Now in its third year, the eLearning Global Giveback Competition provides the e-Learning community with an opportunity to help change the world. International non-profits that do important work in humanitarian relief, development, conservation and social justice use eLearning to build the capacity of their global staff on the frontlines in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the former Soviet Union. The eLearning courses these agencies need are destined to help their staff learn important skills and gain knowledge to do their jobs even better. In some cases, the learning audience is beyond the agency, and includes some of their beneficiaries and volunteers (for example, Habitat for Humanity volunteers, clinician or teacher training). Agencies that are members of LINGOs (Learning in NGOs) are eligible to participate.
The eLearning Guild and LINGOs founded the competition in 2009 and sponsored the first two competitions, in which eLearning volunteers designed and developed over 50 courses for LINGOs member agencies. In the third round, OpenSesame partners with LINGOs and the eLearning Guild to sponsor the eLearning Global Giveback competition.
LINGOs Executive Director Eric Berg explains some changes for the third year. "We'll have four course entry categories this time,” he said. “The Categories will include learning simulations or games, learning where the subject matter expert and content comes from the field (vs HQ), mobile learning, and a general category.” Volunteers will enter their courses to be judged either as individuals / teams of individuals or as corporate entries where a team from one company works together to develop a course.
To facilitate the matching process between volunteers and agencies, for the 2011 competition, organizers are leveraging the LinkedIn professional network. Both volunteers and agency representatives should join the eLearning Global Giveback Group on LinkedIn and follow instructions below. Courses developed in 2011 on a volunteer basis for LINGOs member agencies and submitted by December 16, 2011 are eligible for the competition.
To participate:
LINGOs member agencies should post messages to the LinkedIn eLearning Global Giveback group regarding course needs (separate post for each course), with specifics about their topic, objectives, audience, specifications regarding authoring tools, whether the volunteer can use the course in a portfolio, and the timeframe for development. Please be sure that your LinkedIn profile includes information about your agency (link to the agency LinkedIn profile where one exists).
Volunteers should highlight their eLearning skills, instructional design and eLearning development skills in the LinkedIn Profile. This info can be highlighted in the Summary and Skills sections of the LinkedIn Profile. Once you’ve joined the eLearning Global Giveback group, please post a message that describes your interest, and any time restrictions (for example, “Hi, I’m an instructional designer and XXX Authoring tool user, interested in developing a …. Simulation/mobile/field generated learning resource. I have time available to volunteer in for the June and July 2011.” Please keep in mind that the discussions persist and dates will not be clear to future readers unless you include them.
Feel free to contact organizers via email to globalgiveback (at) LINGOs.org. To
ensure that e-mail regarding Global Giveback does not end up in your Junk E-mail or SPAM folder, please add
globalgiveback (at) lingos.org and
anaraquel (at) lingos.org to your list of permitted senders.
About LINGOs
LINGOs is a not-for-profit consortium of over 55 international humanitarian relief, development, conservation and social justice organizations that share learning resources and experiences. By providing the latest learning technologies and courses from our partners, LINGOs helps these agencies strengthen their greatest resource, their global staff. As globally dispersed staff members increase their skills, they increase the impact of their programs.
Created in 2005 as a means for organizations to share learning resources, the LINGOs community is continuously expanding. LINGOs has served as a central contact point for private sector organizations interested in assisting the sector but who want to see their contributions of software, courseware, systems and services leveraged across many organizations. Through the generous support of partners in the private sector, LINGOs makes available a wide range of courses as well as tools for developing, distributing and implementing learning strategies.
About The eLearning Guild
The eLearning Guild is the oldest and most trusted source of information, networking, and community for e-Learning Professionals. As a member-driven organization, the Guild produces conferences, online events, e-books, research reports, and Learning Solutions Magazine — all devoted to the idea that the people who know the most about making e-Learning successful are the people who produce e-Learning every day in corporate, government, and academic settings. Guild membership is all about members sharing with, and learning from, other members. That’s why we call it a Community of Practice. Our goal is to create a place where e-Learning professionals can share their knowledge, expertise, and ideas to build a better industry—and better learning experiences — for everyone.
About OpenSesame
OpenSesame connects learners and content providers directly in a marketplace where elearning courses are easy to publish and connect to any LMS. Open Sesame’s open marketplace connects elearning content providers with the thousands of companies shopping for elearning courses. OpenSesame’s goal is to create a community where both buyers and sellers thrive and elearning is accessible, easy to implement and rewarding for everyone.