National eXtension Initiative

eXtension is pleased to provide additional professional development opportunities for Cooperative Extension faculty and staff.

Our next offerings are the “Thirty-Minute Sessions”. These three sessions will be held on specific topics this week and next. Give us 30 minutes and we’ll teach you something useful!

*Titles in the Wikis and “Google Juice” on Thursday, June 1 at 2:30-3:00 p.m. Eastern Time ( 11:30 a.m. Pacific, 12: 30 p.m. Mountain, 1:30 p.m. Central)

*Metadata for the Wikis on Wednesday, June 7 at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time (10:00 a.m. Pacific, 11:00 a.m. Mountain, 12 noon Central)

*Categories in the Wikis on Thursday, June 8 at 1:00-1:30 p.m. Eastern Time (10:00 a.m. Pacific, 11:00 a.m. Mountain, 12 noon Central)

Each of these sessions will be held via Breeze at http://breeze.extension.iastate.edu/learn

Join us!

The May 24th “Wikis Work” session attracted over 150 extension faculty and staff from across the country. Kris Olsen, blogger at WikiThat.com, explained how wikis work and gave examples of where wikis have worked in various types of organizations. His “walk though” of the eXtension Community of Practice wiki gave participants an idea of what’s happening in that collaborative space and how the process works.

For those who did not participate in the session on Wednesday, the session recording is available at http://breeze.extension.iastate.edu/p11434829/

Whether you participated in the live session, or watched the recording, there is a page for discussion, questions and comments. Feel free to login with your eXtension ID, and add your comments to that page!

One of the first steps to being fully engaged with the eXtension initiative is to create an eXtension ID. By doing so you’ll be allowed to work in the eXtension collaborative space and you’ll be registered to receive routine email updates on the initiative.

It’s a simple process! Just click here and you’ll be taken to the registration page. Encourage your friends and colleagues in Extension to do so today!

The next eXtension national videoconference is scheduled for Tuesday, May 23, 2006, from 2:30 – 4:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. The program will feature a number of key updates for eXtension but will focus primarily on reports from three of the eight Pioneering Communities of Practice for updates on their progress and use of the eXtension collaborative tools.There will be NO satellite broadcast for this video conference. Viewers will view the video conference via web streaming only at:
http://real.unl.edu/extension

DATE: May 23, 2006

TIME: 2:30 p.m. – 4 p.m. Eastern Standard Time; 1:30 p.m. – 3 p.m. Central Standard Time; 12:30 p.m. – 2 p.m. Mountain Standard Time; 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. Pacific Standard Time.

Internet Streaming and Program Web site: http://real.unl.edu/extension

AGENDA:

Welcome and introduction–Dan Cotton

eXtension Update–Dan Cotton

Call for Engagement Update–Carla Craycraft & Craig Wood

Community of Practice Updates–Carla Craycraft & Craig Wood

–Consumer Horticulture–Rick Durham
–Financial Security for All–Debb Pankow
–HorseQuest–Betsy Green

Questions and Answers–All

To phone in questions call (800) 755-7765
To FAX in questions send them to (402) 472-9724
To email questions send them to questions@extension.org

TECHNICAL TROUBLE NUMBER: 800-755-7765

eXtension is seeking an interested individual to apply for the position of Evaluation and Research Leader. The Evaluation and Research Leader will be responsible for evaluating how effectively eXtension, a national initiative of the Cooperative Extension System, is serving the educational and informational needs of Communities of Interest (CoIs).

The Evaluation and Research Leader will join the eXtension leadership team to provide evaluation expertise and to coordinate evaluation activities intended to impact decision-making processes. Please distribute to all individuals who would be interested in this opportunity.

Application deadline is June 15, 2006

A complete position description is found at: http://about.extension.org/wiki/eXtension_Evaluation_Position_Description

For more information contact:

Dan Cotton
Director, eXtension
6 Ag Communications Building
PO Box 830918
Lincoln, NE 68583-0918
Office: (402) 472-2821
FAX: (402) 472-0025
Email: dan_cotton@extension.org

eXtension is deploying and developing many applications over the next several months. All the applications have one thing in common: collaboration. While the IT team is heavily focused on the technology, we are keenly aware that the technology is not what defines the success of eXtension.

Web 2.0, tagging, the “read-write” web, social networking — while the buzz words tend to be incredibly over-used, the concepts are quite relevant. As Extension clientele turn to Google for answers to their horticultural and financial questions, not to mention reassurance after watching the latest made-for-TV movie, “Canine Flu Bites the US”, the tools are needed to allow Extension staff to meet the clients on their turf.

Providing the technology to contribute to articles, questions, news releases, etc. will allow Extension staff to share their knowledge with a broader audience and collaborate with peers to ensure accuracy. Technology: create knowledge it does not; people do.

The next eXtension national videoconference is scheduled for Tuesday, May 23, 2006, from 2:30 – 4:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. The May program will feature a number of key updates for eXtension but will focus primarily on reports from three of the eight Pioneering Communities of Practice for updates on their progress and use of the eXtension collaborative tools.

There will be NO satellite broadcast for this video conference. Viewers will view the video conference via web streaming only at:
http://real.unl.edu/extension

DATE: May 23, 2006

TIME: 2:30 p.m. – 4 p.m. Eastern Standard Time; 1:30 p.m. – 3 p.m. Central Standard Time; 12:30 p.m. – 2 p.m. Mountain Standard Time; 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. Pacific Standard Time.

Internet Streaming and Program Web site: http://real.unl.edu/extension

AGENDA:

Welcome and introduction–Dan Cotton

eXtension Update–Dan Cotton

Call for Engagement Update–Carla Craycraft & Craig Wood

Community of Practice Updates–Carla Craycraft & Craig Wood

–Consumer Horticulture
–Financial Security for All
–HorseQuest

Questions and Answers–All

To phone in questions call (800) 755-7765
To FAX in questions send them to (402) 472-9724
To email questions send them to questions@extension.org

TECHNICAL TROUBLE NUMBER: 800-755-7765

Kevin Gamble, Beth Raney, and Terry Meisenbach are presenters at the 2006 CYFAR Conference being held in Atlanta this week. Two sessions feature eXtension: a pre-conference session entitled The Collaborative Tools of eXtension featured hands on opportunities for attendees to see just how the wikis, frequently asked questions, and virtual news room features in eXtension worked; and, the second session will feature an update and introduction of eXtension for attendees who are new to the initiative.

The pre-conference session was delivered today; the second session is tomorrow afternoon.

eXtension content development and information technology staff members are very involved in the program for this year’s National Extension Technology Conference May 8-11 at the University of Florida in Gainesville FL. Thirteen sessions plus a pre-keynote update are being presented by eXtension staff. Sessions include:

Monday, May 8–

10-12 a.m.–Overview of eXtension--Dan Cotton

3:25-4:10 p.m.–eXtension: Transformation of Cooperative Extension–Dan Cotton

4:15-5:00 p.m.–You’ve Got Questions? eXtension has Answers–Carla Craycraft

4:15-5:00 p.m.–Building Applications the Ruby on Rails Way–Rafe Colburn

Tuesday, May 9

10:00-10:45 a.m.–How eXtension Developers Collaborate–Rafe Colburn

11:00-11:45 a.m.–Huereka Overview–Rafe Colburn

Wednesday, May 10

9:00-9:45 a.m.–The eXtension Virtual Newsroom (eXVNR)–Kevin Gamble

10:00-10:45 a.m.–The Wikis of eXtension–Kevin Gamble

11:00-11:45 a.m.–Working with Content Providers in a Virtual, Collaborative Environment–Craig Wood

1:15-2:00 p.m.–Working with Content Providers in a Virtual, Collaborative Environment II-Ashley Griffin

3:10-3:55 p.m.–MediaWiki Import 101-The Gathering–James Robinson

4:00-4:45 p.m.–MediaWiki Import 200-The Feast–James Robinson

Thursday, May 11

9:00-9:45 a.m.–The Servers & Services of eXtension–Jason Young

10:00-10:45 a.m.–eXtension Support Roundtable–Jason Young

Kris Olsen, blogger and wiki expert, will present “Wikis Work!” on May 24 at noon ET as part of a new eXtension professional development series. The program will be available through your web browser at http://breeze.extension.iastate.edu/learn.

In this 90-minute session, Olsen, who blogs about wikis and group activities at WikiThat.com, will show how to make wikis work for almost any collaborative project. Wikis, collections of web pages that can be created and updated directly by group members, have long been used by web and software developers to stay on track with group projects. Wikis aren’t just for developers, though, according to Olsen. “The wiki is a simple tool that solves the chaos of groups and activities. They provide the group with the means to grow a body of knowledge or capture the information needed for any project and activity,” Olsen says in “Wiki That!” “Wikis provide a place for the process to unfold in a single, accessible location, allowing the group to get the job done better, faster and cheaper.”

This professional development session is open to all extension colleagues across the country.

Event: Kris Olsen, “Wikis Work!”
Date: Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Time: 12 p.m. Eastern (9 a.m. Pacific, 10 a.m. Mountain, 11 a.m. Central) 90 minute session
Web Location: http://breeze.extension.iastate.edu/learn