Jeannette Rea Keywood at NAE4-HA Conference, Indianapolis, IN, November 14, 2017
Providing opportunities for educators to learn how to effectively engage individuals with developmental disabilities in their programming is essential to Extension’s diversity and inclusion mandate. Such training will help break down barriers and perceived differences, reduce apprehension, and build confidence for educators and volunteers working with this clientele.
The Rutgers Cooperative Extension Diversity & Inclusion Issue Corps participants are proud to highlight some accomplishments of the Programming for Clientele with Developmental Disabilities Professional Development Series.
Presented at the National Epsilon Sigma Phi conference in October 2016.
Received the state and regional Mary W. Wells Memorial Diversity Award from the National Extension Association for Family & Consumer Sciences in October 2017.
Presented at the National Association of Extension 4-H Agents annual conference in Indianapolis in November 2017.
Has been selected as an oral session at the 2018 JCEP conference in Orlando.
Was invited by eXtension’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Community of Practice to be presented as a webinar on March 8, 2018.
This recognition points to the growing awareness among Extension professionals that there is a large, untapped audience of youth and adults with developmental disabilities that would benefit from Extension programming if educators and volunteers felt knowledgeable and secure enough to meet any special needs. We applaud our colleagues for their interest in learning the necessary competencies to serve this underserved population.
Please contact Michelle Brill at brill@njaes.rutgers.edu or 609-989-6831 or Jeannette Rea Keywood at reakeywood@njaes.rutgers.edu or 609-827-0199 if you would like to host this professional development series at your institution or in your community.
Most employers buy into training and developing their employees so that they can be better employees. But two University of Minnesota extension professionals determined that they needed to do more. They decided that their charge was not only to “keep and grow” extension paraprofessionals in the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program, but also to prepare them to leave for other employment. Radical thought!
“We are developing them not just for us but for them so that when they leave us, they leave with a more robust portfolio where they can be marketable elsewhere and obtain a more livable, higher-wage job,” says Mary Marczak, Director of the Urban Family Development program.
One “aha moment” the women had was when they realized that they need to do a better job of “communicating up and down the system” to inform others of the value of nutrition educators’ work.
Cassie Silveira, EFNEP Coordinator and Extension Educator, says the four-county area surrounding Minneapolis is “amazingly diverse.” One-third of the growth in recent population has come from international immigration, including people from Laos, Somalia, Ethiopia and Viet Nam. Nutrition educators need to reflect the diversity of the population to do their jobs, but they also need their own upward mobility.
Marczak’s and Silveira’s thoughts about paraprofessionals’ mobility needs crystallized into action steps at an eXtension Diversity and Inclusion “designathon,” a structured opportunity for extension personnel to sit around the table with other professionals to create educational programs that benefit their communities at large. The designathon is one component of the Impact Collaborative process, in which extension professionals are supported to accelerate the adoption of innovation in local programming. Each designathon encourages educators to visually map out concepts; get feedback from peers across their states; learn from “key informants,” who are national content or technology experts; explore avenues for funding; and discuss ways to communicate new ideas to their colleagues and potential partners.
One “aha moment” the women had was when the designathon led to story mapping. They realized that although they know the value of what they are doing, they need to do a better job of “communicating up and down the system” with associate deans, assistant deans and others to inform them of the value of the educators’ work, too. Two specific policy changes for which the professionals are advocating are getting more dollars for staff professional development and opening up university training or courses for nutrition educators. The designathon experience “helped us refine our story,” Silveira says.
Evaluation results from the February 2017 designathon found that 27 of the 55 participants said the experience helped to push their project forward – most frequently described as finding dedicated work time in a supportive environment. This is particularly important as only 18 percent of Impact Collaborative project teams in 2017 said they are able to meet regularly, while 37 percent said they never are able to meet and work.
Do designathons have a future in changing how extension workers work? Very likely. As one participant said, “I plan to use the process again. I didn’t think we could get this much done.”
For more information about EFNEP in Minnesota, contact:
eXtension Foundation is hiring a full-time person to serve as the Instructional Technologist for the Impact Collaborative. The successful candidate will handle all aspects of professional development for Collaborative Members. We are expecting to recruit 2000 individuals/700 teams for the Collaborative in the upcoming year.
This person will also be responsible for developing an evidence base on innovative practices that can be used to strengthen programming for Cooperative Extension professionals across the nation. For a full listing of responsibilities, visit the position description.
Most of all, this person will be positive, creative, and care deeply about helping Extension Professionals design programming that has a significant impact at the local level.
Where Is the Position Located?
eXtension is a virtual organization. This position can be located anywhere there is a reliable Internet connection. Some travel may be required for designathon events or to represent eXtension at national events. Travel costs for those events will be reimbursed.
When Is the Application Deadline?
Applications must be received by 5 p.m. EDT on July 10, 2017.
How Do I Apply?
To apply for this position please submit the following information to Brenna Kotar, Assistant to the CEO, eXtension Foundation, ceoassistant@extension.org. Address the letter to Dr. Christine Geith, CEO, eXtension Foundation. [View the full position description.]
Cover Letter
Resume
Three professional references, including email and phone number contact
The eXtension Foundation is a vital part of the national Cooperative Extension System, the nation’s largest non-formal education system with offices in nearly every U.S. county. eXtension’s mission is to help Cooperative Extension professionals increase their measurable local impact. The eXtension Impact Collaborative is the only national network in the Land Grant University System that uses a proven process to accelerate capacity for projects with problem-solving teams so that significant local change happens. We do whatever it takes to clear the way with customized and consistent practices offering exceptional expertise and tools that change the way people see what’s possible. The effect is unstoppable momentum. We are catalytic, engaging, and empowering.
In this third blog post on the University of Wisconsin-Extension Data Jam Initiative, I will focus on four institutional outcomes of this Evaluation Capacity Building Framework.
Screenshot from the University of Wisconsin-Extension Civil Rights Legacy Datasets in MAXQDA.
INSTITUTIONAL OUTCOME 1: Continuous use of Institutionally Collected Data
The Data Jam Initiative provides colleagues with the tools, skills, support and community they need to engage in the analysis of large, often fragmented and hard-to-analyze textual datasets. We are currently conducting a longitudinal study measuring the initiative’s impact on analytic self-confidence and proficiency. At this early stage we observe heightened empowerment in Extension professionals, and we see a steep increase of evaluation, research and internal development projects that utilize the data from our central data collection system.
INSTITUTIONAL OUTCOME 2: Improvement of Institutional Data Quality
An essential element of the Data Jam Initiative is to communicate to colleagues and leadership how data are being used. Institutionally, this validates colleagues’ efforts regarding reporting, and it supports leadership in adjusting data collection foci based on ongoing, interdisciplinary data analysis. This, in turn, helps keeping institutional research, evaluation and communication efforts in alignment with ongoing data collection and storage.
INSTITUTIONAL OUTCOME 3: Building Interdisciplinary Capacity to Quickly Respond to Emerging Analytic Needs
All-Program area Evaluator Data Jam at the University of Wisconsin-Extension, March 2017.
Over time we create a baseline of shared techniques for analysis, and distributed proficiency in utilizing Qualitative Data Analysis software. Consequently, colleagues can tap into shared analytic frameworks when they collaborate on projects. On a larger scale, the institution can quickly and flexibly pull together analysis teams from across the state, knowing that a number of colleagues already share fundamental analytic and technical skills, even if they have never directly worked together. This allows an institution to respond quickly and efficiently to time-sensitive inquiries, and to analyze more data more quickly, while bringing more perspectives into the process through work in larger ad-hoc analysis teams.
INSTITUTIONAL OUTCOME 4: Retaining Analytic Work through Legacy Datasets
Qualitative Data Analysis Software is designed to allow for detailed procedural documentation during analysis. This allows us to retain the analytic work of our colleagues, and to merge it into a single file. For example, we created a “Civil Rights Legacy Dataset” – a Qualitative Data Analysis Software file that contains all programming narratives containing information on expanding access to underserved or nontraditional audiences, currently from 2014 to 2016. This surmounts to approximately 1000 records, or 4000 pages of textual data. The file is available to anyone in the institution interested in learning about best practices, barriers and programmatic gaps regarding our work with nontraditional and underserved audiences.
The analyses that currently conducted on this dataset by various teams are being merged back into the “Legacy File”. Future analysts can view the work benches of prior analysts and projects, thus allowing them to use prior insights and processes as stepping stones. This enables the institution to conduct meta-analyses, maintain analytic continuity, and to more easily and reliably distribute analytic tasks over time or across multiple analysts. You can find more information on the use of Legacy Datasets in Extension in an upcoming book chapter, published in Silver & Woolf’s textbook on utilizing Qualitative Data Analysis Software.)
Beyond Qualitative Data: A Pathway for Building Digital Learning and Adaptation Skills
The outcomes above are immediate institutional effects the Data Jam Initiative was designed for. But maybe more importantly, we’re creating a base line of proficiency in negotiating between a technical tool and a workflow. Our tools change. Our methodological approaches differ from project to project. Each new project, and each new digital tool requires that we engage in this negotiation process. Every time, we need to figure out how we can best use a tool to facilitate our workflows; this skill is a fundamental asset in institutional professional development, and it transcends the topical area of evaluation.
This means that the Data Jam initiative, as an approach focused on mentorship and making by imbuing a technical tool with concrete, relevant processes, is not limited to qualitative data – it can be a framework for many contexts in which Extension professionals use software to do or build things: Be it visualization tools, digital design and web design, app development, statistics and quantitative research, or big data tools.
The development of the Data Jam Initiative Tool Kit has been supported by an eXtension Fellowship. To access the curriculum, examples, videos and training materials, please visit the UW-Extension Data Jam website: http://fyi.uwex.edu/datajams/
In this second blog post on the University of Wisconsin-Extension Data Jam Initiative, I will focus on the role of software in Data Jams, and on the skills that colleagues are building in this Evaluation Capacity Building Framework.
Screenshot from the Qualitative Data Analysis Software MAXQDA.
What is Qualitative Data Analysis Software?
The technical backbone of the Data Jam Initiative is Qualitative Data Analysis Software – often abbreviated as QDAS, or CAQDAS (Computer Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis Software). This type of research and evaluation software is designed to support the analysis of large amounts of textual information. It allows for efficient data management and the distributed analysis of large datasets in large teams. While Qualitative Data Analysis Software (such as MAXQDA, NVIVO, Atlas.TI or Dedoose) cannot do qualitative analysis by itself, modern packages typically do offer a wide array of options for coding, documentation, teamwork, qualitative data visualization and mapping.
Focusing on Analytic Collaboration, not on where to Click
Data Jam at the University of Wisconsin-Extension, August 2016.
In a Data Jam, groups of colleagues analyze data together while using the same analytic software tool, and similar analytic techniques. This creates a common experience of bringing a tool (the software) and a process (the analytic techniques) together. We’re not teaching how to click through menus; we’re not teaching theoretical workflows. We analyze, we make things – with a real tool, a real question, real data and concrete techniques. These concrete analytic techniques emphasize writing and documentation throughout the process, and they focus on utilizing analysis groups to drive the analysis. In a Data Jam, colleagues practice how to stay focused on their research question, and how to work as an analysis group to produce a write-up at the end of the day.
Qualitative Data Analysis Software empowers colleagues to quickly explore our large datasets, and to dive into the data in an engaging way – as such, this software is a powerful tool to illustrate and practice methodological workflows and techniques. We’re not only building individual capacity – we are building a community of practice around data analysis in our institution. I will focus on this aspect in the third blog post, but I will briefly describe outcomes on the individual level here.
Individual Capacity Building & Improved Perception of Institutional Data Collection
On the individual level, we are seeing two outcomes in our ongoing evaluation of the initiative: Firstly, we build analytic capacity and evaluation capacity. Colleagues learn how to analyze textual data using state-of-the-art analytic tools, and they learn how to integrate these tools into their evaluation and research work flows. View the 3-minute video below to view some impressions and learning outcomes from a 4-day Data Jam for Extension research teams.
https://youtu.be/IOWhots-qdc
Secondly, colleagues gain a better understanding regarding how (and that!) the data that they enter in the central data collection system are being used. Our evaluations show that colleagues leave our Data Jams with an increased understanding as to why we collect data as an institution, and as to why it is important to enter quality data. Experiencing the role of the analyst seems to have a positive effect on colleagues’ perceptions of our central data collection effort, and leaves them excited to communicate how the data are being used to their colleagues.
Not every colleague will use the software or engage in research in the future; our goal is not to make everyone an analyst. But we establish a basic level of data literacy across the institution – i.e. a common understanding of the procedures, products, pitfalls and potentials of qualitative data analysis. This type of data literacy is a crucial core skill as we are undergoing the Data Revolution.
The development of the Data Jam Initiative Tool Kit has been supported by an eXtension Fellowship. To access the curriculum, examples, videos and training materials, please visit the UW-Extension Data Jam website: http://fyi.uwex.edu/datajams/
Collecting large amounts of textual data is easier than ever – but analyzing those growing amounts of data remains a challenge. The University of Wisconsin – Extension responds to this challenge with the “Data Jam Initiative”, an Evaluation Capacity Building model that focuses on the collaborative, making-centered use of Qualitative Data Analysis Software. In this first of three blog posts I will provide a brief overview over the Initiative, the tools we’re using, and the products we’re making in Data Jams.
Data Jam at the University of Wisconsin Extension, August 2016
Extension’s Data Challenge
Extensions collect large amounts of textual data, for example in the form of programming narratives, impact statements, faculty activity reports and research reports, and they continue to develop digital systems to collect and store these data. Collecting large amounts of textual data is easier than ever. Analyzing those growing amounts of data remains a challenge. Extensions and other complex organizations are expected to use data when they develop their programs and services; they are also expected to ground their communications and reports to stakeholders in rigorous data analysis.
Collaborative, Software-Supported Analysis as a Response
Data Jam at the University of Wisconsin – Extension, August 2016
The University of Wisconsin-Extension responds to this expectation with the Data Jam Initiative, an Evaluation Capacity Framework that utilizes Qualitative Data Analysis Software. In monthly full-day Data Jams and multi-day analysis sessions, colleagues meet to explore and analyze data together. Data Jams are inspired by the concept of Game Jams. In Game Jams, game developers meet for a short amount of time in order to produce quick prototypes of games.
Asking Real Questions, Analyzing Real Data
The most important feature of Data Jams is that we work with data and questions that are relevant to our colleagues; in fact, most topics in Data Jams are brought up by specialists and educators from across the state. By collaboratively analyzing programming narratives and impact statements from our central data collection system, we start answering questions like:
How are equity principles enacted in our Community Food Systems-related work?
How do our colleagues state-wide frame their work around ‘poverty’?
How does state-wide programming in Agriculture and Natural Resources address Quality Assurance?
How are youth applying what they’ve learned in terms of life skills in our state-wide 4-H and Youth Development programming?
How does FoodWIse (our state-wide nutrition education program) partner with other organizations, both internally and externally?
Data Jam products are shared with colleagues across the institution via our internal Data Jam blog.
Using Qualitative Data Analysis Software, Data Jammers produce concrete write-ups, models, initial theories and visualizations; these products are subsequently shared with colleagues, partners and relevant stakeholders.
Building Institutional Capacity to Analyze Large Datasets
Data Jam at the University of Wisconsin-Extension, February 2017
Through the Data Jam Initiative, we build institution-wide capacity in effectively analyzing large amounts of textual data. We connect teams, researchers, evaluators and educators to develop commonly shared organizational concepts and analytic skills. These shared skills and concepts in turn enable us to distribute the analysis of large data sets across content and evaluation experts within our institution. The overall goal of the initiative is to enable our institution to systematically utilize large textual datasets.
Since early 2016, we use the Data Jam model in monthly one-day Data Jams across Wisconsin, in regular internal consulting and retreat sessions for project and program area teams, and in graduate methods education on the UW-Madison campus. We have hosted external Data Jams on the University of Washington Pullman campus and at the United Nation’s Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS).
The development of the Data Jam Initiative Tool Kit has been supported by an eXtension Fellowship. To access the curriculum, examples, videos and training materials, please visit the UW-Extension Data Jam website: http://fyi.uwex.edu/datajams/
During the past 6 months eXtension has taken the first steps to integrate competency based education (CBE) into its core offerings. CBE tools scale up professional development by standardizing assessment with consensus-built statements of knowledge, skills and abilities, while enabling customized learning resources for varying contexts. Frameworks can be used for curating resources, designing programs and assessing not just change in knowledge but level of mastery.
Competency Framework Development
Two working groups, Working Out Loud, and the Climate Learning Network, piloted eXtension’s new competency framework development (CFD) process to create detailed frameworks that support training for national eXtension members. This virtual process uses the best practices from established curriculum development and skill identification methods enhanced by electronic tools and delivered online to produce a full competency framework in less than 14 hours.
With the support of Larry Lippke, we created a test environment for the eXtension learning management system (Moodle 3.1) with CBE capabilities and new tools (e.g. learner profiles, course and activity tagging, and learning plans). Moodle 3.1 will be launched publicly on the eXtension Moodle as soon as it becomes available this Fall. Next, we are identifying and developing great new tools to help tag, manage, and generate online resources. The first GODAN Fellow, to be announced soon, will be participating in this process.
We are currently developing a framework for National Urban Extension Leadership’s County Extension Directors, and several more are planned with eXtension groups over the next few months. With the lessons learned from our pilots with Working Out Loud and the Climate Learning Network, we hope to reduce the time required to 12 hours or less.
What’s ahead for CFD?
We are gearing up to train eXtension CFD facilitators to make this service more widely available. Over the course of the next few months we will build a competency framework for eXtension CFD facilitators and finalize the training materials. We expect to begin offering CFD facilitator training–competency based, of course–at the beginning of 2017.
Learn more about Moodle 3.1 and CFD
The upcoming eXtension quarterly webinar on Oct 19, 2016 will focus on competency based education and training. New and improved competency framework tools in Moodle will be demonstrated.
What else is happening with Moodle and CBE?
We are currently working to deploy CBE tools asap and to provide a best practices model demonstration for resource tagging and alignment. We are supporting the Climate Learning Network as they take the competency framework created for Climate Literate Extension Professionals via the CFD process and use eXtension tools to identify manage, and align resources.
In the previous blogs we have discussed the what and why of AR (Augmented Reality). Now it’s time to think of applicable ways to use it in Extension. Here are some ideas of how AR is currently being used:
3D model using Augment image source courtesy of www.augment.com
On Thursday, June 22 two educators from Ohio State University Extension, Jami Dellifield and Amanda Raines, presented an eXtension webinar on “Mental Health Awareness for Extension Professionals.” It is based on a professional development session they led at eXtension’s NeXC2016 conference in March that generated great interest.
Due to popular response both to the conference session and now to the webinar, “Mental Health Awareness for Extension Professionals” has been recorded and is available for viewing at: https://learn.extension.org/events/2679.
Although there is no single technology that is a one size fits all, AR (Augmented Reality) can help provide the basis for a strong cooperative learning environment. The environment can also grow outside the formal classroom because of the nature of the tool itself. The technology used should depend on the pedagogical objectives and needs of the educational application and context to the target audience (Kaufmann, 2011).
AR can provide many positive benefits as an educational tool and merits more to discover and think about. Researchers suggest that AR should complement traditional curriculum materials and not compete against or replace them. They also conclude that AR is more effective in demonstrating spatial and temporal concepts as well as offering new forms of shared learning experiences through remote collaboration experiences (Billinghurst & Duenser, 2012).
Donald Norman’s meaning of affordances in educational technology refers to the “perceived affordances – that until an affordance is perceived it is of no utility to the potential user” (Bower & Sturman, 2015, p. 345). Two literature reviews analyzed a total of 58 studies within the context of augmented reality in education. The researchers found the following positive benefits (Radu, 2014; Bacca et al., 2014):
Increased understanding of content
Learning spatial structure and function
Long-term memory retention
Increased student motivation
Student engagement
Improved collaboration
There are many ways we can use AR in Extension to promote education for different audiences. Some of these include interactive posters and fact sheets, augmented tours and 3D models. In the next series of blog posts we will discuss these and review some AR apps that can help us get the job done.
Image: By Eawentling (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
This recognition points to the growing awareness among Extension professionals that there is a large, untapped audience of youth and adults with developmental disabilities that would benefit from Extension programming if educators and volunteers felt knowledgeable and secure enough to meet any special needs. We applaud our colleagues for their interest in learning the necessary competencies to serve this underserved population.
