IMO, the primary strength of this initiative will be the those presentations that are recorded and become available for LATER viewing “as part of a ARRL Learning Network library”. We hear from many sources that younger folks don’t read handbooks and user manuals, and I know from watching my 29-y/o son how true that is. What this age group DOES do is watch video tutorials ten minutes before undertaking a specific task: "How to Rebuild a MerCruiser Lower Unit”, etc. For me, the problem with that approach is that for every excellent YouTube video out there I have to wade through a half-dozen or more that range from “terrible” to “boring” to “off-target” to “decidedly unsafe recommendations”. A library of useful presentations to hams at all stages of the learning-about-ham-radio process has the potential to boost ARRL’s “stock” among the general ham population PROVIDED we make sure that all such library videos have been vetted for such matters as: * Safety * Interesting, attention-holding, and upbeat presentation skills * Accuracy of (technical, regulatory, etc.) information conveyed * Clarity and SNR of dialog and other audio content And I’m sure there are more categories that need to be added to that short bullet list above. If we adhere to a rigorous selection process, gradually amateurs will learn that they waste the least amount of time by selecting an ARRL Learning Network video. Most importantly: Vetting needs to be done by people who are good representatives of the TARGET populations, not just the experts in those topics. Bud, W2RU On Tue, Jun 23, 2020 at 1:31 PM Shelley, Barry, N1VXY (CEO) <bshelley@arrl.org<mailto:bshelley@arrl.org>> wrote: Good afternoon: I wanted to inform the Board of a new initiative we are launching that has been named “The ARRL Learning Network” -- a series of online webinars presented by member-volunteers, for members. While somewhat a reaction to the pandemic, like hamfest forums and radio club presentations, these webinars are intended to help members get more active, involved, and engaged in amateur radio. Prospective speakers will be invited to complete an online form including their topic and other information. A cross-departmental staff team will select speakers to schedule for the webinars. At least initially, the webinars will be hosted using our 500-seat GotoWebinar account, though we will likely evaluate Zoom, too. Webinars will be recorded, and some will be made available for viewing as part of a ARRL Learning Network library. In this way we will be able to control the quality of both the content and the presentation for distribution. Motivation for the Learning Network stems from a handful of goals and interests: • We want to identify more subject matter experts for our future online course member benefit, the ARRL Learning Center. In addition, this might also help identify content providers for our line of publications (both books and periodicals) although that is not the primary purpose. • We want to position ARRL and our experienced member-volunteers as a regular source of quality learning and skills development in amateur radio. • We want to be able to respond to regular requests from our affiliated radio clubs for quality programming, particularly clubs that lack ready access to presenters, or have a last-minute speaker cancellation. • We want to bolster the ARRL membership proposition. The live webinars and recorded presentations are intended for members and will create additional value in the membership. To help initially identify potential presenters, we will be enlisting the SMs in this first step as, individually, each is well connected with known speakers and presenters from throughout the clubs and hamfests in their Section. We will be sending out the attached Call for Speakers to the SMs later this week. Our current plan is to begin scheduling speakers for webinars as early as mid-July. The ARRL Learning Network is the creation of, and is being developed by, Kris Bickell for Lifelong Learning, and Bob Inderbitzen for Product Development. Steve Ford, for Publications, will provide additional support for vetting speakers and topics. Ally Flynn, also for Lifelong Learning, will provide additional support and coordination for the program and speakers. Overall it calls for a collaboration across functions at HQ and it uses qualified member-volunteers to help us reach our objectives, two things we have been criticized for in the past. Right now the program is labeled “beta” as we anticipate making modifications as we introduce and evaluate the webinars. Please let me know if you have any questions and we will try and answer them. 73, Barry, N1VXY _______________________________________________ arrl-odv mailing list arrl-odv@reflector.arrl.org<mailto:arrl-odv@reflector.arrl.org> https://reflector.arrl.org/mailman/listinfo/arrl-odv _______________________________________________ arrl-odv mailing list arrl-odv@reflector.arrl.org<mailto:arrl-odv@reflector.arrl.org> https://reflector.arrl.org/mailman/listinfo/arrl-odv