Category: Development

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Development Information Metrics

eXtension Strategic Planning Scheduled for 2013-2014: External Evaluation and Surveys Complete

GRANTS

Evaluation

This past February information was shared about an evaluation of eXtension being conducted by Socient Associates at the request of the Extension Committee on Policy (ECOP) and the eXtension Governing Committee. Socient Associates was charged with answering key questions about eXtension. These questions may be reviewed at http://bit.ly/1eUm884.

The report was completed in July and shared with the eXtension Governing Committee, ECOP, as well as directors/administrators. To read the report and/or view a recorded webinar of Sohel Karim, Managing Director and Co-founder of Socient Associates presenting his findings, visit http://bit.ly/18Gnqz4.

Following the release of the Socient report, the eXtension Governing Committee chose to survey Extension directors/administrators and USDA-NIFA to learn more about their attitudes and opinions about eXtension and how it should best move forward in the future. Also, during the recent Galaxy IV Conference, 684 Extension professionals completed a survey intended to learn about user/contributor interests in eXtension tools and services. These reports are also available by visiting http://bit.ly/18Gnqz4.

All reports will be used to inform the next eXtension strategic planning process scheduled for 2013-2014.

Categories
Development Information

eXtension & Nebraska Team Up on App Development & Distribution

app-storegoogle play

The eXtension Foundation and Educational Media at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln have partnered to offer app development and distribution opportunities for Communities of Practice and Extension organizations across the country.

Services include:
• Managing the eXtension Apple and Google Play stores.
• Consultation and development services for Communities of Practice to develop applications or estimate the cost of development when applying for grants.
• Reviewing applications to ensure they meet the specifications set forth by app distributors.
• Working with developers to update and support developed applications.
• Serving as a resource to help Extension organizations navigate the complexities of creating, distributing and selling applications. These include the technical, legal, financial, marketing and administrative roles related to app development.

Since 2011, Nebraska’s Educational Media has developed more than 30 applications on the Apple and Android platforms. These include native, hybrid, and web applications using IOS, Android and Flash development. All of these applications have an educational focus with the majority of them related to agriculture.

For more information on this relationship contact Dan Cotton, dcotton@extension.org.

Categories
Development Virtual Teams

Collaborative Thinking

In William Issacs book on the “Dialogue and the art of thinking together” he introduces the Four-Player System originally developed by David Kantor. This is a very important technique for supporting real collaborative thinking in teams.

In any productive group thinking dialogue all four of the following roles should be in play:

Mover
Without Movers there is no direction
Opposer
Without Opposers there is no correction
Follower
Without Followers there is no completion
Bystander
Without Bystanders there is no perspective

The roles do not all need to be in play at the same time but need to have been played before the thinking concludes.

Categories
Development Technology

Is email dead

Probably not with 50 billion e-mails dispatched every day wordwide but the signal to noise ratio is getting pretty bad with The Times, July 15, reporting in ONLINE, ON THE PHONE, ON THE UP that 88% of them are junk. It is really evident when I am using my smartphone, all the junk mail appears on that device.

The Times also reports

  • 1% of all emails are virus-infected
  • 50 billion e-mails are dispatched every day worldwide – 4 fold growth since 2001
  • 32 is the average number of e-mail messages received per person per day
  • 37 is the average number of texts a user sends per month – double compared to 2001
  • 8 is now the average age at which a child gets a mobile phone in Britain
  • 1 million children aged under 10 in Britain — one in three — own a phone

These statistics underscore the growth of instant messaging over email as the new communication channel as people and groups rediscover their messaging.