How to Create a Service Project for an Online Class

Students sometimes complete community service projects for online courses.

Professors of social sciences often incorporate service learning projects into online courses. In return for designing and completing a community service project over the course of a semester or year, a student may receive course credit or a percentage of her course grade. To plan her service project, the student must begin planning at the beginning of the course. A carefully crafted service project plan facilitates successful completion of the assignment as well as a rewarding community service experience.

Instructions

Researching

1. Make a list of nonprofit organizations in your area whose mission statements fit your interests and goals. Compile a list of about 20 organizations and rank them in order of interest.

2. 

   Choose a nonprofit whose mission or cause closely matches your interests.

   Call your top five organizations to inquire about volunteer opportunities. Whenever possible, ask to speak to the volunteer services coordinator. Ask for age requirements, background check requirements and other regulations that may affect your volunteer project.

3. Find out whether the organization is receptive to the fact that you wish to design your own volunteer project. Ask if volunteers have relative freedom to determine volunteer hours and choose volunteer assignments. Tell the organization representative which aspects of the organization most interest you, and determine whether volunteer opportunities exist in your areas of interest.

4. Narrow your list to three possible nonprofit partners. Consider how well your explanations of this volunteer work will translate via a written online assignment. Make lists that detail reasons in favor of and in opposition to each nonprofit, and email your professor with questions about the appropriateness of your favored nonprofits to the coursework.

5. Decide upon one nonprofit at which to focus your volunteer project based on your research. Inform your nonprofit contact and your professor of your intention to develop a community service project that serves the organization and its mission. Ask as many questions as needed to ensure that your project fulfills an actual need and that it avoids the reproduction of others' labor.

6. Compile academic resources from the social sciences that provide information about the type of nonprofit organization that you plan to assist. Make notes of your research that prepare you to write a literature review about this type of volunteer work.

Planning

1. Make a list of potential volunteer tasks for which you are qualified. Choose two or three interrelated tasks that best fit your interests and abilities. Focus the project plan on these tasks, but be sure to give yourself room to grow and learn new skills.

2. Write a literature review that introduces your volunteer project and places it in the context of other service work of its kind. Explain the relevance of your project's focus to the themes of the online course.

3. Write the body of your service project plan. Explain how you will meet the demands of the project requirements while also fulfilling your own service goals. In detail, account for the hours allotted to volunteerism each week. Describe your weekly duties and tasks, as well as any skill development that you anticipate.

4. Write a conclusion that ties your project into future research and volunteer opportunities. Place your project in a wider context. Note the practical and academic advances intrinsic to your work.

5. Revise your research plan. Check for grammatical errors and professionalism. Remove overly emotive discussions, as well as irrelevant anecdotal information.

6. Submit your volunteer project plan to your classmates and professor for feedback via the online course interface. Paying the most attention to your professor's suggestions, implement the feedback into a second draft of the volunteer plan.

7. Submit your revised plan to your contact at the nonprofit organization for approval. Make all changes that the nonprofit requires, and resubmit your finalized plan to your professor for final approval.

Tips & Warnings

• Take your feelings into account as you decide upon a volunteer project. For example, if you believe that you will be overwhelmed by an assignment that requires work with large groups of children, choose an assignment that does not require work with large groups of children.

• Keep in mind that some nonprofits have more resources and capabilities than others. If you are new to the nonprofit world, you may find yourself best served by choosing a well-established nonprofit with a long history in your community. Work in such an environment gives you a sense of how successful nonprofits operate.

• Listen carefully to what the volunteer coordinator tells you. If he provides any indication that your volunteer services are unneeded or unwanted, choose a different nonprofit. A welcoming nonprofit will know how to direct your energies and provide you with a better service experience.

• Be wary of any nonprofit organization that fails to live up to best practice standards in your community. It is unwise, for example, to work with a childrens' organization that does not require thorough background checks of its employees and volunteers.

References

• Morgridge Center for Public Service: Design a Service Project
• Corporation for National and Community Service: Service in Your Community
• Boston.com: Online College Enrollment Surged in '09

Resources

• American Association of Community Colleges: Service Learning
• Community-Campus Partnerships for Health: Service-Learning