National eXtension Initiative

eXtension currently offers two different options to list and promote events. There’s the calendar listings on www.extension.org and listings in Learn.

Events posted to the www.extension.org calendar are simply listings. They may include online events or events with a physical location such as conferences, field days, meetups, clinics or workshops. Events with a physical location may be local, regional or national in scope.

Events posted to Learn are more than just listings. It’s a place for discussion, to make connections with other participants and to watch the recording. For this reason, Learn listings are limited to online events that allow audience participation and are scheduled for a specific time.

Some online events could be posted on both sites. If this is the case, we don’t want the postings to be interpreted as “duplicate content” by Google and other search engines. Duplicate content hurts the reputation of both sites.

To avoid this problem, we’ve added a new “Learn ID” field to the “Create a new event” form on www.extension.org site. If the event is also listed in Learn, just type in the ID number (e.g. the “405” in learn.extension.org/events/405) and we will indicate to search engines that the Learn listing is the primary, original content and that www.extension.org site listing is a variation of that content.

We want to encourage everyone to use Learn to post online events and take advantage of the discussion and participation tools on that site. But remember to avoid the content duplication issue if the event is also added to the public site.

The eXtension Learn app is now open to the public with new sign-in options using social network services. You don’t have to have an eXtension ID to be able to participate in Learn discussions; you can sign in with your Twitter, Google+ and Facebook accounts.

What does this mean for you?

Broader Audience. Invite your Community of Interest to participate in your sessions. Share events in your social media networks without worrying about excluding people who don’t have eXtension IDs. Invite comments and conversation from your participants and encourage them to participate in sensemaking around the topic.

Privacy and Sharing. Because Learn is open to the public now, we’ve introduced new privacy settings (sign-in required.) You can choose what type of activity you want to share on your Learning Portfolio, which is viewable to all signed-in users. But we’ve also added an option to make your Learning Portfolio completely public, so you can share with the world.

Other new features

• Behind the scenes details. Each Learn event has a new interactions page where you can see all the activity that’s occurred, such who attended, bookmarked, commented, etc. When you are signed in, look for the link under “Connections.”
  
• Expanded activity views. Get a detailed list of all your interactions (sign-in required) in Learn.
• Expire old events. There’s a new option (on the edit event page) to indicate that an event is out of date or that there are technical problems with the recording.
• Cancel events. There’s a new option (on the edit event page) to cancel an event.

We’re excited about these new features and look forward to opening Learn up to a wider audience.

The eXtension Military Families Learning Network (MFLN) is off to a busy start for the New Year. Two webinars offered this year have reached 240 people from Extension offices, land grant universities and military bases around the world. Look for additional webinars in the areas of Child Care, Family Development, Network Literacy and Personal Finance in the coming months. We invite all Extension professionals and especially those serving military families to join us!

The Military Families Learning Network has made great strides connecting Extension faculty and educators with military service professionals since its launch in April, 2011. The year-end report documents the efforts of the MFLN and its communities of practice, highlights include:
• a membership of 184 people
• 583 Facebook Fans with a secondary reach of 148,867 people across the learning network
• 320 Twitter followers with a year end amplification rate of 50% (ratio of retweets/tweet)
• Identification and mapping of 239 Cooperative Extension programs nationwide serving military families.

Oregon State University’s Ask an Expert was recently touted by Skip Nichols, a columnist for the East Oregonian, in his column:

One question, two good answers

— Skip Nichols

GREAT Job Oregon State!

eXtension has tweeted on @BeGrowCreate for several years. The audience is Extension and land-grant employees. On January 19, a new Twitter account, @eXtension4U, debuted that is aimed at conversations with eXtension’s audience, the general public.

David Ian Gray, Founder of DIG360, http://www.dig360.ca/, commented on February 1: Execs need to start RT @eXtension4U: RT @kanter: “Learning social media is like learning the piano. Put your fingers on the keys.”

Paul Bonaparte-Krogh, Extension Specialist, Volunteer Management with University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension has been awarded the 2012 eXtension Fellowship. Paul will be studying how volunteers can contribute to and enhance Extension programs by using various eXtension tools. He will be looking at Extension programs in a number of areas and then guide and train volunteers on eXtension tools of special interest and use to them. He will be using pre and post assessments to determine the effects of the programs in which they volunteer.

Congratulations and welcome Paul!

If you have questions or comments on the eXtension Fellowship Program, please contact Mike Lambur, eXtension Evaluation and Research Leader (mike.lambur@extension.org).

eXtension is offering an open call to form new Communities of Practice (CoPs) in areas of high interest and impact for state, regional, and national programming. Those interested in forming and applying for funds to support a new community within eXtension should work with their Extension administration to identify subject areas of high impact and need for their respective Extension clientele in their state and region. All new CoPs are to be multi-state, and ultimately grow to be national in scope.

eXtension also encourages state Extension administrations to identify priority areas in their state and region and then actively recruit individuals who have a vested and strong interest in the identified priority area to lead the proposed Community of Practice. Communication and cooperation between Extension administration and subject matter specialists will result in a stronger more cohesive application.

eXtension has appropriated funds to support four new Communities of Practice. Groups submitting applications can request start up funds for up to $50,000.

Application guidelines can be found at http://create.extension.org/CoP_Application.

All applications must be submitted as one PDF file including all appropriate application material.

All applications are to be submitted by March 1, 2012. eXtension would like to have funds awarded and communities working by July 1, 2012.

Any questions can be directed to Craig H. Wood (craig.wood@extension.org) or Ashley Griffin (ashley.griffin@extension.org).

Topics of interest on dairy, entrepreneurship, Military Families (parenting & personal finance), organic, social media, QR codes and youth are in the list for February so far. If you or a colleague is leading a session online that you welcome others to attend, please add it to the list of Extension Professional Development at http://Learn.extension.org Sign in with your eXtensionID and click “Create a new PD event.”

At 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! Some sessions require pre-registration, so check it out before the event date!

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

DAIRY
Animal Welfare Certification Options at 1:00 p.m. EST, February 8, 2012.

ENTREPRENEURS
Expanding Your Markets: Going Online at 2:00 p.m. EST, February 9, 2012.

eXtension
Institutional Team Web Conference at 2:30 p.m. EST, February 7, 2012. Presented by Terry Meisenbach.
Question Wranglers’ Meetup – February 2012 at 2:00 p.m. EST, February 28, 2012. Presented by Beth Raney.
Google Analytics Q&A at 3:00 p.m. EST, February 28, 2012. Presented by Ben MacNeill.

MILITARY FAMILIES
Talking with Military Kids About Money at 2:30 p.m. EST, February 23, 2012.
Co-parenting at a Distance at 11:00 a.m. EST, February 29, 2012.
Secure Attachments: Building Caring Relationships with Parents and Children in Military Families at 2:00 p.m. EST, February 29, 2012.

ORGANIC
Cultivation and Seedbank Management for Improved Weed Control at 2:00 p.m. EST, February 7, 2012.

SOCIAL MEDIA
“Reaching Mobile Customers” part of Social Media and Mobile Technology for Ag Businesses webinar series at 10:00 p.m. EST, February 8, 2012. Presented by Sarah Cornelisse.
SWIX Social Media Pilot Test Follow-up Session at 2:30 p.m. EST, February 9, 2012. Presented by Sarah Baughman, Michael Lambur.
Social Media and Mobile Technology for Ag Businesses webinar series at 10:00 a.m. EST, February 22, 2012. Presented by Julie Fox.

TOOLS – QR Codes
Connecting the Physical World and the Virtual World with QR Codes at 1:00 p.m. EST, February 21, 2012. Presented by Stan Skrabut.
Connecting the Physical World and the Virtual World with QR Codes at 1:00 p.m. EST, February 22, 2012. Presented by Stan Skrabut.

YOUTH
Culturally Responsive Youth Work Matters at 12:30 p.m. EST, February 8, 2012. Presented by Cecilia Gran, Maria (Josey) Landrieu.

Edition 4 (2011) of the eXtension State and Institutional Reports is now available.

To view the reports, go to:

http://create.extension.org/node/2308

Edition 3 (2011) of the Overall eXtension Metrics Report is now available.

To view the report, go to:

http://create.extension.org/node/2790

If you have questions or comments, please contact Mike Lambur, eXtension Evaluation and Research Leader (mike.lambur@extension.org).

Tuesday, February 7 – Cultivation and Seedbank Management for Improved Weed Control
http://www.extension.org/pages/25242/webinars-by-eorganic

Thursday, February 8 — Animal Welfare Certification Options
http://www.extension.org/pages/61495/dairy-webinar:-animal-welfare-certification-options

Thursday, February 9 — Expanding Your Markets: Going Online
http://www.extension.org/pages/61606/expanding-your-markets:-going-online

Tuesday, February 14 — Nuts and Bolts of Grape Canopy Management
http://www.extension.org/pages/61907/northern-grapes-webinar-series:-nuts-and-bolts-of-canopy-management

Tuesday, February 14 – Profitability for Small Farms
http://www.extension.org/pages/25242/webinars-by-eorganic

Thursday, February 16 — 9 Important Communication $kills for Couples to Talk about Money
http://www.extension.org/pages/62350/couples-communicating-about-money

Thursday, February 16 — Careers in Anthrozoology: How People and Companion Animals Work Together
http://www.extension.org/pages/61923/companion-animal-careers-series:-careers-in-anthrozoology:-how-people-and-companion-animals-work-toge

Friday, February 17 – Chesapeake Bay 2012: Policy, Legal and Economic Implications of the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL)
http://www.extension.org/pages/15370/upcoming-webcasts-livestock-and-poultry-environmental-learning-center:

Tuesday, February 21 – Stink Bug Management with Trap Crops
http://www.extension.org/pages/25242/webinars-by-eorganic

Friday, February 24 — Modern Solar Photovoltaic Technology
http://www.extension.org/pages/62222/modern-solar-photovoltaic-technology

Tuesday, February 28 — Horse Boarding Operations – What is Involved?
http://www.extension.org/pages/62360/horse-boarding-operations-what-is-involved-free-webinar

Follow eXtension:

http://www.facebook.com/eXtensionInitiative

And on Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/eXtension4U