Merit Badge iPhone App

[SR540Beaver]

I realize that there will be some who will say how wrong this is since BP didn't do it this way and that he will be spinning in his grave.......but I think this just might be a good thing.

 

http://www.scoutingnews.org/2010/12/15/merit-badges-iphone-app/

 

Merit Badges Will Be Going Mobile With New iPhone App

 

Beginning in early 2011, Boy Scouts will be able to manage their merit badges with an interactive application for the Apple iPhone. The application which will be available for $1.99 through the iTunes Store, will let Scouts review merit badge requirements, keep track of their progress by requirement, and even share their success on Facebook.

 

Boys are notoriously bad at paperwork and famously good at technology. This app will help Scouts keep up with their advancement and undoubtedly spur them on to achieve even more, said Bob Wiemers, team leader for Publishing & Printing Solutions.

 

The apps home screen shows the total number of badges the Scout has completed and started. With a few taps, he can check the requirements for any badge, find links to related websites and resources, and record the requirements he has completed. He can also post his results to Facebook from within the application.

 

If a Scout has already purchased The Boy Scout Handbook Boy Scouts of America app, which appeared in 2009, it will automatically be imported into the new app. The handbook app is also available for purchase through the merit badge app for $7.99.

 

The merit badge app is about more than just merit badges. It also includes an RSS aggregator that pushes Scouting news to the owners phone.

[The Blancmange]

I think it is a good idea in concept. Many times we have been on a campout, or otherwise away from the troop library and had questions about this requirement or that. The one question it raises, as far as actually tracking progress, is making sure that the MBC's records correspond to the boy's.

 

As as an aside, regarding the idea that B-P may have rejected modern technology, I don't agree with that. It's the movement away from his methods that he would be upset about. Traditional scouting methods are not incompatible with modern gear. When B-P camped, he used the gear that was available at the time. He didn't require that his scouts use Civil War era technology.

[SR540Beaver]

Agreed, but not everyone feels that way. Some folks think using modern technology is somehow less manly.

[Beavah]

Interestin'.

 

There are already a couple of fairly functional ones out there for both iPhone and iPad, eh?

 

I cant tell if they're talkin' about those (screenshot looks like it), or somethin' new.

 

I certainly hope it's an independent provider that's putting this together, not National IT

 

B

[SR540Beaver]

It appears to be something new since the article says the app will be released in January. And it appears to be national sanctioned since it mentions a connection to the Handbook app.

[moosetracker]

If the whole MB pamplet was an app I would not mind it.. Or on Kindel.. But I have come to dislike the ease of boys getting the requirements only without the pamplet.

 

It has lead to boys not reading the pamplet for a clearification on how the requirements are suppose to preformed.. It has become that the requirements are the only thing that matters, and to ask the boys to preform the requirements using the steps outlined in the MeritBadge pamphlet is seen as "adding" to the requirements.. Asking them to pick up and read the MB pamphlet is seen as "adding" to the requirements..

[artjrk]

I've been using an app called ScoutTrack on my iTouch for a while now. It has all the requirements for each MB as well as the 2010 Rank advancements. Withit I have been able to keep detailed records of my own two sons as well as rank advancement of each scout in the troop. It doesn't allow me to post or print. But it is nice to use as a general guide to see where everyone is at, especially when away from home. Also it is an easy reference to all requirement.

 

What I would really like is an app tied to Troop Master. Now that would be much more appreciated cause I wouldn't have to constantly update it myself. That way any kid can also see where they are "officially" according to troop records.

[UCEagle72]

Moose --

 

Never had that problem ... and I follow the steps in the MBP quite regularly! Wonder if that is a local phenomena?

 

Anybody else run into the issue Moose is describing?

 

[Knot Head]

I just bookmarked the requirements for MBs on my iphone.

 

Link here: http://www.usscouts.org/mb/worksheets/list.asp

 

If I need to check a requirement for a merit badge or advancement I just go there via safari.

 

Sounds like an okay app but for what I need free information on safari is good enough. I'm not going to try to track any scout's progress on my Iphone. If he wants to track progress on his iphone then more power to him.(This message has been edited by knot head)

[SR540Beaver]

I think the issue moose speaks of is more a result of the MB Fair approach to things. Boys go and get spoon fed and earn a MB in half a day. The old school way involved adult association. You found a buddy who wanted to take the same MB, got a MB Counselor name from the SM and called the person to arrange dates and times to meet. You went over the material one on one. Being able to actual discuss the material meant having to know it......which meant reading it. That is hard to do in a classroom setting with a set amount of time.

[SR540Beaver]

Knot Head. Download the iBooks app and you can download all of those PDF files from USSCOUTS and store them on your bookshelf for reading without going thru the browser. Much handier if you are off the beaten path and can't get a signal.

[moosetracker]

All I know is few of the scouts in our troop buy the pamplets anymore. When I ask someone to read the MB book, they ask where they can get on.. This from a first class / star or life scout..

 

Half come to see me without the book, but with a printout of the list of requirements, maybe the worksheet printed off the computer and assume they have found a perfect substitute for the requested MB book and free to boot!!! Most the others come with nothing, very few will actually have the book.

 

I am one of the rare MB counsilors that use the books I guess.

[Twocubdad]

My sons understand there are basically three merit badge requirements:

 

1. Do stuff

2. Explain how you can get hurt or killed doing the stuff and what to do about it.

3. Read stuff in the MB book and spit it back.

 

Number three is much easier if you have the book.

 

Sounds like another wiz-bang with the primary purpose of making BSA seem cool. I don't see a crushing need this meets. "Managing their merit badges" isn't a big deal electronically or on paper. My guys don't typically have more than a handful of badges open at any one time. And then the issue is more of keeping up with with the materials they've completed. A check list of requirements -- paper or e -- isn't a big deal.

 

To that end, many of my older Scouts have a Scout notebook which they keep all their material in. They keep all their MB blue cards and advancement cards in baseball card sleeves keep up with the materials for their open MBs in tabbed sections. But it's not something they haul around, unless they're meeting a MB counselor or working on a badge.

[ScouterAdam]

The only reliable information is from scouting.org. All other sites can get the information wrong. I still use worksheets and others as a help and guide. Since other non-bsa sites could get a requirement wrong, that might be an issue later down the road.

 

As for not having a physical guide about the MB, I suspect all the info will be on the App. It's a new world out there. The Scouts were born and raised in the Computer Age. They do not know or understand life without it. If it is easier for them, let them use it.

 

I have used and seen other iphone apps which are ok. My hope is that this app will allow for multiple scout tracking.

 

As for Troopmaster coming out with something. That would be nice. They do not even have a Facebook/Twitter acount, so I am not holding my breath. Yes, they have the software that will download it to another smartphone device, I just do not see it for macintosh since they do not support Mac's with their software already.

 

My hope is that they start coming out with stuff for Cubscouts....

[moosetracker]

As for not having a physical guide about the MB, I suspect all the info will be on the App.It's a new world out there. The Scouts were born and raised in the Computer Age. They do not know or understand life without it. If it is easier for them, let them use it.

 

Bingo... Here is what I get from the scouts I council.. Problem is the physical guide is not there, just the requirements. Therefore it is reasoned by the scouts that if it is not on the computer or app.. and they can't understand life without it. Whatever is missing from the computerized version is deemed unimportant, and "suggested" ideas. Basically if it is not written into the requirements that are on the computer version, it is "adding to the requirements" to suggest they complete the requirements by following the steps laid out within the guide.

 

Therefore again I state, I would not mind the computerization of the "FULL" Merit Badge pamplets, but these countless computerized lists of the requirements only is killing the importance of the Merit Badge pamplets.. It makes no difference that National still only states the official source for each Merit Badge is the pamplet on the subject. I have yet to see them list a single computer website, or app as being an official source for the information.