Starting next week we will be heading into our third week of the Cool Links & Cool Cash eLearning activity, we decided to use this activity as a way of celebrating and honoring the influential people who make Black History Month historic!

For the entire month of February we be featuring and focusing on links of various famous and historic African Americans of the past and present.

The Cabrini Connections’ staff will Kick-Off the activity by posting 10 links for all mentors and mentees to browse.  After browsing through the initial 10 links we are encouraging you all to share your thoughts on the links you viewed AND begin a discussion about what you learned from the information.

*This is how you earn you Cool Cash for the week ($2 or $4)*

Each week for the remainder of the month we are encouraging all mentors and mentees to begin posting other links of influential African Americans for all to view AND continue to share thoughts on links that you find interesting!!!

At the end of the month we will turn all of you efforts into a fun-fill activity where people can earn even more prizes!!!

Vjeko has been and will continue to provide further details following the announcments!!!

“This Should be a Cool Way to Earn Some Cash AND Learn About the African

Americans that Make the Month of February Historic”

Cool Links & Cool Cash

eLearning Activity

Intro/Description:

Cabrini Connections is launching a new and exciting eLearning activity that will not only provide students and volunteers with an abundant amount of resources that can be used inside and outside of the program, but this activity comes with some added rewards $$$!

So how does this activity work!?!?!

Step 1:

On a weekly basis e-Learning and Technology Coordinator (Vjeko Hlede) will be selecting a category in the T/MC links library and analyzing a variety of links and websites in the selected category. He will describe the range of links in that category and highlight one or two he feels volunteers and students might want to use in an article that will be posted on his blog by Monday morning of each week.

- Vjeko’s blog is here.

Step 2:

Both students and mentors will visit Vjeko’s blog between Monday and Sunday of that week to read the article Vjeko wrote for that week. After taking the time to read Vjeko’s feedback, both students and mentors will visit the same section and review the links themselves. Note: while this can be done during a tutoring session, the goal is to coach teens and volunteers to visit these sites whenever they have access to a computer, not just during weekly tutoring.

Step 3:

Pick one or two links from the selection highlighted for that week, that you find interesting or useful for home work help, career planning, or student leadership and then place your comments/feedback about that link(s) in the specific forum located inside of the SVHATS system that has been created for that week’s review. (Students can write about the same link or set of links that Vjeko covered in his blog OR links that were of more interest to students and volunteers. You must write about links featured from that week.)

*Your audience is other tutors and other volunteers. Your purpose is to help them learn what links to visit based upon your review. Be sure to provide complete sentences (one word responses will not be accepted) Take some time and provide your thoughts about what you viewed. This is a writing activity, as well as an eLearning activity.

*Let us know if any of the links are not working probably as well (and we will remove them)

Step 4:

Incentives- Earn Cash! Earn Points!

-Students will have the opportunity for 2 pretty nice incentives for participating in this activity

1: Cash!!!

2: Bonus Points towards scholarship money

1: Cash

-Students must submit at least 1 accepted post each week to earn cash or points. (Students are encouraged to post more than 1, but will only receive payment for the 1 post

- A ledger will be kept by Vjeko, showing what students and volunteers have posted comments each week.

-Students will receive $2 cash per week (if an acceptable review is posted) for that post on a bi-weekly basis

-Vjeko will distribute the payment every other Wednesday and Thursday before and during the tutoring session

*Special note* Cash will cover the first 150 student postings in the quarter (could increase in the future)

-only student’s entries count towards receiving the cash!

2: Bonus Points towards scholarship money

-when both students AND their mentors the student have the opportunity to earn a 100 added bonus points a quarter to their scholarship point totals

Closing:

The Cool Cash & Cool Links activity should be thought of not only as a fun way to take advantage of some of the resources that Cabrini Connections provides and a way to build writing and communications skills, AND earn some ‘cool cash,’ but this activity should also be thought of as one of the many tools that can and will assist the Cabrini Connections’ students with reaching their academic and career goals for the near and distant future!

Questions? Post questions and comments here.

Hello All,

The Cabrini Connections' would like to apologize to you all for the technical difficulties that have been going on with the SVHATS system this week. We have been in the process of trying to provide a better and faster system to better accommodate you all. The system is back up and is running better than ever. Please continue to utilize the SVHATS system and contact Vjekoslav Hlede(vhlede@gmail.com), the eLearning and Technology Coordinator, if you are having any problems with the system.