is not to say that the live version does not, but it seems more consistant. You do lose the comradery and friendships that may arise from live training though. Someone posted that perhaps the live version should show the online training module and add discussion time. That sounds like a good idea too. Does anyone know anything about expiration dates on the on line training courses? The certificate does not list any, but I know that the live version of some training such as Safe Swim, listed an expiration date.

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Hi Brian,

 

Yes the two are different, because packs and troops are different creatures, and the tasks performed by committees are therefore different as well. Probably the most obvious difference is that in troops, committee members will be asked to sit on Boards of Review for scouts seeking advancement. But also, the relationship between committee and scoutmaster is probably more complex than the relationship between committee and cubmaster - at least, that's my perspective as a committee member in both programs.

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Yes, pack and troop are different. However, there are a lot of similarities. Our area never seemed to offer pack committe training, but after I took the troop committee training I felt like I'd learned a lot about the pack committee operation as well.

 

I agree with Lisa'bob that the troop is more complex. The troop does boards of review, and it also deals with a more dispersed decision-making organization.

 

I see that recently our council has been offering pack committee training at Cub Scout leader training events. I may have to take that sometime and see how it is.

 

In general I like that training forces you to talk with other leaders - there are definitely benefits to getting people together. But on the whole, I think it's good to offer TCC on-line. I don't know that I'd want all training to be available that way - but we can probably adapt.

 

Oak Tree

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Our troop decided to use the on-line training as preliminary training. We will then do the group training for the committee. We also encourage the Scoutmasters to attend so they can understand what the committee does. We also encourage the committee members to attend Scoutmaster training.

 

Ed

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