Using a technology-based tool in advancement

5.0.8.0. Someone proposes using a technology-based tool in advancement

Videoconferencing, live streaming webinars, mobile and web-based applications. The Guide observes that these have expanded rapidly into the culture of Scouting, and then draws a line through them that the rest of this plan follows.

Milestone

5.0.8.0. Useful for administration, handled with care in delivery

The distinction the whole topic turns on. These tools save time on administrative tasks — managing records for membership, training and advancement — and leaders must take care when using them to deliver and implement the advancement program. The Guide sets "deliver and implement" in italics.

Requirement

5.0.8.0. A plan for Youth Protection in electronic communication Recommended

The first of the five actions the Guide offers as examples: create a plan for promoting compliance with Youth Protection guidelines related to electronic communications within units.

Task

5.0.8.0. A process for approving technology-based boards of review Recommended

The second example action, and the one that makes a videoconference Eagle Scout board of review possible at all: develop a process for approving them, and the Guide points at the videoconferencing topic for what such a board must then look like.

Task

5.0.8.0. A plan for approving and monitoring counselors who work online Recommended

The third example action: plan how to approve and monitor merit badge counselors who offer their services online to Scouts in the council — and the quality of the experience for the Scouts who take those offers up.

Task

5.0.8.0. A way to confirm registration with a counselor's home council Recommended

The fourth example action: consider how to confirm with their home councils that counselors operating online are registered and approved for the merit badges they counsel. Online counseling makes a counselor's registration harder to see, and this is the answer to that.

Task

5.0.8.0. Guidelines that keep the actual testing in a personal setting Recommended

The fifth example action, and the one that recurs everywhere else on this page: produce guidelines for technology or web-based merit badge instruction that place the actual testing in a personal setting. Instruction may scale. Testing does not.

Task

7.0.3.1. A youth member must never meet one-on-one with an adult

Stated flatly at the head of the counseling sessions topic. A screen does not change it: a video call between one adult and one youth is a one-on-one meeting.

Requirement

7.0.3.0. Who must be present, in a session and in a group

For merit badge counselor meetings only, the Scout, a parent or guardian, and the counselor can meet. In a group setting with two or more Scouts there must be at least two registered leaders present, in accordance with the Guide to Safe Scouting.

Requirement

7.0.3.1. Copy an authorized adult on email between counselor and Scout

The Guide's own worked example of what following the social media guidelines looks like in practice: always copy one or more authorized adults on email messages between counselors and Scouts.

Task

8.0.1.6. Disputed-circumstances and appeal boards too May not apply

Boards of review under disputed circumstances and appeal boards may be conducted by videoconference under the same rare circumstances and the same requirements. A statement about the whole of this branch rather than about any one step in it.

Requirement

You have not answered "What is the technology being used for?" yet.

8.0.1.6. Board size is limited by what the equipment can carry May not apply

It is important to consider your technical capabilities when planning how many board of review members to involve. A rule that only exists because everyone has to be visible at once.

Requirement

You have not answered "What is the technology being used for?" yet.

5.0.8.0. Confirm an out-of-council counselor with their home council Recommended May not apply

The council-level answer to a counselor a unit cannot see. 5.0.8.0 offers it as something a council should consider putting in place; it is the practical route to knowing that an online counselor is registered and approved for the badge in question.

Task

You have not answered "What is the technology being used for?" yet.

7.0.3.0. One counselor, one Scout or a very small group Recommended May not apply

The hands-on interactive experience the Guide describes is hardly ever achieved except when one counselor works directly with one Scout, or with a very small group of generally no more than three. Named as the recommended best practice rather than as a rule.

Requirement

You have not answered "What is the technology being used for?" yet.

7.0.4.12. Size and ratio Recommended May not apply

Number in class: one to three Scouts is good, four to eight is concerning, more than eight is to be avoided. Counselor-to-Scout ratio: 1:3 or lower good, 1:4 or higher concerning, 1:10 or higher avoid.

Requirement

You have not answered "What is the technology being used for?" yet.

7.0.4.12. Who signed the Scout up Recommended May not apply

Scout-initiated sign-up is good, unclear is concerning, parent-initiated is to be avoided. It follows from the rule that earning a merit badge must be Scout-initiated, Scout-researched and Scout-learned.

Requirement

You have not answered "What is the technology being used for?" yet.

7.0.4.12. What the class says about requirements and partials Recommended May not apply

Requirements and partials expressly addressed is good; not addressed or unclear is concerning; altered or deleted requirements, or guaranteed completion, are to be avoided. A class that promises everyone finishes is promising something it cannot honestly deliver.

Requirement

You have not answered "What is the technology being used for?" yet.

A class that guarantees completion is guaranteeing something no counselor can honestly promise, because whether a Scout has met a requirement is not knowable in advance. Partial completions are the acceptable expected result of a group event, and 7.0.3.2 asks councils to build that expectation before the event rather than explaining it afterwards.

7.0.4.12. What it costs and whether that is explained Recommended May not apply

Zero to minimal cost is good, any unexplained amount is concerning, and an amount that clearly exceeds costs is to be avoided. Likewise the explanation: clearly provided is good, not clear is concerning, and a refusal to provide one is to be avoided.

Requirement

You have not answered "What is the technology being used for?" yet.

3.0.0.5. A committee position for advancement technology Recommended May not apply

The suggested council advancement committee list includes a position for Scoutbook Plus and other technology for advancement recording and reporting support. Suggested rather than required — the organisation of advancement committees is a local council decision.

Task

You have not answered "What is the technology being used for?" yet.

7.0.2.2. Permissions first, and counselor privacy protected May not apply

Council sites must consider the safety and privacy of their members and participants by obtaining the necessary permissions to release information about, or images of, any individual — and must give attention to protecting counselor privacy.

Requirement

You have not answered "What is the technology being used for?" yet.

7.0.2.2. Scouts must not have access to the list May not apply Often forgotten

Access is limited to those with merit badge-related responsibilities: advancement committee members and chairs, unit leaders and selected assistants. The Scout gets counselor contact details from the unit leader, which is what makes that meeting a real step.

Requirement

You have not answered "What is the technology being used for?" yet.

Scouts must not have access to the counselor list. This is not administrative fussiness — it is what makes the unit leader meeting in 7.0.0.3 a real step rather than a formality, because the leader is where the Scout gets a counselor's contact details.

5.0.8.0. Discuss May not apply

Requires a back-and-forth, interactive conversation between the Scout and the merit badge counselor. Exchanging a few text messages does not meet this standard, but a video conversation might.

Requirement

You have not answered "What is the technology being used for?" yet.

5.0.8.0. Explain May not apply

Can be accomplished in a written or oral format, but must be a substantive description — more than just a few words.

Requirement

You have not answered "What is the technology being used for?" yet.

5.0.8.0. Demonstrate May not apply

Means to physically do the activity, ideally in the presence of the counselor. If that is not possible a video of the Scout doing the activity can be used, provided both the video and the activity can be done safely. Video evidence counts only if the skill is performed correctly and all essential aspects of the task are clearly visible.

Requirement

You have not answered "What is the technology being used for?" yet.

5.0.8.0. Face-to-face is still the preferred method

For rank advancement and merit badge counseling the preferred method remains face-to-face interaction, because that is what supports the Scouting America method of adult association. There are occasions when technology might be supportive; the Guide frames them as occasions rather than as the norm.

Requirement

Usually comes after 5.0.8.0. Someone proposes using a technology-based tool in advancement.

5.0.8.0. The council advancement committee establishes the procedures Often forgotten

Procedures for using web-based tools in advancement are established by the council advancement committee in compliance with national procedures. Not by the unit, and not by the counselor. A unit asking whether something is allowed is asking a question whose answer lives at the council.

Requirement

Usually comes after 5.0.8.0. Face-to-face is still the preferred method.

The unit is not the decision-maker here, and neither is an enthusiastic counselor with good software. Procedures for web-based tools are established by the council advancement committee in compliance with national procedures — 3.0.0.1 lists it as responsibility 15 and points back at 5.0.8.0. Ask the council advancement chair before running something, not after.

5.0.8.0. Youth Protection and the Social Media Guidelines apply throughout

In all aspects of technology-based advancement, both adults and youth must adhere to Scouting America Youth Protection policies as well as the Scouting America Social Media Guidelines. Both are published at scouting.org and neither is restated here.

Requirement

Usually comes after 5.0.8.0. The council advancement committee establishes the procedures.

Named and not restated, deliberately. Youth Protection policies, the Guide to Safe Scouting and the Social Media Guidelines are not Guide to Advancement documents and they change on their own schedule. Read them at scouting.org rather than trusting a summary — including this one.

5.0.8.0. What is the technology being used for?

The plan forks here, because the rules differ by setting rather than by tool. The same videoconferencing software is governed by one topic when it carries a board of review and by another when it carries a merit badge class.

Decision

Usually comes after 5.0.8.0. Youth Protection and the Social Media Guidelines apply throughout.

8.0.1.6. A board of review by videoconference May not apply

Boards of review for any rank are meant to be face-to-face, personal experiences. The five requirements below are the conditions under which one may be held otherwise — conditions of it being a board of review at all, not refinements.

Milestone

You have not answered "What is the technology being used for?" yet.

Usually comes after 5.0.8.0. What is the technology being used for?.

Not a lesser board of review, and not a convenience. The five requirements below are conditions of it being a board of review at all. A ship, troop or crew that meets four of them has not held a slightly imperfect board — it has held something the Guide does not recognise.

7.0.3.1. Merit badge counseling with a web-based element May not apply

A counselor and a Scout working together where some or all of the interaction happens online. In-person meetings are preferred because they enrich the experience; the rules below are what applies when part of it does not happen in person.

Milestone

You have not answered "What is the technology being used for?" yet.

Usually comes after 5.0.8.0. What is the technology being used for?.

7.0.4.12. An online merit badge class or webinar May not apply

Group instruction is acceptable and sometimes desirable, and it happens online through webinars. Merit badges are nonetheless meant to be a personal activity, and group or online delivery may — depending on implementation — dilute that.

Milestone

You have not answered "What is the technology being used for?" yet.

Usually comes after 5.0.8.0. What is the technology being used for?.

5.0.8.0. A requirement that says to attend a meeting May not apply

A distinct case, because the requirement itself names an event rather than a skill. The Guide addresses it separately from everything else on this page.

Milestone

You have not answered "What is the technology being used for?" yet.

Usually comes after 5.0.8.0. What is the technology being used for?.

5.0.8.0. Generative AI or another tool on a written requirement May not apply

Generative artificial intelligence, and also spell checkers, grammar checkers and autofill. The Guide groups them together, which is worth noticing: the rule is about assistance with writing, not about one technology.

Milestone

You have not answered "What is the technology being used for?" yet.

Usually comes after 5.0.8.0. What is the technology being used for?.

5.0.8.0. Records, reporting and counselor lists May not apply

The administrative side of the line, where the Guide is positive rather than cautious. Electronic advancement reporting has its own section of the Guide and is not covered here; this branch carries only what 5.0.8.0 and the topics it points at contribute.

Milestone

You have not answered "What is the technology being used for?" yet.

Usually comes after 5.0.8.0. What is the technology being used for?.

8.0.1.6. Only in rare situations where travel is unreasonable May not apply

Communicable disease, a Scout gone off to college or the military, a very remote home. In those rare situations where it is unreasonable to expect a Scout to travel long distances or to wait several months, videoconferencing is permissible.

Requirement

You have not answered "What is the technology being used for?" yet.

Usually comes after 8.0.1.6. A board of review by videoconference.

7.0.0.3. The Scout meets the unit leader first, virtual or not May not apply Often forgotten

Before working with a counselor or attending a group or virtual merit badge opportunity, a Scout must meet with their unit leader or the leader's delegate. The Guide names the virtual case explicitly, so signing up online does not bypass it.

Requirement

You have not answered "What is the technology being used for?" yet.

Usually comes after 7.0.3.1. Merit badge counseling with a web-based element.

The step an online sign-up form is most likely to skip. Before working with a counselor or attending a group or virtual merit badge opportunity, the Scout must meet their unit leader or the leader's delegate — 7.0.0.3 names the virtual case in those words. A registration page is not that meeting.

7.0.4.12. Councils may set their own guidance for virtual options May not apply

With specific policies based on the availability of counselors, a Scout's medical conditions, and so on. The guidance below is what the Guide offers to help determine whether virtual options should be authorised at all.

Requirement

You have not answered "What is the technology being used for?" yet.

Usually comes after 7.0.4.12. An online merit badge class or webinar.

5.0.8.0. In-person participation is strongly recommended May not apply

While virtual participation may be convenient, in-person attendance allows for a significantly richer experience, with more socialisation and more focus.

Requirement

You have not answered "What is the technology being used for?" yet.

5.0.8.0. They may be used to assist with written requirements May not apply

Permitted, not tolerated. The Guide states the permission first and then attaches two conditions to it, and both conditions have to hold.

Requirement

You have not answered "What is the technology being used for?" yet.

Usually comes after 5.0.8.0. Generative AI or another tool on a written requirement.

5.0.8.0. These tools save time on administrative tasks May not apply

Especially in managing records for membership, training and advancement. Said without qualification, and it is the only unqualified endorsement of technology in the topic.

Requirement

You have not answered "What is the technology being used for?" yet.

Usually comes after 5.0.8.0. Records, reporting and counselor lists.

8.0.1.6. Eagle boards need council approval; other ranks do not May not apply Often forgotten

It is a local council decision to allow videoconference Eagle Scout boards of review. Videoconference boards for other ranks may be held without local council approval — but they must still comply with every requirement on this branch.

Approval

You have not answered "What is the technology being used for?" yet.

Usually comes after 8.0.1.6. Only in rare situations where travel is unreasonable.

Read the two halves together. Eagle Scout videoconference boards are a local council decision, so a unit cannot authorise one. Boards for other ranks may go ahead without council approval — but "without approval" is not "without rules": every other requirement in 8.0.1.6 still applies to them.

7.0.0.3. Every counselor must be registered and approved May not apply

Regardless how they come to work with a Scout. The badge cannot be signed off by someone who found the Scout online and is enthusiastic about the subject.

Requirement

You have not answered "What is the technology being used for?" yet.

Usually comes after 7.0.0.3. The Scout meets the unit leader first, virtual or not.

7.0.3.2. Establish that partials are an expected result Recommended May not apply

Council and district advancement committees should ensure a culture exists at group instructional events that partial completions are acceptable expected results, and should distribute a guide in advance explaining how badges can be finished afterwards and listing prerequisites.

Task

You have not answered "What is the technology being used for?" yet.

Usually comes after 7.0.4.12. Councils may set their own guidance for virtual options.

7.0.4.12. Registering and being logged in is not sufficient May not apply Often forgotten

The Scout must be engaged, and must actually and personally complete all requirements exactly as written, just as they would for an in-person class. Attendance is not participation and a screen makes the difference harder to see.

Requirement

You have not answered "What is the technology being used for?" yet.

Usually comes after 7.0.4.12. Councils may set their own guidance for virtual options.

Registering and being logged in is not sufficient. A screen makes it genuinely hard to tell an engaged Scout from an open browser tab, and that difficulty is the counselor's problem to solve, not the Scout's to be given the benefit of.

5.0.8.0. Virtual attendance should be extremely rare May not apply

Reserved for when extenuating circumstances prevent in-person participation. "Extremely rare" is the Guide's own phrase and it is stronger than the language used anywhere else on this page.

Requirement

You have not answered "What is the technology being used for?" yet.

"Extremely rare, when extenuating circumstances prevent in-person participation." That is stronger language than the Guide uses anywhere else on this page, and it is worth reading it as written. Convenience, distance from a venue, and a clash with another activity are not extenuating circumstances.

5.0.8.0. Use must be fully disclosed to whoever reviews the work May not apply Often forgotten

The first condition. Disclosure is to the person reviewing the work — the counselor, the leader signing off, the board — and "fully" is the Guide's word.

Requirement

You have not answered "What is the technology being used for?" yet.

Usually comes after 5.0.8.0. They may be used to assist with written requirements.

Full disclosure to the person reviewing the work is a condition of the permission, not a courtesy attached to it. Undisclosed use is not permitted use — and the reviewer is the counselor, the leader signing off or the board, whoever is actually judging the requirement.

7.0.2.2. Counselor lists live on official council sites or Scoutbook Plus May not apply

Online counselor lists present a number of challenges. They should only be available from official council websites, or from tools such as Scoutbook Plus that conform to National Council guidelines.

Requirement

You have not answered "What is the technology being used for?" yet.

Usually comes after 5.0.8.0. These tools save time on administrative tasks.

8.0.1.6. Test the equipment ahead of time May not apply

All of it: cameras, lighting, microphones, software and the internet connection, tested in advance to provide the best audiovisual experience possible.

Task

You have not answered "What is the technology being used for?" yet.

Usually comes after 8.0.1.6. Eagle boards need council approval; other ranks do not.

7.0.3.1. Web-based interaction follows the social media guidelines May not apply

If merit badge counseling includes any web-based interaction, it must be conducted in accordance with the Scouting America Social Media Guidelines, published at scouting.org.

Requirement

You have not answered "What is the technology being used for?" yet.

Usually comes after 7.0.0.3. Every counselor must be registered and approved.

7.0.4.12. Chat options should be disabled May not apply Often forgotten

To prevent one-on-one contact with Scouts. A Youth Protection rule wearing the clothes of a software setting, and one that has to be found in the host controls before the session starts.

Requirement

You have not answered "What is the technology being used for?" yet.

Usually comes after 7.0.4.12. Registering and being logged in is not sufficient.

A Youth Protection rule in the shape of a software setting. Chat should be disabled to prevent one-on-one contact with Scouts, and in most platforms that is a host control set before the meeting starts — not something that can be fixed once people are in the room.

5.0.8.0. The counselor must approve the substitution in advance May not apply Often forgotten

In advance, italicised in the published text. A Scout who attends virtually and asks afterwards has not met the requirement the Guide describes, and the counselor is not obliged to accept it.

Approval

You have not answered "What is the technology being used for?" yet.

Usually comes after 5.0.8.0. Virtual attendance should be extremely rare.

In advance — italicised in the Guide. A Scout who attends a meeting virtually and raises it at the next counseling session is asking the counselor to approve something that has already happened, and the counselor is under no obligation to agree.

5.0.8.0. The final output must be the Scout's own original work May not apply

The second condition, and the one that decides most cases. A tool may help the Scout write; it may not be the thing that wrote it.

Requirement

You have not answered "What is the technology being used for?" yet.

Usually comes after 5.0.8.0. Use must be fully disclosed to whoever reviews the work.

8.0.1.6. Everyone in hearing range must be on camera May not apply Often forgotten

All members of the board must be visible to the Scout, and any observers with the Scout must be visible to the board. No one within hearing range on either side is allowed to be off camera. Observers should be minimised at any board of review, and especially at this one.

Requirement

You have not answered "What is the technology being used for?" yet.

Usually comes after 8.0.1.6. Test the equipment ahead of time.

The one that gets broken by accident. Nobody within hearing range on either side may be off camera — which means a parent listening from the next chair, a sibling at the kitchen table, or a board member who has joined by phone. Ask before starting, out loud, who else is in each room.

7.0.3.1. Evidence stands in for a project that cannot be carried May not apply

The Scout should bring any required projects. Where they cannot be transported, the Scout presents evidence — photographs, or verification from an adult such as the unit leader confirming a tower was built or meals were cooked. Counselor and Scout then discuss what was done, and how.

Task

You have not answered "What is the technology being used for?" yet.

Usually comes after 7.0.3.1. Web-based interaction follows the social media guidelines.

7.0.4.12. Cameras on, and a parent or guardian with the Scout May not apply

Both halves matter. A Scout attending alone with the camera off is not in the class the Guide describes.

Requirement

You have not answered "What is the technology being used for?" yet.

Usually comes after 7.0.4.12. Chat options should be disabled.

8.0.1.6. For a Scout under 18, check the Guide to Safe Scouting May not apply

For Scouts under the age of 18, care must be taken to ensure compliance with the Guide to Safe Scouting. The Guide to Advancement names it and does not restate it.

Requirement

You have not answered "What is the technology being used for?" yet.

Usually comes after 8.0.1.6. Everyone in hearing range must be on camera.

8.0.1.6. Videoconference boards of review must not be recorded May not apply Often forgotten

Written as a flat prohibition and easy to breach by accident, because most conferencing software will offer to record and some will do it by default. Turn it off before anyone joins.

Requirement

You have not answered "What is the technology being used for?" yet.

Usually comes after 8.0.1.6. Everyone in hearing range must be on camera.

Must not be recorded. Most conferencing software offers to record, some record by default, and some cloud accounts record without an obvious prompt. Check the account settings before the meeting rather than looking for the button during it.

7.0.4.12. The good, concerning and avoid guidance Recommended May not apply

The Guide prints a table rating an online class on seven counts. It is guidance rather than a rule, and it is the most usable thing in the topic: a class that lands in the "avoid" column on two or three rows is one to ask questions about before signing up.

Requirement

You have not answered "What is the technology being used for?" yet.

7.0.4.12. Report a counselor who is not following the procedures May not apply

Any merit badge counselors not following all procedures and policies set out by the Guide and by local councils — including but not limited to all Youth Protection policies — must be reported to their local council advancement committee for investigation.

Task

You have not answered "What is the technology being used for?" yet.

Usually comes after 7.0.4.12. The good, concerning and avoid guidance.

5.0.8.0. The three definitions that must be used May not apply

Digital technologies can enhance or hinder our interactions with the world, and with that in mind the Guide fixes the meaning of three words for rank, merit badge and other advancement work. They are what every branch of this plan has to satisfy.

Requirement

You have not answered "What is the technology being used for?" yet.

Usually comes after 7.0.3.1. Web-based interaction follows the social media guidelines, 7.0.4.12. The good, concerning and avoid guidance and 2 others.

7.0.4.12. A checklist or form may never stand in for those words May not apply Often forgotten

Requirements to show, tell, discuss, explain or demonstrate must not be substituted with checklists or forms under any circumstances. The topic says so twice, and cites 5.0.8.0 when it does.

Requirement

You have not answered "What is the technology being used for?" yet.

Usually comes after 5.0.8.0. The three definitions that must be used.

Under any circumstances — the Guide's own phrase, in a topic that is otherwise full of "should" and "preferred". A form that a Scout fills in cannot stand in for showing, telling, discussing, explaining or demonstrating, no matter how detailed it is or how many Scouts are waiting.

7.0.4.8. Worksheets are permitted, within the same limit May not apply

Unofficial worksheets and learning aids may be used as long as they correlate with the current requirements. Completing one may suffice where a requirement calls for something in writing — but not where the Scout must discuss, tell, show or demonstrate. And a Scout must not be required to use one.

Requirement

You have not answered "What is the technology being used for?" yet.

Usually comes after 7.0.4.12. A checklist or form may never stand in for those words.

7.0.3.2. Every Scout, actually and personally May not apply Often forgotten

We must know that every Scout actually and personally completed the requirements. It is unacceptable to award badges on the basis of sitting in a classroom watching demonstrations, or remaining silent during discussions — and a muted, camera-off attendee is the online form of both.

Requirement

You have not answered "What is the technology being used for?" yet.

Usually comes after 7.0.4.8. Worksheets are permitted, within the same limit.

Sitting in a classroom watching demonstrations, or remaining silent during discussions, does not earn a badge. Online, that becomes a Scout who is muted with the camera off, and the burden is on whoever is running the session to know the difference before signing anything.