October, 2016
October was another packed month at eXtension with funding and impact reports for activities of the past 12 months coming due and new project plans lining up to be launched in 2017. So, this review got pushed aside a bit in the rush to make room in early November for the continued rollout of new programs and learning events for Extension professionals. Please excuse us for running late and also mentioning some of the already-launched November opportunities below. They are just too good to hold until month’s end!
Release of the Horizon Report: The NMC Technology Outlook for Cooperative Extension 2016-2021
Last spring, following the March NeXC2016 and the launch of the ECOP Innovation Task Force, leaders of eXtension and the Task Force became focused on the question: “Even if Cooperative Extension cannot predict the future, how can we prepare for it?” They formed a partnership with the New Media Consortium, publishers of the Horizon Reports for other education institutions and other related organizations, to produce a Horizon Report for Cooperative Extension. The report was completed and released in October and eXtension is running a series of webinars that focus on the recommendations by timeframe for adoption. The series began in October and continues through December 8. Learn more about the webinar series, add the remaining ones to your calendar and find recordings of the ones completed at the links below.
- The Horizon Report: An Overview recording posted
- Cooperative Extension Time to Adoption Horizon: One Year or Less (makers movement) Coming December 8, 2 pm EST
- Horizon Report for Cooperative Extension #EdTechLN TweetUp recording posted
- Cooperative Extension Time to Adoption Horizon: Two to Three Years (drones) Today November 10, 2 pm EST
- Cooperative Extension Time to Adoption Horizon: Four to Five Years (internet of things and wearables) recording posted
Five 2016 eXtension Fellowships Awarded
The eXtension Foundation proudly introduced five new eXtension Fellows. Their projects focus on Makers, Social Media and Big Data innovations to advance Cooperative Extension. Learn more about the Fellows and their projects.
Redesigning the Future of Ask an Expert
This summer, a team of eXtension Foundation staff members initiated a reassessment of Ask an Expert, evaluating its usage, resource requirements, performance and other key factors to identify how best to address a steadily increasing volume of questions. On October 12, 2016, a special webinar (recording posted) was called so all Extension professionals interested could review and consult on the initial recommendations this team was proposing. Based on feedback the team received, revised recommendations were presented to the eXtension Foundation Board of Directors, who approved the recommendations, pending answers to questions they posed and any revisions required. This process continues and is scheduled to conclude on November 18. Shortly thereafter, the final recommendations, action plan and training schedule will be shared with all interested Extension leaders and professionals in a webinar event yet to be announced.
eXtension Conducts Designathon at Tuskegee for Booker T. Washington Economic Development Summit
During the first week of October, eXtension conducted one of its signature “Designathon” events at the 21st annual Booker T. Washington Economic Development Summit held at Tuskegee University in Alabama. The 3-day event promoting entrepreneurship included a Business Pitch Competition, and eXtension’s Designathon engaged pitch competition participants in hands-on learning activities to refine their entrepreneurial ideas and prepare their pitches.
Diversity & Inclusion Issue Corps Launched with Call for Proposals
Throughout October, i-Three Issue Corps director Terry Meisenbach and his team continued working on developing the new Diversity & Inclusion Issue Corps, the first of several Issue Corps for 2017. At the end of the month, a Call for Proposals was issued with a deadline of December 5, 2016. On November 9, the first of two webinar information sessions was held, with the second scheduled for Wednesday, November 16, 2016 at 2:00 pm EST.
Community Issue Corps Moving toward Project Launch
The October 7 deadline for the Community Issue Corps resulted in eight projects from 28+ states and a total of 64 team members. The group will gather in Detroit on December 7, 2016, for a Designathon to plan their project and prepare for implementation.
eXtension Quarterly Webinar
eXtension Foundation’s Quarterly Webinar was led by our new COO Bev Coberly and presented updates on many topics, including the new competency capacity for online courses, 2017 i-Three Issue Corps planning, webinars, the new omnibus landing page for professional development and more. Check out the recording of this session to hear about these and other initiatives at eXtension in the voices of the people who lead them.
eXtension Foundation One-Year Snapshot
Wonder what we are doing besides sending out email notifications and presenting webinars? Here’s a graphic snapshot of our year October 1, 2015 to September 30, 2016.
Launch of Exciting New WoW! (Webinars on Webinars) Series
October 26 saw the launch of a 3-webinar series on lessons learned in the trenches of producing eXtension webinars. Created by a group of veteran webinar developers, it focuses on the planning required to produce webinars that provide quality learning experiences and are repurposable for continued use in your programming. The first in the series focused on “The Best of the Best Webinar Logistics” (recording posted). The remaining two are:
- November 16 – 2 pm EDT: “Planning and Executing Quality Learning Experiences via Webinar”
- December 7 – 2 pm EDT: “Using Analytics to Report Impact and Improve Future Webinar Offerings”
Please save these dates and plan to join us for these valuable sessions, complete with support materials, created by Extension professional peers.
If You Miss a Webinar You Wanted to Attend…
Webinar recordings and related resources that have been shared are posted on the link for that webinar in Learn, often within 24 hours after the webinar ends.
Don’t Miss the Recent 2016 i-Three Issue Corps Blog Posts
Learn about Climate and Food Systems Issue Corps members’ work and how their projects are delivering impact in communities across the country. Be sure to check out these stories…