I have had the opportunity to conduct trainings on using Scoutbook. One of the issues that is commonly mentioned is the difficulty of recording service hours, campouts, and hikes in Internet Advancement now instead of in Scoutbook as before. If Internet Advancement does need to be involved, is there any way to have it run in the background and have the users interface with just Scoutbook alone?
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Short answer: No.
Long answer: No, but read slowly 
The issue is that Scoutbook itself is built on an outdated programming stack, and eventually will be migrated entirely over to a new programming stack. Major changes, such as the activity logs (which now incorporate a framework to support improvements that have been requested for a long, long time, such as more activity types and integration for JTE service hour tracking) are not being implemented both in the old stack and new stack. So, there’s no way to go back to doing this only in Scoutbook.
With that said, the only real issue I’ve encountered with the new and improved activity logs is the restriction that they can only be updated by a Key 3 or the advancement chair. Everything else about them, other than being new and different, is pretty easy to work with to create a new activity and log the participation.
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Is there any timeline for this change? This is a lot of work for Key 3.
Well here we go again…
No timeline available. And not as much work as you might think… Once you’re comfortable with the new activity logs, it takes maybe 5-10 minutes tops to create an event and record the participation in it, total.
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There is access for approval by more than the Key 3 based on the abilities matrix here:
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Its really an impediment to record keeping to restrict this to key three only, really it is contrary to something that I instill in my scouts. They are accountable for updating their own records. Yes they should be approved, but that can happen in the Boy Scout Handbook. It’s a huge burden that has been put on only a couple or three leaders, at the very most all ASMs should be allowes to update, and at the least parents and even scouts should have access to update. This teaches accountability and responsibility. This very cumbersome process has caused confusuon as well as poor record keeping.
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@DanielBreedon - if the scouts have been granted access by their parents or guardians then they can enter their own log info for hiking, camping and service hours. I really do not understand the disconnect… additionally, if you have parents connected at the very least they can enter items with notations. Both cases exist in my units… either parents or scouts entering log info… sorry … fail to see the issue
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I thought it was limited to only three key. Honestly this change was rolled out so badly that nobody knew anything about it. All off a sudden nobody could do this on SB anymore. No outreach from anyone. If what you say is true we will trynit out. Everyone was trained up on using SB and most dont even know how to get to the advancement platform.
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This is a good resource thanks, too bad it was buried in Scoutbook forum that no longer exists! First I have seen of it. What was your experience with all the existing entries on the old SB tool being transferred over to the Internet Advancement platform?
They moved over about a year or so ago, they worked, and we moved on. So for us, it was a non issue. We haven’t spotted any errors that need correcting. I can see, though, how a mistaken entry that can’t be fixed would be irritating.
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How did you find out about it Matt? For us it was simply not there anymore. On top of that we have been under the pandemic for close to a year. We have not been camping simce Dec 20, and we have only been permiited to have a couple service projects since. So it has not been used much in the last year, which lead to the confusuon when we went to use it. If Scouts BSA wants us all online they need to do a better job and informing units aside from learning thru forum posts or simply osmosis.
There is a Scoutbook Change Log forum to which you can subscribe:
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There was also a post about it at Bryan on Scouting in Scouting Magazine last May.
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Great thank you. BSA should have made this more widely known through all their channels. I will fault ou District and Council too for not keeping their units aprised of such a dramatic shift in our operations.
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Thanks Jennifer although it is anything but faster.
Your question, plus some others, has inspired me to start writing a Scoutbook News section for our council newsletter.
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Way to go! Many members don’t subscribe to web forums. Its great to have a tech guy or gal serve their local district that way. The technology curve is very steep for some to keep up with.
Honestly, here’s the deal. I understand the old stack, new stack, shortstack, haystack issue but that’s not really the issue here. The issue is that ScoutMasters and Advancement Chairs are telling BSA to merge the two systems into a one stop shop. BSA should be responding to the needs of the Scoutmasters but should also have Scoutmasters and Advancement Chairs on whatever technology committee oversees these developments. And it’s actually more complex than just taking an extra 10 minutes to use Internet Advancement. For example, Scoutbook has a calendar of events. On there we can log attendance for meetings, events, activities, etc. Yes, you can do that on IA but on Scoutbook you can weave those activities into the payment log. So if you are keeping separate scout accounts for fundraising or expenses, it can tie into the calendar. A scout is thrifty. We need to have a one-stop shop for advancement, activities, scheduling, training, and finances.
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