Rotary Learning Center Updates For 2021

Posted on Jun 04, 2021

Have you visited the Rotary Learning Center lately?

Not only is Rotary's Learning Center available in 8 languages and offering courses in over 20 languages, but each month new courses covering a wide variety of subjects and catering to a broad spectrum of roles and functions in Rotary are added.

Additionally, the Learning Center homepage has been redesigned to make it easier to find the courses you’re looking for. Rotary has tailored one version of the page for Rotarians, Rotaractors, and club and district executive secretaries, and another for nonmembers, including scholars, Interactors, and alumni.

Most of the Lead Your Club and Lead Your District manuals have already been replaced with learning plans — a series of courses — specific to each role. These plans include Club President Basics, Club Secretary Basics, Club Committee Basics and District Committee Basics and Intermediate. Use the course catalog to get direct links to all available courses which will take users directly to the course after they sign in to My Rotary. Also take a look at this new list of Rotary Learning Center Courses in the course catalog, which now shows which courses nonmembers can take. Remember, anyone who has a My Rotary account has access to the Learning Center.

Using the Learning Center on mobile devices

You can now take Rotary’s online courses on most mobile devices. Just download the app, available for Apple iOS 10 and later, as well as Android 6 and later. Get started by referring to our guide or following these steps:

On your mobile device, open a browser and go to my.rotary.org. Tap the SIGN IN TO MY ROTARY button.
After you sign in, tap the menu icon ( ≡ ).
Tap the plus sign next to Learning & Reference, then choose Learning Center.
To download the app, tap NO.
Use one of the buttons to open the app store for your device and download Go.Learn. Don't open the app right away. When the app is downloaded, return to the screen in your browser and tap the YES button or the Learning Center link.
When the app opens, you can choose to SKIP or go to the Learning Center homepage or NEXT to learn more.

Please note that the mobile version has some limitations. You will need to use a computer to download certificates or view additional resources.

Blend your training in 2021-22

Rotary and Rotaract members all over the world have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by helping those in need and keeping our communities safer. Trainers and training participants, too, have helped protect themselves, each other, and their communities by meeting virtually and using Rotary’s online resources to keep learning so Rotary can keep doing good. The RI Board recommends that clubs and districts take a flexible approach to training when the pandemic ends by offering blended training meetings — ones that combine online and in-person activities.

You can start by:

Asking current and incoming governors, district trainers, district Rotary Foundation chairs, and district membership chairs to complete the Access to Learning Center Reports course to start getting reports on members’ progress in Learning Center courses by email every Monday. This can then be shared with your club president, club secretary and/or club trainer, as well as, your membership in general.
Encouraging all incoming club and district leaders to take the courses for their roles
Asking participants to complete certain courses as preparation for other training
Updating your usual training plans to include Learning Center courses or other resources and build on them with online or in-person facilitated training or discussions

Start thinking now about what you want your club or district training to be like next year. Plan to keep doing anything that has worked well in virtual training meetings and decide what activities or topics are better suited to in-person training. Don’t forget to ask participants what they prefer.

Here are some resources to help you:

Go to the learning topics in the Learning Center for more training resources.

Updated activity badges

Learning Center users earn virtual badges by completing courses and learning plans and participating in learning topics. Every badge a user earns adds points to his/her total, so earning badges will move him/her up the leaderboard.

Members in many districts see both the global leaderboard and a district leaderboard. If you’re not sure if your district has a leaderboard, look for a small black arrow next to the name of the leaderboard you’re viewing. If you find one, click it to see the leaderboards available to you.

Troubleshooting online training

When you ask participants to use our online training resources, these tips can help you address any difficulties they may have. To get to the Learning Center, users will need to have a My Rotary account and sign in to it.

If they haven’t used the Learning Center, links to courses won’t work until they accept the privacy policy.
Users should use the same email address to sign in to My Rotary that their club officers entered in our membership records. The Learning Center works best with Google Chrome.
If anyone finishes a course but it isn’t marked as completed, write to learn@rotary.org. Support staff can mark it completed for you. If a course shows as completed at first but later doesn’t, that means the course has been updated or new materials were added to it which now need to be completed.

There may also be questions from new Learning Center enrollees who have difficulty taking courses. Here are some tips:

Before you enter the Learning Center, you’re asked to accept the privacy policy.
Links to courses or learning plans won’t work until you’ve been to the Learning Center at least once.
The Learning Center might open to the homepage for nonmembers. To see the member homepage, after you accept the privacy policy, sign out and sign in again to refresh the screen.

Duplicate Accounts in the Learning Center

The recent improvements to the Learning Center have generated a lot of interest among members and there’s a notable increase in new enrollments. Unfortunately, there has also been an increase in duplicate accounts, and that can affect district leaders’ ability to see what courses members have completed.

Here are signs that a member has two accounts:

When the member signs in to the Learning Center, the homepage for nonmembers appears, and it remains even if the screen is refreshed.
The member has completed a course but it isn’t listed in the district Learning Center report.

To make sure that districts get accurate information about the courses that members have completed, remind members to use the same email address for both My Rotary and the Learning Center, or ask club leaders to update members’ email addresses in their club records through My Rotary.

When creating a My Rotary account, remember to use the same email address that's attached to your member profile. Check with your club secretary to confirm or update your email we have on file so you don't create duplicate accounts. If you don't have access to the correct courses, it's likely that you have two member profiles in our system. Email data@rotary.org to merge your accounts.

Interacting with your virtual audience

Keeping your audience engaged during virtual training makes learning fun. Online services and apps such as Wooclap, Kahoot or Mentimeter offer free, interactive tools that you can use in your sessions in several ways:

Add multiple choice questions or polls
Assign topic ratings
Generate ideas with participants
Create word clouds

You can quickly and easily use these features at the start of your next session, during or after a presentation, or as part of a breakout session.

Virtual meetings and security

As we continue to move in-person training to virtual platforms, the need for more secure online spaces is growing. Download and follow these best practices for protecting your virtual training.

For Members: New Courses In The Learning Center

Some new courses now available in the Learning Center include:

Getting Started With the Learning Center. This updated course offers information and tips for new users of the Learning Center. It also has a new video about key features of the Learning Center.
Conducting Training Online. Offering training online can help facilitators overcome physical distance, accommodate busy schedules, and create a more inclusive and more accessible learning environment. This course includes two demonstrations of how to facilitate a learning session in a virtual environment.
Rotary Foundation Basics. This course has been updated to reflect the funding model changes and includes a new quiz to test your knowledge.
Leadership Basics. This course from Toastmasters International focuses on essential leadership skills and is now available in several languages.
Leading a Team. This Toastmasters International course focuses on leading a small team and is now available in several languages.
Rotary’s Action Plan and You. This course shows you how your club can make a greater impact and implement other facets of the Action Plan. It’s now available in several languages.
Get Ready: District International Service Committee. This course shows the committee’s role in connecting members with resources to carry out sustainable service projects.
Leading Effective Committees. This course is helpful for leaders who want to manage their committees effectively by learning how to set goals, motivate other members, plan productive meetings, delegate tasks, and cultivate leaders.
Professional Development catalog. If you’re planning training in communication and leadership skills, view the Professional Development catalog on the new Learning Center homepage and explore the eight Toastmasters courses that were developed especially for Rotarians and Rotaractors.
Public Relations and Your Club. Take this course to learn about strategies for using media and public relations to gain visibility, increase awareness of club initiatives, and publicize your impact in the community.
Nurturing New Clubs. This course offers good advice for guiding new clubs during their early years.
Service-Learning for Advisers. Empower youth to make a difference in their community with this new course.
Resiliency Learning Plan. It's been a difficult year to say the least. To help you get through the pandemic, check out our new learning plan on Resiliency. Examine the role of resilience, the factors that can increase and decrease it, how it can be developed and why it is important to you. You'll also learn about safety and security, dealing with trauma, and self-care.
Is Your Club Healthy?
Public Relations and Your Club. This course outlines strategies to use media and public relations to gain visibility, increase awareness of club initiatives, and promote your impact in the community.
Professional Development. Don’t forget to look at our professional development courses, too, especially the courses developed by Toastmasters International, which will help you strengthen your communication and leadership skills.

For District Team Members

District committee members should complete respective courses in the Learning Center before taking up their specific positions.

It is highly recommend that all district committee chairs complete the District Committee Basics learning plan as the courses in such now replace the Lead Your District: Committee manual.

Other district-specific learning plans that are now available include:

Remember to look at various learning topics in the Learning Center to find even more training resources.