Featured University of Scouting Course: AI and Scouting

This supplemental training course is designed for adult leaders – from Den Leaders and Cubmasters to Scoutmasters and Committee Members – who are interested in leveraging modern technology to streamline the Scouting experience. Participants will explore how Artificial Intelligence (AI) like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, or Nano Banana can act as a “digital assistant” to reduce administrative burnout and spark creativity in program delivery.

Through a hands-on approach, leaders will learn how to use AI tools to:

• Plan Dynamic Meetings: Generate detailed, age-appropriate agendas and activity ideas for Den, Pack, and Troop meetings in seconds.
• Enhance Visual Communication: Create custom, eye-catching images for recruitment flyers, social media, and event posters using AI image generation.
• Streamline Merit Badge & Advancement: Develop structured lesson plans, checklists, and creative teaching aids for various Merit Badges and Cub Scout Adventures
• Be a Pack or Troop Guide:  Plug your website, unit bylaws, guides, or other parent-facing information into a tool that can be used by your Scouts and Parents to field the usual questions they have (unit dues, Scout Accounts, how advancement is handled,  etc.)

This will be a collaborative workshop – please bring a laptop or tablet to practice prompts and generate content during the session.

Note: This course emphasizes the ethical use of AI, ensuring that technology remains a tool to support—not replace—the outdoor-focused, youth-led mission of the Scouting movement.

Register Here

About Your Instructor:

Heidi Bramlet is a dedicated Scouting leader currently transitioning from District Chair to Program Chair for the Rancho San Joaquin District, Orange County Council. A volunteer for over a decade, her extensive service includes roles such as Treasurer for Troop 606F, Unit Commissioner for Pack 654, Wood Badge Troop Guide, and District Vice Chair of Membership. Her commitment has been recognized with prestigious honors including the Silver Beaver Award, the District Award of Merit, and being named a James E. West Fellow. Beyond Scouting, where she serves alongside her husband Henry who is Scoutmaster of Troop 606F for two of their three children, Heidi is a Group Product Manager at Google Irvine and an impactful community leader, holding board positions with the Irvine Public Schools Foundation and the Caltech Associates.