Presentation for a guest lecture in a a graduate level Extension Methods class. A blog post explanation the points in more detal can be found http://blog.anneadrian.com/2014/04/guest-lecture-on-extension-engagement.html

1. Not Your Grandparents’ or
Great-grandparents’ Extension
#CoopExt
Auburn University Extension Methods Guest Lecture
March 2014
@aafromaa
aadrian@extension.org
slideshare.net/aafromaa
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2. Let’s start out with questions.
What is Cooperative Extension’s best
resource?
What makes Cooperative Extension the best
choice—the optimal choice—possibly the
only choice for its mission?
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3. At one time, everyone knew the Extension
agents.
Seen as responsive (home & farm visits).
Known as the link to the land grants (research
and undergraduate).
Was one of the few people in the community
with a college degree.
Shared research findings.
What’s different?
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Photo: https://flic.kr/p/bt7p7R

4. Cooperative Extension has an image deficit
(Dave King http://www.joe.org/joe/1993fall/tp1.php)
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Copernicus 2009 Study

5. Tim Berners-Lee proposed an “information
management” system that became known as the
Web.
Just as important of a significant move:
On Christmas Day, Berners-Lee released the
code—for free.
On March 12, 1989
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6. Six drivers of disruption
Institute of the Future
http://www.iftf.org/futureworkskills
Rise of smart machines and systems
Globally connected world
Superstructed organizations
New media ecology
Computational world
Extreme longevity
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kabanski/914928023

7. Skills needed for 2020 knowledge worker
Institute of the Future
http://www.iftf.org/ Sensemaking
Social Intelligence
Novel Adaptive Thinking
Cross Cultural Competency
Computational Thinking
New Media Literacy
Transdisciplinarity
Design Mindset
Cognitive Load Management
Virtual Collaboration

8. Attributes for 21st Century Extension Professionals

9. Attributes for 21st Century Extension Professionals
IFTF Identified Skills
Sensemaking
Social Intelligence
Novel Adaptive Thinking
Cross Cultural Competency
Computational Thinking
New Media Literacy
Transdisciplinarity
Design Mindset
Cognitive Load Management
Virtual Collaboration

10. Build new relationships and maintain traditional relationships
online.
Learn informally through information flow and others online.
Seek diversity.
More than demographics—diversity in political ideals, social beliefs,
disciplines, and culture.
Integrate research and extension beyond what we currently do.
Know that we are not the only experts and that complex problems
cannot be solved and forced (i.e., through logic models).
See Cynefin framework http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynefin
Learn outloud and curate.
Future of Extension
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11. Anne-isms
Transparency and openness in our work, decisions, and
findings.
More open licenses.
All Cooperative Extension materials were public domain before
1990. Creating and scaling our work cannot be done easily through
All rights reserved products (Creative Commons licenses that allow
for easy sharing and remixing).
Inclusion of people outside of Extension, particularly
passionate amateurs in our work this allows for scaling our
work without growing our organizations.
Ability to test (and fail) more easily to acquire more agility and
innovativeness.
Future of Extension
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12. A national online presence for
Cooperative Extension.
Content is built through collaborative efforts among Cooperative
Extension faculty.
Communities of Practice (CoPs) provide the mechanism to
develop content (content is more than the text, can include
videos, webinars, social media, etc.)
CoPs sometimes include others outside of Cooperative
Extension.
www.extension.org is the hub for eXtension.
eXtension
www.extension.org
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13. Is one-to-one engagement.
People ask questions through Ask an Expert widgets and
Cooperative Extension/University staff and volunteers
answer them.
The widgets can be customized for area of interests or
locale. Many county offices use the widgets and direct the
questions to their own staff.
Questions can be distributed throughout the Cooperative
Extension system.
A public option is available for the questions.
eXtension Ask an Expert
https://ask.extension.org/
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14. A listing of synchronous online professional development and
other learning opportunities.
Events maybe hosted by eXtension, others in Cooperative
Extension and other entities.
Anyone can post events in Learn with Google, Twitter, Facebook
or eXtension IDs.
Learn events include additional information such as the recording,
slidesets, additional reading materials.
Events can be added your calendar, followed for changes, and
commented on, logging in with Google, Twitter, Facebook or
eXtension IDs.
You can track your participation in Learn for your annual reports.
eXtension Learn
https://learn.extension.org/
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15. Asynchronous integrated online learning platform using
Moodle.
Course delivery tools and services that can uniquely
combine web pages, videos, books, lessons, assignments,
forums, chat, certificates, databases, glossaries, quizzes,
journals, and questionnaires into personalized learning
environments.
Courses can have closed or open enrollments, can be fee-
based or free.
eXtension Campus
http://campus.extension.org/
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16. Collaborative and internal work space.
A space for CoPs to collaborate and communicate among
themselves.
Internal information for CoPs is housed in Create.
Content that meant for the public is developed in the
collaborative work space, peer reviewed, and copy edited is
then published to www.extension.org.
You must have an eXtension ID to edit anything in Create.
eXtension Create
http://create.extension.org/
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17. A springboard for any work that requires an eXtension ID.
Get your eXtension ID in people.
Set your profile settings for Ask an Expert, Create, Learn,
and Data.
List your social networks and interests
Create public settings for your profile (so you can be found
more easily).
Find communities and colleagues.
eXtension People
https://people.extension.org/
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18. eXtension’s example of
building a network online
(face to face is not possible)
Military Families
Learning Network
(target audience are those people
who work with military families—
family service professionals)
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19. 14,900 certificates in Moodle courses
36% increase
21,268 active participants 50% increase
210 webinars conducted by CoPs
18,534 participants in CoP webinars
173,684 views of the CoP recordings
eXtension’s engagement
Courses and Webinars
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2013

20. 1.6 Million contacts through social media
increased by 124%
5.8 Million interactions in
social media
increased by
1,232%
eXtension’s engagement
Social Media
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2013

21. 54% of Ask an Expert users have never
heard of Cooperative Extension
44% of Ask an Expert questions had some
significant economic value
48,008 questions resolved on Ask an
Expert
5,026 questions resolved in Alabama
eXtension’s engagement
Ask an Expert
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2013

22. 51,458 Visits to Learn
494 Events offered as webinars
618 Hours of professional development
$1.6 Million savings or value back to the
system
eXtension’s serving its own and others
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2013

23. In 2013, eXtension has received $1.53 of
additional funds for each $1.00 invested.
Since its beginning, eXtension has received
$1.58 of additional funds for each $1.00
invested.
eXtension’s serving its own
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24. Discussion
What are forces important for Extension and
land-grants to adjust to?
What should Extension focus on that will make
us successful in the future?
How do those focus areas affect our work
force?
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25. References
Facing the Image Deficit by Dave King http://www.joe.org/joe/1993fall/tp1.php)
An analysis of the priority needs of Cooperative Extension at the County Level by Harder,
Lamm and Strong
http://www.jae-online.org/attachments/article/56/Harder_etal_50_3_11-21.pdf
The 21st Century Extension Professional (the ECOP sponsored study) Webinar and
Slideset https://learn.extension.org/events/1073
Skills for 2020 Knowledge Workers http://www.iftf.org/futureworkskills
Learning and Working within a Learning Network
http://about.extension.org/2014/03/10/learning-and-working-within-a-learning-network/

26. Other Recommended Readings
Global landscape http://www.iftf.org/our-work/global-landscape/work/
People and Technology http://www.iftf.org/our-work/people-technology/
Harold Jarche’s blog: http://www.jarche.com/
Ongoing finds in connected organizations http://www.scoop.it/t/connected-communities
Ongoing finds in personal learning http://www.scoop.it/t/approachtolearning

27. Photo Credits
Droplets: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kabanski/914928023
County agent: https://flic.kr/p/bt7p7R
Binoculars: https://flic.kr/p/4ufwAb

28. Not Your Grandparents’ or
Great-grandparents’ Extension
#CoopExt
@aafromaa
aadrian@extension.org
slideshare.net/aafromaa
Creative Commons License
Not Your Grandparents Extension
by Anne Mims Adrian is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial
3.0 Unported License.
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