Youth Action for Change

Introduction | Learn with YAC | Teach with YAC | Subscribe | Current Courses on Offer

Introduction

With a mission of “Education in Action”, YAC is the world’s leading and pioneering provider of free, online, action-focused educational courses and opportunities in a vast array of subjects providing young people in developing nations with the knowledge & tools they need to make change happen, supporting and empowering them to realize their vision of a fairer, safer and more equitable world.

YAC courses not only teach young people around the world about vital developmental issues facing them from HIV to Entrepreneurship, but also empower them to do something about these issues, starting local community projects and passing their new knowledge to their peers.

Our courses emphasize peer-to-peer education, being taught by young people for young people. Experienced young people and professionals from around the world volunteer to develop action oriented courses, and teach YAC’s participants through YAC’s online platform. Young people log into YAC’s courses through internet café’s (hired by YAC) or from their universities or homes.

One of the key aims of YAC’s courses and one of YAC’s fundamental principles is to empower young people into contributing to helping their communities to develop and overcome key issues while also educating their peers. YAC courses are designed with this notion at the forefront, with an aim to empower the participants into understanding how to translate their skills into helping their communities. Many YAC students have then progressed to starting their own community projects often using peer-to-peer education.

YAC also occasionally runs courses specifically tailored towards the needs of other development organisations to assist them with educating youth about specific issues.

Over 1000 youth from over 100 countries have participated in YAC’s courses to date. The courses, open to everyone, are free of charge and run for approximately 1-3 months, covering three main areas:

• Community development: this include fundraising, project management, finance management, media skills and others.
• Business: the website will include templates, sample form for budgets and business plans, and courses about management and marketing, among many others.
• Other subjects: there will be specific courses on health, the environment, human rights or fair trade and more.

YAC are always accepting expressions of interest from students interested in taking part in our innovative courses and teachers who would like to develop and run a YAC course. To take part in our free online courses, you should become a YAC member, and you can do so by simply sending a blank email to: youthactionforchange-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

If your interested in taking part in a YAC course please click on “learn with YAC”.  If your interested in teaching with YAC or developing a course, please click on “teach with YAC”. Upon successful completion of any course and the assessment criteria including assignments, participants will be provided with a Certificate of Attendance.

(Picture) YAC students in Papua New Guinea participate in a course on Developing Youth Media. Many participants in this course went on to develop community youth media projects in TV and radio raising awareness of vital issues such as HIV.

Learn with YAC

YAC students are typically youth aged 18 to 30 who have a strong passion for helping their communities, through learning about vital issues affecting them and then learning the skills needed for them to take action in their community.

YAC students come from a variety of backgrounds, they may be studying at high school or universities, working at an NGO or for a local business, they may be community leaders or they may be looking for work. What brings them together and towards YAC is that they have a desire to learn more about how to help others, they want to learn how to improve their own skills, and they want to learn about key development issues. Each virtual classroom is populated by students from many corners of the world, making the learning environment dynamic and very interesting. Students bring a vivid rang of perspectives and experiences together, sharing stories, asking questions and contributing to a highly interactive learning environment.

YAC courses equip young people with the knowledge and skills they need to help themselves. A broad range of courses are taught, ranging from development issues to tangible skills which could be used to start or better manage community & social development projects or to help the students themselves to start small enterprises and make a living.

When selecting candidates, YAC generally looks for young people who show passion in the course being offered, and who show an interest in using that knowledge to make a difference. Many YAC students aspire to use the knowledge they gain from a YAC course to begin projects and we encourage all applicants to have this as a motive when considering applying.

YAC courses are run throughout the year. Some courses are planned well in advance and registration is open for them roughly three months prior to commencement. However, in the majority of cases, courses are announced roughly three months prior to their commencement and notice of the course will be advertised through YAC’s mailing lists and on its website. Students will then be able to register their interest through email or online from our website.

Once accepted and enrolled into a YAC course, students will receive a detailed guide to assist them in preparing for the course.

To read our student guide, please click here.

To see our current course offerings please click here.

Teach With YAC

Keen on sharing your skills and experiences with young people in developing countries and helping to teach them about vital issues? YAC’s pioneering action focused courses have won numerous awards world-wide. YAC are always recruiting new teachers to develop and run courses on a range of topics. If you have skills which you believe could help young people, we would greatly like to hear from you and help you build a course around them.

YAC’s teachers are generally aged between 24 and 35, and have not only a high level of knowledge and understanding about a certain topic area, but also experience in transforming that knowledge into successful community projects. YAC teachers are social entrepreneurs, committed and experienced individuals who have led projects, and been successful in their chosen fields.

However one of the most important characteristics of YAC teachers is their passion to help other young people learn about vital development issues and make changes in their communities. This is what primarily drives them to volunteer as teachers through YAC and help empower youth around the world.


Commitments for YAC instructors:


Teaching with YAC is a privilege, while also an extremely rewarding experience, bringing with it the opportunity to help many young people around the world who may not have the opportunity to learn about vital issues and develop essential skills. With this opportunity comes responsibility and YAC instructors typically volunteer up to ten hours per week while teaching a course, and usually less during the weeks spent preparing. This is especially true for new courses which are written from scratch, however repeat courses involve less preparation time.

YAC courses usually involve weekly virtual lectures or discussions with the participants which are complemented by take home tasks or assignments. Assignments may be writing a short essay, contributing to a group Wiki, taking part in a chat with an field expert or also undertaking a basic community project using the skills learned during the course.

Teachers are responsible for preparing the weekly discussions and assignment, collecting and evaluating the assignments completed each week and finally, keeping track of the student’s individual participation. Only those participants completing all assignments and work are awarded a certificate at the end of the course.

In addition, YAC encourages participants to complete a project aimed at helping their community following the completion of the course. The design of the project will be up to the participant and will generally be based on applying the new skills and knowledge learnt during the training. Projects range from simply utilizing peer-to-peer education to pass on their new knowledge to their peers, to more complex community development projects. Instructors are encouraged to keep in touch with their students following the course with tips and occasional messages to encourage them to follow through with transforming their education into action and contributing back to their communities.

Teachers will be provided with a teaching and course preparation guide before commencing teaching with YAC.

To read our introduction guide to teaching with YAC, please click here.

To register your interest in volunteering to teach with YAC or developing courses for YAC, please register here http://tiny.cc/teach_with_yac

Subscribe:

Courses are generally advertised through YAC's mailing list which you can subscribe to my sending a blank email to:

youthactionforchange-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Courses currently being offered:

Free Online Short Course on “Innovation in Youth Self-Employment”
Brought to you by Youth Action for Change

Click here to register!!

Course Dates: 13th September – 8th August

Course Description:
Learn about youth unemployment and innovative approaches to encouraging self-employment, taught using case studies of self-employment projects. This course is designed for young people aged 18-30 who are actively involved in making a difference in their communities. The course aims to help its participants learn about youth unemployment, and innovative approaches to encouraging self employment opportunities. The participants will be empowered to undertake their own self-employment project following the course. The course will be restricted to 10 participants chosen by application. Participants must be able to attend all sessions of the course and complete homework tasks in order to obtain a certificate of completion. Participants must also have regular internet access (at least 5 hours per week) to join course sessions. Students who may also be disadvantaged are also encouraged to apply.

About Youth Action for Change:
Youth Action for Change (YAC) is an innovative international youth run organization which equips young people with knowledge and skills that enable them to directly get involved in improving their communities. With a mission of “Education in Action”, YAC offers free, online, youth-led educational courses and opportunities in a vast array of subjects providing young people with the knowledge & tools they need to make change happen, supporting and empowering them to realize their vision of a fairer, safer and more equitable world

Application (HOW TO APPLY):
Register your interest in participating in this online course by reading the YAC student guide attached and completing the online application form at [ http://tiny.cc/emjiq ] by the 19th of August 2010. Successful participants will be notified by the 5th of September.

Youth Leadership, Sustainability and Ethics

Registration closed.

Earth Charter International secretariat and Youth Action for Change organize a free online short course on “Youth Leadership, Sustainability and Ethics”. The course takes place in August 12 - September 9. This course is part of YAC’s series of educational online courses.

Course Dates and times:

* Session 1, August 12th, 3pm-5pm GMT,
Earth Charter, Sustainable Development and Youth Leadership

* Session 2, August 26th, 3pm-5pm GMT,
Learning from Successful Projects

* Session 3, September 9th, 3pm-5pm GMT,
Planning for Sustainable Action Projects inspired by the Earth Charter

Course Description:
The problems of today’s world are more complex than ever. They are highly interconnected and interdependent. We face climate change, vast exploitation of natural resources, population growth, growing gap between rich and poor, and social inequity, among many others. To be able to respond to these challenges future leaders need a new and innovative interdisciplinary approach.

The short course aims to support the participants to realize their role as leaders for more sustainable future and to help them to learn what the common, global values are. The aim is that after the course the participants are aware of the principles for sustainability and they will comprehend how those can be used as a tool on individual and organizational level. The course drives for positive change in participants’ everyday lives and creates a sense of global responsibility.

The ultimate aim is to further develop the capabilities necessary to conduct Earth Charter inspired action projects in the participants’ own communities and link the participants with the wider youth community working for more sustainable future.

The course is delivered using a number of online technologies that are available for use by the general public and for free.

 For more info, please see the Earth Charter's site (click here)

To read our student guide, please click here.

Topics coming soon in 2010:

Sustainable Development (July/August)

Women's Rights (June/July)

Recent Courses 2010:

Non-profit management skills (May 2010)

Intro to Journalism (May 2010)

Successful Grant Writing Skills (March 2010)