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E-Courses
Upcoming E-Course Schedule
About the GYCA E-Courses
E-Courses Descriptions
Frequently Asked Questions about the E-Courses
Upcoming E-Course Schedule
Project Management:
November 9 – December 9, 2009
Political Advocacy:
October 28 – December 7, 2009
About the GYCA E-Courses
To date, GYCA has trained over 400 young people through its free monthly E-courses on Project Management, Political Advocacy, Grant Proposal Writing & Fundraising and Preparation for the International AIDS Conference.
On average, one course is facilitated each month with 20-25 participants selected for each out of approximately 100-125 applications per course. Participants are selected based on their experience in HIV/AIDS, their commitment to transfer skills gained to local peers, geographic location and gender. Youth living with HIV and/or belonging to a marginalized group are prioritized. Each course emphasizes proficiency in monitoring and evaluation methods, and is designed to provide youth with skills, knowledge and the opportunity to discuss their work with their peers.
E-courses are taught on TakingITGlobal’s TIGed online classrooms, which offer private virtual classrooms with teacher tools, discussion boards and links to TIG’s broader online community. Participants complete the course with a final project plan, grant proposal, or advocacy campaign they then put into practice.
"Besides skills and knowledge, the most significant thing I gained is an overall better understanding of program coordination and the importance of development as a whole… Although I have a lot of experience when it comes to project planning and implementation, I never thought it could be so complicated… By developing such a detailed work plan, I can feel myself being more accountable to my own projects… I am now able to give similar trainings to my colleagues and other youth."
-- Rahel Weldeab, GYCA E-course graduate, 24, Eritrea
GYCA's E-Course Alumni Blog, written by young people currently implementing their projects on the ground, is coming soon!
E-Course Descriptions
Project Management
Duration: 4 Weeks
The Project Management Course provides young people with both the skills and resources needed to effectively plan, monitor, evaluate and manage local projects. Participants learn how to conduct a needs assessment, create a baseline, manage resources and identify long-term desired outcomes.
Political Advocacy (with a focus on UNGASS)
Duration: 5 weeks
The Political Advocacy Course trains participants to create and implement a political advocacy campaign that holds their governments or local institutions accountable to commitments they have made on youth and HIV/AIDS. The peer-to-peer methodology is based on GYCA’s research guide for UNGASS National Youth Shadow Reports. The research guide was produced for GYCA and the Global Youth Partners’ 2005 Publication, “Our Voice, Our Future: Young People Report on Progress Made on the UNGASS Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS.”
The course requires participants to create an action plan that researches government (local, national, or international) commitments to date, establish subsequent solutions that focus on adult-youth interaction, learn how to effectively approach government officials and adequately present said solutions, monitor the solutions as they relate to the original action plan, and evaluate the outcomes.
Grant Writing/Fundraising
Duration: 4 weeks
The Grant Proposal Writing & Fundraising Course provides training in effective fundraising methodology. The course focuses on the importance of grant writing; learning the "do's and don'ts" of a convincing proposal and gaining persuasive writing tips; how to be transparent and accountable to funders; resources for finding grants; acquiring expertise about effective fundraising strategies; and creating a grant writing proposal to submit after the course ends.
Students who complete the course, exercises, and final project plan receive a certificate and are eligible to apply for a GYCA Small Grant for $1500 to implement the project. They are required to provide a detailed Monitoring & Evaluation strategy, and blog regularly providing updates and pictures about their project’s progress.
The courses are evaluated based on participants’ feedback and continually revised to provide lucid and usable tools.
Frequently Asked Questions about the E-Courses
How do I apply for a GYCA e-course?
To apply for an e-course, you MUST be a GYCA member. If you wish to join GYCA, please click here.
After you join, or for those who are already members, simply fill out the application form available for download on the website, and submit by the necessary deadline. Please follow all application instructions carefully.
Applications can be sent here:
Political Advocacy – advocacy@youthaidscoalition.org
Grant Writing/Fundraising – grantwriting@youthaidscoalition.org
Project Management – pmcourse@youthaidscoalition.org
Can I apply anytime for an e-course?
No. Due to the high number of e-course applications we receive, we only accept applications during the designated "application week," which we announce on the website. Please see the e-course schedule for relevant deadlines. You can apply as soon as the application week begins.
How will I know if you received my application?
If your application is received by our e-mail account, you will receive an automated message. Please do not send additional inquiries about whether or not your application was received.
How much do the e-courses cost?
The e-courses are free! You will need to have a way to access the Internet for the duration of the course. While you can read the texts on the computer screen, some participants prefer to print them out. If you prefer to print the texts, you should be prepared for the cost of printing.
What languages do you offer the e-courses in?
Currently, we only offer the e-courses in English.
Should I send additional materials with my application?
No additional materials are necessary.
How do the courses run?
Each participant is expected to submit answers to weekly exercise questions; check the discussion board and contribute to weekly discussion questions (usually 3 questions a week); and finally, submit a fully coherent, developed, complete final project plan, grant proposal or advocacy campaign.
In order to receive a certificate of completion, each of these tasks must be completed to the satisfaction of the course facilitator. It is important that the course members stay in contact, via email, with the course facilitator post-course to track the progress of the implemented plans.
What am I expected to do in the course?
All e-courses require 4 to 8 hours of work each week. It is vital that all of the text modules are read, exercises are completed to the best of the participant's ability, and the discussion questions answered. Each participant should have regular access to computers and the Internet, and should not sign up for the e-course if he/she anticipates travelling or has an already time-consuming schedule. The courses cannot be truly effective unless each participant contributes fully!
Once I complete the course, how long will it take my certificate to arrive?
International mail can take anywhere from three to eight weeks to reach its destination.
I completed an e-course and never received my certificate. What happened?
GYCA mails all participants who successfully complete the e-course a certificate. However, it is fairly common for international mail to not reach its destination, especially in areas where postal service is irregular. If you have not received your certificate eight weeks after completing the course, please contact the course facilitator and she will send you a new one. It is also possible to make a PDF version of a certificate and send it via e-mail as a signed attachment that you can print out.
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