Improving VTK

 I am a firm believer that complaints in and of themselves aren't very useful.  Instead of saying what is wrong with something, please tell me what I can do to make it better.  Sometimes being made to think of things in that light helps you to realize they are the way they are for a good reason, and other times, the constructive criticism can be a roadmap to improvement.  Hopefully someone from GSUSA will see this post and use it to improve VTK.

I recently surveyed members of several Facebook groups for Girl Scout Leaders about VTK, and, not surprisingly to me, found that a lot found it wanting.  You can read my post about the meeting plans here, and about using VTK as a planner here. 

Comments about Improving VTK

• #1 MOST REPEATED:  Don’t make us create a “year plan” and “add meetings” just to see meeting plans. It’s obnoxious.
  
  
• Definitely needs more simplified navigation.
  
  
• Please just give us a simple list of badge requirements without having to read through the scripts
  
  
• Maybe an option could be added so that leaders could check a box if they wanted to share their notes on certain badges and then when I check it out, I can click a tab and immediately see notes how other leaders made the badge work. This is why google, pinterest, facebook groups, etc are so popular. We can see how others made it work and collaborate easier. So, if I'm leading a badge and I add notes, then I can check a box that gives permission to share my notes. Other leaders who add the badge to their plan would see a "flag" to show that there are notes available and can click a box to see notes from across the country.
  
  
• Simpler to use and better activities! The ones I saw were SO boring. Plus, we are a multi level troop with daisies through seniors. It’s even harder to use for troops like ours
  
  
• Keep each girls accomplishments forever.
  
  
• Scrap it & try again for a real data management system
  
  
• Please think diversity included languages
  
  
• Enable me to build my own meeting plan by dragging and dropping activities from badges. Example: I might choose two activities from the Cabin Camper badge and two activities from the Hiker badge to help my Brownies prepare for an upcoming campout. Then, when I drop those activities into my meeting, a supply list would automatically populate based on what I've chosen.
  
  
• It is too prescriptive. The options for activities aren't fantastic. It is difficult to mess things up. I'd love for it to have an EASY troop badge tracker similar to TRAX or gs-emilee badge trackers.
  
  
• For example, I’m in working on Think Like a Programmer for my daisies, I’d like to go to a space that has a legitimate lesson plan but also an area where leaders can say, this is where we did “fill in the blank” activity, and “full in the blank” TAP.
  
  
• It would be nice to have a cleaner look. I don't understand having to choose a path to get to a meeting plan. It would be nice just to have everything laid out and easily accessible. Maybe have a couple of plans per badge to give more options. It would be nice to see a section where leaders can give their input on specific plans, tips and tricks... like a comment thread or something.
  
  
• I wish I could just easily view a plan. I wish i didn’t need to log in twice. Include photos of what it should look like. Make significant changes or additions to the badge as they level up. More skill badges that are less fluffy and more useful and more hands on. Less coloring, especially for opening activities.
  
  
• I'd like to be able to filter plans by troop size, good for indoor / outdoor / virtual, have a portal where troop leaders can add their ideas, activities, and we can review them, etc.
  
  
• It'd also be nice to be able to search for a type of activity (for example, hike) and have it return all badges that mention that activity. Or supply, maybe I have a bunch of wooden dowels left over. Or I was gifted a million popsicle sticks. What can I do with them?
  
  
• Maybe even (and this is just dreaming) a place to order the supplies mentioned (or what I'm missing). I say how many girls, they mail me the supplies + patches and I'm good to go. No searching where to find this or that.
  
  
• Some multi level plans would be nice, so we don't have to mix and match different levels ourselves.
  
  
• I would like all the badges to have an online badge pamphlet free on VTK. I don't need a script or meeting plan. I just want the activites and the learning goals. I would love links to kid friendly videos that describe things like Friction, or what is an entomologist so I don't have to scan through YouTube and watch everything to make sure it's safe for the kids. Diagrams like what are the different parts of a robot and games or worksheets already made up that I could just print off.
  
  
• There are also things not in VTK so then you can’t really have a “meeting plan” for them...such as working on higher awards. During our time as juniors VTK became useless to me because we had many bronze project-related meetings. It would actually have been helpful to have a meeting plan for brainstorming topics, project planning...etc.
  
  
• A more useful finance tab would be good too...I think maybe this is already supposed to be a better feature, but I’m not sure my council uses it properly.
  
  
• Separate personal information from general program info, and give non-troop adult access to badges, etc. Why limit people who want to help run badge workshops, outdoor days, Thinking Day, etc.?
  
  
• Make it easier to do badges how you want to. Often I do an entire Daisy badge in a meeting but VTK already has it split into separate meetings and so it will not even function how I need it to.
  
  
• More fluid and flexible less cumbersome and static.
  
  
• I want a badge tracker for each girl.  i want a drag and drop calendar that allows for combined meetings to start at the same time, 

My Comments:

I'd say that the comments above are pretty representative of my advice and the things I've seen posted on Facebook over the years.  Most people want to be able to see meeting plans without creating a year plan.  Most would like the ability to select individual activities to drag into meeting plans and people do not want their work to disappear because they did something stupid like click the "assign dates" button such that VTK decided I didn't need all those badges I had made part of my year plan.  The plans in VTK get mixed reviews, and frankly I don't think it matters what the plans said, they'd get mixed reviews because you can't please everyone.  Nevertheless GSUSA should absolutely determine that the plans they have actually work (Junior Flowers Bath Beads DO NOT).  I love the idea of a database of ideas other leaders have tried.