Donate your time for a cause

18 May 2018

Time - the most treasured gift you will receive, your most prized possession and the most invaluable asset you’ll have by your side when you step out to conquer the world of your dreams. Now, what if I told you that you could donate a part of this priceless gift to help someone from the comfort of your home?

In October last year, sometime around Diwali, I had decided that I wanted to do something apart from the daily work routine which would help bring change to somebody’s life. Coincidently it was around this exact time I was introduced to Everyday Child by my friend Abhinav. Thanks man! :)

Fast forward seven months from then to April this year and I’ve completed teaching two batches at EC. To the first batch I taught “Gmail & Google Drive” and the topic for the second batch was “Internet & Websites 101”. In this post I want to share some of my experiences of being a donor with EC.

About Everyday Child

Everyday Child is an e-learning platform that allows you (known as a Donor), from anywhere around the world, to donate your TIME for empowering youth to learn. You can do this from the comfort of your home, all you need is an internet connection and a google hangouts account.

Each batch comprises of students who are typically in the 18-22 age group. They have different educational backgrounds as some of them are 10th or 12th dropouts, some have completed their high school, while others are studying BCom or an equivalent course.

The first workshop session

I still remember the first workshop session clearly because honestly, I was very nervous. I did not know how the session would turn out to be, given it was the first time I’d taken up such a task. I remember giving a brief introduction about myself and asking for theirs in return. What followed that was basics of e-mail & introduction to the world of Gmail. Little did I notice how those 30 minutes of my first session went by like a breeze. By the end of the class, they now knew how to create their personal Gmail account. 30 minutes is all it took!

Homework

The key to learning and actually implementing any subject of interest is practice. One form of practice is homework. At the end of my first session, I’d asked my students to create their own gmail account which we would use in the future workshop sessions and send me a test email. So following this tradition, at the end of every session, I would provide them with simple tasks to complete which would help them get one step closer to using Gmail easily.

After a few days, my inbox was filled with their homework task. I cannot tell you how happy I was that day. Here’s a screenshot of their homework.

Preparation is key

After a couple of sessions, I could judge their learning speed and I realized that preparing on a week to week basis wasn’t enough to share “valuable” knowledge. What I needed was a proper plan in place. This led me to come up with my version of a syllabus (for a lack of better word). That’s when I spent time chalking out topics that I could teach. I used Xmind to prepare my list of topics for each class. Below is a snapshot of the custom course I prepared for the students of my first workshop session.

Challenges

One of the challenges I faced was preparing valuable content for the 30 minutes per each workshop session. Cram too much into one class and it becomes difficult for the students to follow. This is something that comes from trial and testing the content. It was important to ask and make sure that the students are following you during the session. In addition to this, after each class I would also ask for feedback from the Vaibhav, who is the coordinator at the center, whether the students were able to follow the content taught. Vaibhav has been really helpful in not only providing precious feedback on my sessions but also in clarifying the student’s doubts offline.

The other major challenge was to simplify the content so that the students could easily understand the topics. Think about it. Composing emails is something that we do regularly, so much so that we take this “mundane skill” for granted. However, breaking down the sessions into small meaningful topics for them to understand was a learning curve for me also. Most of these became the significant aspects of my Xmind map.

Meeting in person

The Everyday Child learning center is located in Mumbai. I happened to be present there in December and so I took the opportunity to meet my students at the center. I wanted to take a break from teaching my topic so I talked about some of my personal experiences from college and work. It was truly refreshing to talk to the brilliant students of Everyday Child.

Final thoughts

I think we all underestimate how much knowledge and experience we have, that we can easily share. I truly believe that knowledge is power and to share it, is an invaluable gift. Simple yet impactful, the Everyday Child e-learning is a brilliant initiative that stands apart from the regular teaching and learning experiences that both teachers and students have. There are a wide range of topics which can be taught and donors from all around the globe can get involved easily. The students are receptive, engaged and always eager to learn more. Their smiles at the end of each workshop just make my day brighter!

If anyone is interested in donating their time to teach but don’t know where to look, I’d highly recommend starting their journey with Everyday Child. It has definitely been an enriching experience for me and I’m always look forward to my weekly workshops.

Leaving you with a collage of the donors at Everyday Child.