The MSplus Foundation wants to provide low or no-cost training to persons with multiple sclerosis who need technology skills. Using GenTutors -- students aged 13-18 who have certified expertise working with technology and people – we are asking you to help fund the development of the organization structure necessary to deliver this training.
Background: “Kids Teaching Adults Technology” … what a great concept. This simple yet profound idea has been realized in the Generation YES program, which originated as a U.S. Department of Education Technology Innovation Challenge Grant (TICG) by Dr. Dennis Harper under the name, "Generation www.Y".
The foundation for Generation YES is the extensive involvement of students as collaborative partners with their teachers, their school, their school district, and the local community to assist in restructuring education through instructional and telecommunications technologies.
The backbone of the Generation YES model is the Generation www.Y class described in detail on their website at www.GenYES.org. A GenDID is a student who has successfully completed the Gen www.Y course or has demonstrated expertise working with technology and people. This course consists of four major strands: (1) leadership skills, (2) local community leaders, (3) community service, and (4) advanced technology skills. This class provides the opportunity for students to become proactive leaders in their school and community though the extensive use of advanced technology.
GenTutors are selected from this pool of GenDID "experts" to provide low or no-cost tutoring that a disabled and/or elderly person might not otherwise be able to afford or access. Ultimately, the linking will be online, but initial, face-to-face training sessions may be required.
The initial curriculum will emulate the Gen www.Y course, offering Basic Electronic Communications, Collaborative Electronic Communication, Researching on the Web, Digital Media, Publishing on the Web, and Presentation Tools & Skills. Many GenTutors possess knowledge and skills related to computer hardware, software and Internet use that go far beyond this basic curriculum. Ultimately, we will expand the online offerings to teaching software applications (Word, PowerPoint, etc.).
Objectives: The MSplus Foundation intends to design, develop, and install a tutoring system and operating structure to accomplish the purpose described above. This project will demonstrate:
1. the ability of GenYES, Inc. to reliably provide effective GenDIDs to the GenTutor website;
2. the ability to effectively deliver MS clients to the GenTutor website; and
3. the ability to get clients or charitable Foundations to pay for sessions, no matter how reasonably priced.
Project Information: The MSplus Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation (Federal EIN: 91-1992981). One of its founders, Dr. Jerry Barney, is on the boards of two non-profit agencies: South Sound Options Unlimited (www.SSOU.org) and the MSplus Foundation (www.MSplus.org). He serves as Webmaster on a pro bono basis for those agencies as well as the Kiwanis Club of Olympia (www.OlympiaKiwanis.org). Dr. Barney has a doctorate in Instructional Technology from Columbia University and extensive experience working with the elderly and disabled.
Dr. Dennis Harper, the founder of Generation www.Y, has provided a Letter of Interest on behalf of Generation YES, Inc. that states that the “GenTutors project offers a genuinely needed service that further enables our GenDID students to ‘use their technology expertise to benefit not only their school but their community.’” The full letter can be viewed at http://OlympiaWebTrust.org/html/GenYESletter.pdf.
TutorsEdge is a leading provider of virtual classroom services for education institutions. TutorsEdge provides the proprietary vClass™ Virtual Classroom that includes powerful one-to-one and one-to-many administrative and reporting tools. The TutorsEdge classroom enables instructors and learners to interact in a variety of ways, including: speaking to each other live; using whiteboard technology; sharing documents; chatting and browsing the Web together. GenTutor will license the TutorsEdge classroom technology and use a custom-tailored version as the basis for the GenTutor system.
Finally, we are seeking the support of affinity groups that represent elderly and/or disabled persons, in order to efficiently locate, schedule and manage the users of this service. The National MS Society has provided a Letter of Interest that states that their client community “could definitely use the low- or no-cost training services your organization provides” and their intent to “help locate the people in need of these services.” The full letter can be viewed at http://OlympiaWebTrust.org/html/NMSS.pdf.
Funding Needs: OlympiaWebTrust seeks funding to demonstrate the system necessary to link GenTutors™ with online learners. Our primary financial objective is to raise the funds necessary to initiate the selection of GenTutors; demonstrate the feasibility of using the TutorsEdge virtual classroom; and define the mechanism(s) by which learners will be enlisted and make payments for training. The learners may be charged a nominal fee for tutoring sessions. The fee will go to pay the GenTutors for their time, plus reasonable operating costs for the venture, based on a break-even financial model. “Scholarships” and other grants will be sought to defray fees for tutees, based on financial need.
More information can be found on our website at http://OlympiaWebTrust.org. Click on the GenTutors Initiative button on the initial left menu.
