National eXtension Initiative

October was the busiest month yet for eXtension’s Morrill regions in Second Life, with many events: a successful Virtual State Fair, spooky “Morrill Manor”, the Animalia Virtualia photo contest, five great speakers at NeVC2011 live, and the University Expo.

The eXtension University Expo brought together fifteen land-grant universities that have Second Life educational activities. The exhibition showcased projects from a wide range of disciplines, attracted an international audience, and formed relationships between colleagues from the participating universities. This month the expo moves to Second Life’s Info Island to participate in the Community Virtual Library University Fair, which will include academic institutions from around the world, from November 16th to the 30th.

As with any social media, the real value of Second Life is about people connecting with people. Frequent live events, staffed by real eXtension educators, is the key to building a vibrant Cooperative Extension learning community in the virtual world. One goal for 2012 is to dramatically increase the number of eXtension’s special events in Second Life, and to do that, we need plenty of help. You are invited to join the eXtension Second Life Developers Community at http://www.extension.org/people/communities/1327, which is open to anyone thinking about “working differently” in social virtual worlds.

The 2011 National eXtension Virtual Conference (NeVC) was held on October 17-19, 2011 via Adobe Connect. Five sessions were hosted over the three days and included a 45-minute presentation, followed by up to 90 minutes of discussion between a panel of session reactors and participants. The five presenters, all leaders and innovators in their respective fields, were: Howard Rheingold, Robin Good, Paulette Robinson, Clay Shirky, and Steven Rosenbaum.

While we are working on a full evaluation report for the conference that we will post shortly, here are some preliminary highlights:

• 1,525 individuals participated in one or more of the NeVC presentations and discussion sessions.
• A total of 66 responses were received from NeVC participants to an online evaluation survey of the conference.
• Overall, 58% (37) indicated that the session(s) they attended were extremely useful to them.
• Overall, 74% indicated that the sessions stretched their thinking on topics presented in the conference to a great or very great extent.
• By far the number one answer to key strength of the conference was that the NeVC saved time and travel to participants.

Twitter was used during the conference as a means to ask questions during the discussion sessions and to communicate about the sessions both to other conference participants and those not participating in the conference. It would appear that the traffic on Twitter was very helpful in leveraging and extending the reach of the 2011 NeVC. Here are the Twitter results:
o 171 Twitter users posted tweets during the conference.
o The total number of tweets posted during the conference was 1,416.
o The total number of unique Twitter users that received tweets about the conference using the hashtag #NeVC was 145,285.
o The total number of times tweets about the hashtag #NeVC were received by users (this includes users receiving multiple tweets) was 1,440,729.

If you have questions, please contact Mike Lambur (mike.lambur@extension.org).

For three days in October, five outstanding keynote speakers enthralled hundreds of Cooperative Extension staff with their insight into curation, social media, learning and knowledge environments, and virtual worlds. More than 1,525 individuals participated in one or more of the five NeVC presentations and discussion sessions.

Recordings of both the keynote speakers and the discussion sessions following each speaker are available:

Howard Rheingold

Howard Rheingold: “Using Social Media in Learning and Co-learning” Presentation

Discussion with reactors Peg Boyles, Debra Davis, and Sarah Williver; Kevin Gamble, facilitator.

Robin Good

Robin Good: “How to Achieve More Mind Reach while increasing your reputation and creating something of value” Presentation

Discussion with Connie Hancock, Dave King, and Marissa Stone; Terry Meisenbach, facilitator.

Paulette Robinson

Paulette Robinson: “Out of this World: Virtual Worlds in Government” Presentation

Discussion with reactors: Chris Collins, Jeff Fowler, Kyle Kostelecky, Tracy Rutherford; LuAnn Phillips, facilitator.

Clay Shirky

Clay Shirky: “Social Media, Curating, and Convening: Getting Value from Group Interaction” Presentation

Discussion with reactors: Sarah Baughman, Stephen Judd, Jerry Thomas; Mike Lambur, facilitator.

Steven Rosenbaum

Steven Rosenbaum: “Curate The Cloud. How Too Much Information Puts Humans Back In Charge” Presentation

Discussion with reactors: Bob Bertsch, Jeff Hino, Lynette Spicer; Beth Raney, facilitator.

During the conference both the Connect chat channel and the #NeVC2011 Twitter feed were extremely active. Many references, links and books from the speakers and those tweeting and chatting are included in a list found here: http://about.extension.org/2011/10/19/nevc2011-follow-up-links-books-and-more/

Another posting on the metrics for NeVC2011 is also posted on this blog here.

The Livestock and Poultry Environmental Learning Center on eXtension coordinates grant writing and works with researchers to get factual information to the media and the public. It is a go-to place for comprehensive science based information on environmental issues associated with beef cattle, dairy cattle, swine and poultry production. You could call it Manure 101.

Five years of free webcasts
The heart and soul of the Livestock and Poultry Environmental Learning Center (LPELC) is its free monthly webcast. The average viewing audience is 135 people from the United States as well as other countries. Typically three experts talk on a specific topic.

Shared work means less duplication
From the webcasts, people started coming to the manure resource area on eXtension to find research summaries, frequently asked questions and to pose questions. More than 100 faculty and Extension staff have written information for the animal manure resource area, http://www.extension.org/animal_manure_management. They work at more than 20 land-grant universities as well as the Environmental Protection Agency Ag Center and U. S. Department of Agriculture.

Seeking grants and contracts important effort of the community of practice
The center works to coordinate grant submissions with its university partners. “It is the connection to our audience that has made us a desirable partner in these efforts,” said Jill Heemstra, University of Nebraska Extension educator and LPELC coordinator.

Six state Extension services — Cornell University, Texas AgriLife, University of Georgia, University of Minnesota, University of Nebraska and Washington State University — are currently sharing a grant to research air quality in animal agriculture and then use that research to create educational materials for Extension personnel, technical service providers, commodity groups and the general public.

A project to develop learning lessons for use by high school and junior college ag instructors and extension agents is a collaborative effort of the National Young Farmers Educational Association, University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Montana State University. The first lesson is on developing an environmental policy statement for a farm or ranch and was published as an eXtension learning lesson. The project was funded by the USDA National Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA). Jill Heemstra, http://www.extension.org/pages/14286/jill-heemstra, and Thomas Bass, http://www.animalrangeextension.montana.edu/natural/nat_specialist.htm Livestock Environment Extension specialist at Montana State University, and others worked on the project.

The LPELC has sub-awards in additional grants on biofilters, monoslope beef barns and air emissions.

Links
eXtension learning lesson, http://www.extension.org/pages/33198/developing-an-environmental-policy-statement-for-a-farm-or-ranch-belaa-eps

Texas AgriLife Extension news release on six-state grant, http://agrilife.org/today/2011/07/20/climate-change-grant/

Webcasts archived for viewing on demand, http://www.extension.org/pages/54317/archived-webcasts-livestock-and-poultry-environmental-learning-center .

eXtension webinars are available nationwide. The times listed are Eastern Time so viewers need to adjust the viewing time for Central, Mountain, Pacific, Alaska and Hawaii-Aleutian Time.

Webinar details
Thursday, November 3 — Animal Behavior Careers: Beyond Dog Training
http://www.extension.org/pages/61159/companion-animal-careers-series:-animal-behavior-careers:-beyond-dog-training

Friday, November 4 — Healthy Soils for a Healthy Organic Dairy Farm — Broadcast from 2011 Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York Organic Dairy Conference
http://www.extension.org/pages/61345/webinar:-healthy-soils-for-a-healthy-organic-dairy-farm-broadcast-from-2011-northeast-organic-farming

Tuesday, November 8 — Cow-Centered Housing: Aerial Environment-Fresh Air and Plenty of It
http://www.das.psu.edu/dairy-alliance/education/technology

Tuesday, November 8 — Tracking Your Produce–For Your Business and Health
http://www.extension.org/pages/61346/webinar:-tracking-your-produce-for-your-business-and-health

November 8-11 — Freshwater Aquaculture Virtual Workshop
http://www.extension.org/pages/61319/freshwater-aquaculture-webinar-series

Thursday, November 10 — The 1099 Economy
http://www.extension.org/pages/60240/the-1099-economy

Thursday, November 10 — Appropriate Drug Use for Dairy Cattle and Residue Avoidance Practices
http://www.extension.org/pages/60995/dairy-webinar:-appropriate-drug-use-and-residue-avoidance-practices

Thursday, November 10 — How to Design and Analyze Experiments Using an Augmented Design
http://www.extension.org/pages/60446/how-to-design-and-analyze-experiments-using-an-augmented-design

Tuesday, November 15 — Starting Up Small-Scale Organic Hops Production
http://www.extension.org/pages/61347/webinar:-starting-up-small-scale-organic-hops-production

Wednesday, November 16 — Is It Time to Retire From Driving?
http://www.extension.org/pages/61192/is-it-time-to-retire-from-driving

Thursday, November 17 — How to Use Double Haploids to Improve Winter Wheat
http://www.extension.org/pages/60447/webinar:-how-to-use-double-haploids-to-improve-winter-wheat

Thursday, November 17 — Shelter and Welfare Careers: Can You Really Make a Living?
http://www.extension.org/pages/61160/companion-animal-careers-series:-shelter-and-welfare-careers:-can-you-really-make-a-living

Friday, November 18 — Facilitator Forum: Bringing the Right People to the Table
http://www.das.psu.edu/dairy-alliance/education/forum

Friday, November 18 — Economics of Using and Transporting Manure
http://www.extension.org/pages/61348/webinar:-economics-of-using-and-transporting-manure

Tuesday, November 29 — Winter Care and Feeding for Your Horse
http://www.myhorseuniversity.com/node/561

eXtension published news releases for 42 Communities of Practice in October
–12 Personal finance
–10 Families, food and fitness
–6 Freshwater aquaculture
–5 each Climate, forests and woodlands; Companion animals; Corn and soybean production; Entrepreneurs and their communities; Grapes
–4 each Apples; Beef cattle; Cooperatives; Diversity, equity and inclusion
–3 each Animal manure management; Bee health; Food safety; Goats; Horses; Military families; Parenting; Pest management in and around structures
–2 each Blueberries; Cotton; Drinking water and human health; Family Caregiving; Farm energy; Geospatial technology; Organic agriculture; Plant breeding and genomics; Wildfire; Wood energy
–1 each Agricultural disaster preparedness; Community planning and zoning; Creating healthy communities; Dairy; Extension master gardener; Floods; Gardens, lawns and landscapes; Hogs, Pigs, and Pork; Home energy; Imported fire ants; Science for youth; Wildlife damage management

eXtension published news releases from 39 States in October:
–7 each Cornell University, University of Arkansas, University of Illinois
–6 University of Missouri
–5 each Michigan State University, New Mexico State University, North Carolina State University, North Dakota State University, Ohio State University
–4 Mississippi State University
–3 each Colorado State University, Iowa State University, University of Connecticut, University of Minnesota
–2 each Oklahoma State University, Purdue University, University of California, University of Florida, University of Massachusetts, University of Wisconsin
–1 each Kansas State University, Louisiana State University, Maryland Cooperative Extension, Montana State University, Penn State University, South Dakota State University, Texas AgriLife Extension, University of Arizona, University of Delaware, University of Georgia, University of Hawaii, University of Kentucky, University of Maine, University of Nebraska, University of Tennessee, University of Vermont, University of Wyoming, Virginia Tech, Washington State University
–22 Other sources
–4 Original releases

125 news releases Total

Three national discussion sessions were held in October to gather input from the Cooperative Extension System (CES) on the proposed eXtension Critical Success Factors/Metrics (CSF/M) to document the value of eXtension as a resource to the CES. Seventy people participated in the three discussion sessions and provided insightful and valuable input. Our next steps are to review the session comments, revise the Critical Success Factors/Metrics based on session comments, review these with the Critical Success Factors/Metrics Task Force, and then present them to the eXtension Governing Committee for approval in mid-November.

If you would like to view the recordings of the national discussion sessions, you can access them at the following links:

October 20: http://connect.extension.iastate.edu/p4bm210w6r8/

October 24: http://connect.extension.iastate.edu/p4ha8brnhlr/

October 26: http://connect.extension.iastate.edu/p6mwvje5b9v/

If you have questions, please contact Mike Lambur (mike.lambur@extension.org).

November holds a number of subject matter topics offered by eXtension Communities of Practice (CoPs) for your professional development! See the list of PD events at http://learn.extension.org. For each topic you’ll find a description, date/time and length, as well as information on where to connect to the online session.Pick a topic, and attend through your computer browser! If you or your colleagues offer professional development online that’s open to others in Cooperative Extension, please add the information at Learn.extension.org by logging in with your eXtensionID and click “Create a new PD event.”

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT TOPICS
See details for each session at http://learn.extension.org.

Ask an Expert
Question Wrangler Monthly Meet-up on Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Question Wrangler Monthly Meet-up on Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Animal Manure Management
Economics of Using and Transporting Manure on Friday, November 18, 2011

Freshwater Aquaculture
Aquaculture Virtual Workshop: Day 1 Systems Overview on Tuesday, November 08, 2011
Aquaculture Virtual Workshop: Day 2 Species Overview on Wednesday, November 09, 2011
Aquaculture Virtual Workshop: Day 3 Aquaculture Business on Thursday, November 10, 2011
Aquaculture Virtual Workshop: Day 4 Aquatic Health on Friday, November 11, 2011

Blueberries
The Importance of Soil Sampling on Tuesday, December 06, 2011

Family Caregiving
Is It Time to Retire From Driving? on Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Climate Science
ANREP Climate Science Initiative – Part I on Wednesday, November 16, 2011
ANREP Climate Science Initiative – Part 2 on Monday, November 21, 2011

Dairy Cattle
Appropriate Drug Use and Residue Avoidance Practices on Thursday, November 10, 2011
Managing TMR Variability on Monday, December 05, 2011

Entrepreneurship
The 1099 Economy on Thursday, November 10, 2011
Preparing to Transfer Your Family Enterprise: How, why, when and to WHOM? on Thursday, December 08, 2011

Organic Production
Tracking Your Produce–For Your Business and Health Webinar on Tuesday, November 08, 2011
Starting Up Small-Scale Organic Hops Production on Tuesday, November 15, 2011
CoP Evaluation Efforts: eOrganic on Wednesday, December 07, 2011

eXtension Institutional Teams
Web Conference on Tuesday, December 06, 2011

Network Literacy
Introduction to Twitter on Thursday, November 03, 2011
Moderating an Elluminate Live session on Tuesday, November 08, 2011
Getting the most out of Google Calendar on Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Plant Breeding
How to Design and Analyze Experiments Using an Augmented Design on Thursday, November 10, 2011
How to Use Double Haploids to Improve Winter Wheat on Thursday, November 17, 2011

Please share this announcement with others and encourage them to pick a topic and try it out. All sessions are open to all Cooperative Extension faculty, staff and employees. You may indicate your interest on the page for each PD Event at http://learn.extension.org (log in with your eXtensionID). Great opportunities to learn together.

For complete descriptions and details go to http://learn.extension.org/. See information for each session, an overview of upcoming eXtension Professional Development sessions, links to historical sessions (and recordings once they are available). Log-in with your eXtension ID to indicate your interest in and attendance of the offered sessions. Add your professional development events that are open to extension.

Include your favorite session links in Twitter, Facebook and more! If your extension service or CoP has held professional development and has an open recording available, add it at learn.extension.org!

Any web-based professional development sessions open to Cooperative Extension may be listed at http://learn.extension.org. Look there under Upcoming Events (http://www.extension.org/learn/events/upcoming), browse by recent tags, or search to find professional development in your areas of interest. If you know of professional development events that are open to Cooperative Extension but not yet listed there, please add them by clicking “Create a new PD Event.” Each event then has a URL that may be used to share with colleagues! Each PD event page includes the title, description, presenters, link for participation and recording, as well as a check box to show your interest and/or participation in the event.

Questions or comments… contact Beth Raney at beth.raney@extension.org