I'm looking forward to visiting Mobile AL next week for the (Epsilon Sigma Phi) ESP National Professional Improvement Conference. I always enjoy the opportunity to meet with colleagues from around the country that share my enthusiasm for Cooperative Extension and the difference it can make in the lives of people and the communities in which they live. The networking will provide insight into what is new and different and what is working well and maybe not so well. It will be good to identify common challenges and potential solutions on how we can be more effective and efficient in our work.
The national Public Issues Leadership Development committee on which I serve will be providing a session entitled "Extension's Involvement in Controversial Issues." We have a panel including extension professionals from different levels to gain perspectives unique to their positions. They will reflect on experiences with the 2011 Missour River flood, shale energy and drilling issues and the role Extension has played in community dialogue and action on each of these issues.
Other workshops that I hope to attend relate to creating the networked professional, local food issues, scholarship opporutnities for the 21st century and methods to better meet the needs of Latino audiences. The keynote on Tuesday promises to be interesting as Joe Sumner, Director fo the Economic and Community Development Institute at Auburn University will give a presentation entitled "Global Trends that Will Change All Our Lives. A look at a dozen trends that are reshaping how we live, work, play and compete."
Look for my report in my next blog installment.
Friday, October 5, 2012
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Developing standard processes in extension registration
One of the discussion topics associated with registration processes this week has been the need for standardization of processes across the extension organization. In my CRM implementation reading, understanding existing processes and mimicking them in the CRM processes is recommended to improve success in achieving CRM goals. Our processes are beginning with registration, so I begin my thoughts on standardized registration processes in extension, across a system that spans 67 counties.
Registration seems like a simple process back in my days in the county - once the event was scheduled the appropriate process for registration is established. In "the good old days," when we were first putting computers on our desks, this generally meant mailing out forms and fliers, putting information in our newsletters and newspapers and then waiting for either the paper forms or phone calls so names could be added to the list of participants. Then we added technology - lists were kept in computer files and we listed our email address to accept registration or questions about the event. We began promoting events online.
Today, our clientele can go to our websites and register online. As we receive phone calls or other registrations, we add them to an online computer application which now serves the role of our earlier computer file. However, instead of adding information to a computer file we are adding it to a database that helps us know what sessions people want to take, whether they want to participate in future programs, etc. In addition, the participants can easily forward their invitation to any of their friends via email, helping to market the program. We still promote the program through our other communication chains, although most of our newsletters and the newspapers may be online in addition to or instead of in paper form. Online allows easy access to links to registration. It also opens the potential audience to people who may not have previously been on our mailing lists. So, there are many benefits to the shift.
So, what are the variables in how registration was handled in the past and can be handled today? We're still relying on people close to the event site to respond to questions and assist individuals in the registration process. Staff still assist educators in meeting preparation. Of course, the professionals involved have to become familiar and comfortable with the online registration system - so this means providing training. This is no different than in most cases where we went from keeping registrations in a notebook to keeping them in a computer file. Training should include how to get the information necessary from the system to know who plans to attend what training session and who has or has not paid, fix name tags, order meals, etc. Earlier communication about what was happening - what, when, where, how - still needs to occur between those planning the program and involved in registration processes. This may have previously occurred in office staff meetings and may now have to move to phone, email or video communications since registration staff and educators may not be in the same office. This seems doable.
Help me with this - what are processes related to registration that you feel are unique to your office situation? And while you're at it, how do you see them being achieved utilizing an online application? And finally, what are potential benefits or losses to be considered in moving to an online environment?
Registration seems like a simple process back in my days in the county - once the event was scheduled the appropriate process for registration is established. In "the good old days," when we were first putting computers on our desks, this generally meant mailing out forms and fliers, putting information in our newsletters and newspapers and then waiting for either the paper forms or phone calls so names could be added to the list of participants. Then we added technology - lists were kept in computer files and we listed our email address to accept registration or questions about the event. We began promoting events online.
Today, our clientele can go to our websites and register online. As we receive phone calls or other registrations, we add them to an online computer application which now serves the role of our earlier computer file. However, instead of adding information to a computer file we are adding it to a database that helps us know what sessions people want to take, whether they want to participate in future programs, etc. In addition, the participants can easily forward their invitation to any of their friends via email, helping to market the program. We still promote the program through our other communication chains, although most of our newsletters and the newspapers may be online in addition to or instead of in paper form. Online allows easy access to links to registration. It also opens the potential audience to people who may not have previously been on our mailing lists. So, there are many benefits to the shift.
So, what are the variables in how registration was handled in the past and can be handled today? We're still relying on people close to the event site to respond to questions and assist individuals in the registration process. Staff still assist educators in meeting preparation. Of course, the professionals involved have to become familiar and comfortable with the online registration system - so this means providing training. This is no different than in most cases where we went from keeping registrations in a notebook to keeping them in a computer file. Training should include how to get the information necessary from the system to know who plans to attend what training session and who has or has not paid, fix name tags, order meals, etc. Earlier communication about what was happening - what, when, where, how - still needs to occur between those planning the program and involved in registration processes. This may have previously occurred in office staff meetings and may now have to move to phone, email or video communications since registration staff and educators may not be in the same office. This seems doable.
Help me with this - what are processes related to registration that you feel are unique to your office situation? And while you're at it, how do you see them being achieved utilizing an online application? And finally, what are potential benefits or losses to be considered in moving to an online environment?
Monday, September 24, 2012
CRM for Extension
Another area of inquiry has been CRM (or customer relationship management) for extension. The college has made the decision to pursue this and my charge is to consider implementation. One of the first things we need to do in order to have successful implementation is to make employees aware of why we are asking them to adopt a particular CRM system. This is explored in this blog.
While you've gathered from my other posts, and already knew if you really know me, I believe that with or without a "technology-based system" the management of customer relationships has long been a strength of strong extension programs. The idea of focussing on the customer's needs to determine programming directions is nothing new - whether we use one-on-one opportunities, advisory groups, or technology-based surveys to collect this information - the point is we have been collecting this information and using it to drive business decisions. But we have probably been able to put greater emphasis on the face-to-face methods for gathering input because of our unique structure which provides an office in each county of the state and because in the past a lot of our educational programming has been provided in a face-to-face environment. However, there are segments of the population we have not been reaching. For many of these people our office hours and the dates/times we traditionally offer programming are not convenient. So, we have begun strengthening our on-line delivery which requires mechanisms to gather input in an on-line environment. So, we're good on this part - what it tells us in terms of what the product looks like that we use is that it needs to provide a way to report both face-to-face input along with information gathered in on-line environments. The ability to connect and allow for input for our online customers is one of the primary reasons for implementation of the CRM.
Along with all of higher education, extension programs are being asked to provide greater evidence of impact and success to support accountability to stakeholders and funding organizations. Data is generally gathered throughout the various levels of the state organization. States are at different levels in reporting - ranging from providing basic participation data to providing data that indicates personal or governmental savings related to long term impacts. The latter is the goal. This could be another factor driving towards implementation of a CRM system - for data collection to be used for reporting. A CRM system would need to provide a great deal of flexibility and ease in reporting to be successful in this realm. State systems have varied success in building and implementing extension-specific models for this purpose. CRM's tend to be more business-focused - units sold over time - so this adaptation may prove challenging.
Has your state extension program adopted a CRM? If so, how is it proving beneficial to your organization and customers? I'd appreciate your input.
While you've gathered from my other posts, and already knew if you really know me, I believe that with or without a "technology-based system" the management of customer relationships has long been a strength of strong extension programs. The idea of focussing on the customer's needs to determine programming directions is nothing new - whether we use one-on-one opportunities, advisory groups, or technology-based surveys to collect this information - the point is we have been collecting this information and using it to drive business decisions. But we have probably been able to put greater emphasis on the face-to-face methods for gathering input because of our unique structure which provides an office in each county of the state and because in the past a lot of our educational programming has been provided in a face-to-face environment. However, there are segments of the population we have not been reaching. For many of these people our office hours and the dates/times we traditionally offer programming are not convenient. So, we have begun strengthening our on-line delivery which requires mechanisms to gather input in an on-line environment. So, we're good on this part - what it tells us in terms of what the product looks like that we use is that it needs to provide a way to report both face-to-face input along with information gathered in on-line environments. The ability to connect and allow for input for our online customers is one of the primary reasons for implementation of the CRM.
Along with all of higher education, extension programs are being asked to provide greater evidence of impact and success to support accountability to stakeholders and funding organizations. Data is generally gathered throughout the various levels of the state organization. States are at different levels in reporting - ranging from providing basic participation data to providing data that indicates personal or governmental savings related to long term impacts. The latter is the goal. This could be another factor driving towards implementation of a CRM system - for data collection to be used for reporting. A CRM system would need to provide a great deal of flexibility and ease in reporting to be successful in this realm. State systems have varied success in building and implementing extension-specific models for this purpose. CRM's tend to be more business-focused - units sold over time - so this adaptation may prove challenging.
Has your state extension program adopted a CRM? If so, how is it proving beneficial to your organization and customers? I'd appreciate your input.
Friday, August 31, 2012
Social Media for Cooperative Extension
One of my areas of thought and inquiry lately has been around the role of social media in developing and reaching extension audiences. Extension has long prided itself on the relationships formed between the clientele and extension professional in the field. Most of these relationships were face-to-face and I know I've talked about this in previous posts. In "face-to-face" we have best opportunity for building those high quality relationships that build on the regular interaction, ability to "really see" what someone is talking about and ability to read body language and facial expressions that clue us into the importance of what is being discussed. As extension professionals we have access to a wealth of valuable, research-based information that can be interpreted and implemented for local situations. How do we do that from a distance now that we have to cover larger geographical areas to reach the same number of clients? And better yet, how do we measure success?
The July 28 issue of Inside Higher Ed featured a story, Tweeting by Faith that reports that universities as a whole believe social media is a valuable tool but are ineffective in measuring what the tool is contributing to the organization. They remain caught up in measuring number of friends, likes, followers, etc. which indicate people are available to hear and possibly listening, but don't really indicate that our message is getting across and used.
I previously reviewed a slide presentation from "Information Management" on the 9 Challenges with Social Media Metrics and share with you now what they identified as challenges and some of my thoughts on how they relate to Extension.
The July 28 issue of Inside Higher Ed featured a story, Tweeting by Faith that reports that universities as a whole believe social media is a valuable tool but are ineffective in measuring what the tool is contributing to the organization. They remain caught up in measuring number of friends, likes, followers, etc. which indicate people are available to hear and possibly listening, but don't really indicate that our message is getting across and used.
I previously reviewed a slide presentation from "Information Management" on the 9 Challenges with Social Media Metrics and share with you now what they identified as challenges and some of my thoughts on how they relate to Extension.
- Response Tracking - This goes back to what we are measuring. And to go beyond likes, retweets and shares we have to know who is using the content so we can later identify what change the information inspired. This would require some type of "registration" which is a turn-off to many people when they are surfing. Personally, if I see it and its not a site I already value, I'm not likely to register. Someone could go in and make lists of those initial respondents perhaps and message them later to get follow-up information realted to how they used the information.
- Audience - Are we successful in reaching the desired audience? Of course this also assumes we sat down initially in planning our campaign and identified our audience. In this we also need to know whether our message is going out at the proper level for the intended audience. The message will be different for a beginning versus an advanced client.
- Monitoring - Are we using social media to listen to how well we are performing. What are our clients saying about us when we aren't directing the conversation. This week there has been a great outpouring of support for Cooperative Extension related to our horticulture resources on the #CoopExt tag. It's refreshing to see that, but who is watching. And we can sit back and smile now, but if the message were negative would we be prepared to respond effectively and quickly?
- Content analysis - We need to be sure that what we are producing is of the highest quality and usefulness to the intended audience. Also, when we retweet or share other's messages we need to be sure it meets our quality requirements.
- Connections - The article recommends some software that can be used to measure the strength of the connections that are being made on behalf of your social media presence.
- Traffic analysis - What kind of interactions are taking place as a result of those connections? Are they improving our reputation and reliability and helping to spread the intended message?
- Influence - Klout has made us all aware that different people are on different levels of the influence chart. We need to know how many people/companies of influence are supporting our programs through connections, messages sent, retransmission, links and comments. I've always felt our messages were much stronger when someone else from the outside shared them as our message. (Which emphasizes need for our clarity in delivering the intended message to the intended audience.)
- Case Management - Do we follow-up with issues and challenges that are identified in a timely manner?
- Cross-platform identities - How do we manage our identities for different forms of media to best utilize the attributes of that media? Audiences often differ by media as do limitations and types of information that are appropriate to be shared.
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Extension Excellence
I learned this morning about the Extension Excellence program and website (http://excellence.tamu.edu/) which apparently has been in existence from planning to implementation for the past 7 years now. "About Excellence" indicates the program began through the formation of a task force by ECOP to find ways to measure excellence in Extension. The team includes a director and evaluator for each region of the US with representatives for the 1890 schools as well.
There are seven criteria with appropriate measures identified for program evaluation. The criteria, as listed on the website, are as follows:
1. The university recognizes Cooperative Extension as a major component of outreach/engagement
2. Diverse stakeholder input is used to shape programs
3. Client satisfaction
4. Best Practices/Exemplary Programs
5. Knowledge/Attitude/Skills/Aspirations (KASA) and Behavioral Change
6. Economic Impact
7. Funding for Cooperative Extension
I believe regular review and reflection on how these criteria are reflected in programming would be beneficial for all of us in Extension. Some areas may closely relate to our role in the organization, but it is good to have an awareness of what defines excellence for the organization as a whole.
The group also provides regular webinars, newsletters and other resources to aid extension in program evaluation. The March 2012 newsletter contains results of a survey of Extension Directors and Administrators that suggests that personnel other than directors that are utilizing the information collected by the site are in the areas of planning and reporting, program leadership, human resources and communication. Primary challenges appear to be increasing use and the number of institutions reporting to the site. Recommended uses for the data include: institutional comparisons, tracking institutional change over time, grant applications, illustrating critical needs and reporting progress and use of resources (accountability).
Make reviewing this site a personal professional development goal for yourself today. We gain value through the collective actions of our organizations. This program/website will help to make us more aware of our accomplishments, both individually and collectively.
There are seven criteria with appropriate measures identified for program evaluation. The criteria, as listed on the website, are as follows:
1. The university recognizes Cooperative Extension as a major component of outreach/engagement
2. Diverse stakeholder input is used to shape programs
3. Client satisfaction
4. Best Practices/Exemplary Programs
5. Knowledge/Attitude/Skills/Aspirations (KASA) and Behavioral Change
6. Economic Impact
7. Funding for Cooperative Extension
I believe regular review and reflection on how these criteria are reflected in programming would be beneficial for all of us in Extension. Some areas may closely relate to our role in the organization, but it is good to have an awareness of what defines excellence for the organization as a whole.
The group also provides regular webinars, newsletters and other resources to aid extension in program evaluation. The March 2012 newsletter contains results of a survey of Extension Directors and Administrators that suggests that personnel other than directors that are utilizing the information collected by the site are in the areas of planning and reporting, program leadership, human resources and communication. Primary challenges appear to be increasing use and the number of institutions reporting to the site. Recommended uses for the data include: institutional comparisons, tracking institutional change over time, grant applications, illustrating critical needs and reporting progress and use of resources (accountability).
Make reviewing this site a personal professional development goal for yourself today. We gain value through the collective actions of our organizations. This program/website will help to make us more aware of our accomplishments, both individually and collectively.
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Social media take home messages from NETC 2012
Social Media Evaluation
We need to determine methods of social media evaluation to determine:
o Who are we attracting?
o Are they engaging with us? How do we define engagement?
o How are we reaching them? Which platform? What type of interaction?
o What are we trying to do and are we doing it? Need to establish goals, preferably before beginning to be sure you are using the right platform/approach
Levels of evaluation and evaluation methods – run weekly since twitter only archives 7-8 days
o Sentiment – content analysis tools –
§ CTI
§ Excel Analytics for Twitter – provides a tone score. Can search on hashtag, free download
§ Invivo – very challenging and labor intensive. Required 10 hours of analysis for an hour on-line chat session.
o Attitudes, Perceptions & Behavior – Survey research tools
§ Survey Monkey
§ Instant Survey
o Reach, Engagement & Action – Analytic Tools – see comparison chart from slides
§ Google Analytics – web pages, new social engagement – how long are visitors there? Where do they go when they leave?
§ Facebook Insights – page posts - # people reached, look for patterns
§ TweetReach – identify audience through retweets
§ SWIX – Facebook and Twitter, moderate, but only surface - $39/month
§ TweetStats – timing issues
§ Klout and Kred – influence
§ Google spreadsheet – open and run – configure to run automatically
§ URL link shortener – follow link access
o Need for internal evaluator to facilitate evaluative thinking and document
o Reflective practice – focus group – Adobe Connect
o Participating in online networks is an essential skill for extension professionals in an interconnected world. . . core competency
Social Media Management
· Engage a team in management of facebook pages, but allow to post either as the organization or as an individual
· Get colleagues to invite friends to “brand” page to increase audience
· linqto – Facebook App which allows video chat
· Some counties using Facebook pages to promote county events – connect to Google calendar
Social media - “communication, collaboration, learning and the sharing of resources” “Facebook is becoming the new internet.” - Luke Wrobleski
Contacts/Presenters:
· Sarah Baughman – Military Families, VT - @programeval
· Jerri Caldwell Hammond - @JL_Hammonds
· Marissa Stone - @Marissa_Stone
· Luke Wrobleski
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Reflections on NETC 2012 - Opening Session
I took notes throughout NETC 2012. These are some of my notes and other thoughts from the conference. To set the stage, NETC is the National Extension Technology Conference. I believe this was the third I've attended. NETC is different than many other conferences since it is not associated with an annual meeting for a related association. This means a lot more professional development and less meeting time. This year's conference was hosted by LSU in New Orleans. The hotel/convention center is on the edge of the French Quarter. Location and facilities were excellent. Time was provided after hours to explore the French Quarter and enjoy the amazing cuisine. In addition, there was plenty of time for networking and discussion of deeper topics as a result of the sessions. There is a lot happening both with technology and extension, providing opportunity for many strategic discussions about where we need to be as an organization and how we get there.
Originally, I planned to summarize the conference here, but after thinking about the important messages from the opening session I've decided to break things up a bit.
It was quite impressive to be greeted by not one, but three higher level administrators from the LSU system, each with their unique message connecting technology and extension with practical applications for today's organization.
John Russin, Vice Chancellor and Director of the LSU Experiment Station, challenged the extension and technology professionals assembled to "move real world problems to IT capability." In addition, push researchers to keep up with the time and develop seemless connections between the field and lab. He has found weekly meetings with the IT staff in their college to be effective in bridging the connections between research and extension clientele and providing efficiency in solving data collection and delivery challenges. He supported researchers working graphic designers to communicate with clientele - "Data has to jump from the library shelf." In addition, researchers need to learn to communicate more effectively. They need to be able to explain the purpose of their research in a one-sentence headline. Finally, he expressed his concern that the Land Grant systems are losing their information basis now that we have moved to digital media rather than paper publications. He spoke of the need to protect earlier data and then provide for connection of historical archives so that extension can provide a "1-stop kiosk for information" that people can use to answer questions, including historical significance and perspectives. He closed with the statement "Researchers need your help to collect, store, deliver and communicate" their data.
Bill Richardson, Chancellor of the LSU Ag Center spoke of the committment of LSU Ag Center to technology, while cutting budgets. He spoke of the great advances made at the Ag Center since his arrival there 15 years ago and the importance of remaining current. His challenge was that we be sure our websites and programs are set up to market to the citizenry, not each other. That may mean stepping outside our comfort zones and using terminology and approaches that are more effective in reaching our target audiences.
Paul Coreil, Vice Chancellor and Director of the Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service expressed his belief that today can be the "golden age for Cooperative Extension if we step up to the challenge." He spoke of the extension, as an "old cultural organization" that needs to be committed to "evolve and change very quickly." He supports including social media delivery in promotion and tenure processes for faculty along with peer-reviewed journal articles. Research results need to be delivered in a useable format to our clientelle. The organization needs to identify mechanisms for measuring the impact of electronic information delivery. Hits aren't enough - they need to answer the question of "So what? What difference did it [the information] make? Extension programs cannot eliminate face-to-face interactions with clientele, but can use it with other interactions to obtain maximum impact. He referred to the Capernicus study which found that Land Grants are still seen as credible, trust-worthy sources of information that will benefit from better branding and access. He said Land grants have to change by learning to collaborate, working together for application development and obtaining sponsorship. He supports development of online stores that can meet needs where the people are. Finally, he spoke of how hurricane Katrina demonstrated the need for emergency back-up plans in a digital environment. The devastation of Katrina created a great need for residents to have access to information related to food safety, water damage, etc., but electricity wasn't available so online resources were of no use. The Ag Center was able to work with a publisher in another city to quickly print publications that could be distributed to residents that needed them. This allowed LSU Cooperative Extension to demonstrate value and provide resources at a time of great need.
Originally, I planned to summarize the conference here, but after thinking about the important messages from the opening session I've decided to break things up a bit.
It was quite impressive to be greeted by not one, but three higher level administrators from the LSU system, each with their unique message connecting technology and extension with practical applications for today's organization.
John Russin, Vice Chancellor and Director of the LSU Experiment Station, challenged the extension and technology professionals assembled to "move real world problems to IT capability." In addition, push researchers to keep up with the time and develop seemless connections between the field and lab. He has found weekly meetings with the IT staff in their college to be effective in bridging the connections between research and extension clientele and providing efficiency in solving data collection and delivery challenges. He supported researchers working graphic designers to communicate with clientele - "Data has to jump from the library shelf." In addition, researchers need to learn to communicate more effectively. They need to be able to explain the purpose of their research in a one-sentence headline. Finally, he expressed his concern that the Land Grant systems are losing their information basis now that we have moved to digital media rather than paper publications. He spoke of the need to protect earlier data and then provide for connection of historical archives so that extension can provide a "1-stop kiosk for information" that people can use to answer questions, including historical significance and perspectives. He closed with the statement "Researchers need your help to collect, store, deliver and communicate" their data.
Bill Richardson, Chancellor of the LSU Ag Center spoke of the committment of LSU Ag Center to technology, while cutting budgets. He spoke of the great advances made at the Ag Center since his arrival there 15 years ago and the importance of remaining current. His challenge was that we be sure our websites and programs are set up to market to the citizenry, not each other. That may mean stepping outside our comfort zones and using terminology and approaches that are more effective in reaching our target audiences.
Paul Coreil, Vice Chancellor and Director of the Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service expressed his belief that today can be the "golden age for Cooperative Extension if we step up to the challenge." He spoke of the extension, as an "old cultural organization" that needs to be committed to "evolve and change very quickly." He supports including social media delivery in promotion and tenure processes for faculty along with peer-reviewed journal articles. Research results need to be delivered in a useable format to our clientelle. The organization needs to identify mechanisms for measuring the impact of electronic information delivery. Hits aren't enough - they need to answer the question of "So what? What difference did it [the information] make? Extension programs cannot eliminate face-to-face interactions with clientele, but can use it with other interactions to obtain maximum impact. He referred to the Capernicus study which found that Land Grants are still seen as credible, trust-worthy sources of information that will benefit from better branding and access. He said Land grants have to change by learning to collaborate, working together for application development and obtaining sponsorship. He supports development of online stores that can meet needs where the people are. Finally, he spoke of how hurricane Katrina demonstrated the need for emergency back-up plans in a digital environment. The devastation of Katrina created a great need for residents to have access to information related to food safety, water damage, etc., but electricity wasn't available so online resources were of no use. The Ag Center was able to work with a publisher in another city to quickly print publications that could be distributed to residents that needed them. This allowed LSU Cooperative Extension to demonstrate value and provide resources at a time of great need.
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Academic Plans for Extension Programs
In Shaping the College Curriculum: Academic Plans in Context (Lattuca & Stark, 2009) they list the components of an academic plan. While their work is focussed on academic plans related to for credit undergraduate and graduate education, it can be easily adapted to non-credit education as delivered by Cooperative Extension. Thinking about educational goals in extension and in terms of these components has many benefits both to the educator or educator team and the client. Among these are increased clarity and purpose for educational activities and events, improved methods of evaluation and the idea of building a continuum for client learning that is clearly defined and easily followed. Here are the components as defined on page 4 of the text along with how I interpret their use for Extension education.
I. "Purposes: knowledge, skills, and attitudes to be learned." - In any classroom, we need to develop learning objectives. What are our goals in terms of student learning, growth and development? There will likely be higher, overarching goals and then intermediate objectives to be achieved in the process of reaching the higher goal. For instance, if our goal is to increase client intake of fruits and vegetables, we may also have goals for them to learn to identify quality when purchasing fruits and vegetables, learn to grow fruits and vegetables, learn to identify fruits and vegetables available locally by season, learn to preserve fruits and vegetables, understand nutritional aspects of fruits and vegetables, learn to prepare fruits and vegetables, understand desirable intake of fruits and vegetables for various members of the family. These preliminary goals may each be the topic of specific educational activities developed with the long term goal of increasing client intake of fruits and vegetables.
II. "Content" - What are the preliminary goals, as developed in the example above? And then what information will be used to achieve the preliminary and final goals?
III. "Sequence" - Are there pieces of the educational content that need to be mastered for people to move to further levels? In what order will information be presented to achieve this? With the fruits and vegetables example, it may be beneficial for clients to understand the importance of increasing fruits and vegetables in their diet, so you may want to start with nutritional aspects first and then move to other components. Or you may want to cover purchasing and growing fruits and vegetables before you talk about preparation and preservation. Outline the sequence for covering the various topics.
IV. "Learners: how the plan will address a specific group or learners" - This may be more challenging in extension since you don't have the benefit of requiring prerequisite classes ro experiences. However you will want to identify your target audience or audiences and think how they may interact differently with the educational content. Will some members of the audience have needs that others do not? How can these be addressed? In this part of the process you may recognize that there is need for separate programs/curricula targeting unique audiences that can benefit from education in the area. Understanding your audience will also help you in marketing the benefits of completing the program to potential participants.
V. "Instructional Processes" - How are you going to deliver the educational lessons? You will want to provide education in multiple methods to reach a range of learning styles. Where possible, active learning should be employed. You may find different methods "fit" different objectives more effectively. How can you utilize technology to provide linkages and increase student interaction between formal programming activities? Can "homework" be provided to increase the effectiveness of group sessions? Help the learners master and own the content and take responsibility for obtaining their educational goals.
VI. "Instructional Resources" - What do you need to accomplish your objective? Are there others who need to be incorporated into your team? What about supplies, meeting locations, etc.? Also, is there special training you need to prepare you for the experience?
VII. "Evaluation: the strategies used to determine whether decisions about the elements of the academic plan are optimal" - There are actually a couple levels of evaluation - those at the level of specific activities and events and evaluation of the overall program. From the perspective of the educational plan, you have made decisions plan based on your goals for the student. Be open to the fact that they may have different goals or may react to your plan differently than you anticipate. Be sure to ask what the students to express their goals regularly as you move through the educational process. Do they match your goals? Is the plan still adequate to meet those goals. Evaluations at both levels should be based on achievement of the identified learning objective(s).
VIII. "Adjustment" - As you find things that are and aren't working in the plan, make changes to increase the effectiveness of the plan in meeting the educational goals. Once you go through the entire plan once, you will have things you will want to do differently. Reflect identify what needs to change and then make the changes. Input from students and colleagues will be extremely useful in identifying what needs to change.
Lattuca, L. R., and Stark, J. S. (2009). Shaping the College Curriculum: Academic Plans in Context. 2nd Edition. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
I. "Purposes: knowledge, skills, and attitudes to be learned." - In any classroom, we need to develop learning objectives. What are our goals in terms of student learning, growth and development? There will likely be higher, overarching goals and then intermediate objectives to be achieved in the process of reaching the higher goal. For instance, if our goal is to increase client intake of fruits and vegetables, we may also have goals for them to learn to identify quality when purchasing fruits and vegetables, learn to grow fruits and vegetables, learn to identify fruits and vegetables available locally by season, learn to preserve fruits and vegetables, understand nutritional aspects of fruits and vegetables, learn to prepare fruits and vegetables, understand desirable intake of fruits and vegetables for various members of the family. These preliminary goals may each be the topic of specific educational activities developed with the long term goal of increasing client intake of fruits and vegetables.
II. "Content" - What are the preliminary goals, as developed in the example above? And then what information will be used to achieve the preliminary and final goals?
III. "Sequence" - Are there pieces of the educational content that need to be mastered for people to move to further levels? In what order will information be presented to achieve this? With the fruits and vegetables example, it may be beneficial for clients to understand the importance of increasing fruits and vegetables in their diet, so you may want to start with nutritional aspects first and then move to other components. Or you may want to cover purchasing and growing fruits and vegetables before you talk about preparation and preservation. Outline the sequence for covering the various topics.
IV. "Learners: how the plan will address a specific group or learners" - This may be more challenging in extension since you don't have the benefit of requiring prerequisite classes ro experiences. However you will want to identify your target audience or audiences and think how they may interact differently with the educational content. Will some members of the audience have needs that others do not? How can these be addressed? In this part of the process you may recognize that there is need for separate programs/curricula targeting unique audiences that can benefit from education in the area. Understanding your audience will also help you in marketing the benefits of completing the program to potential participants.
V. "Instructional Processes" - How are you going to deliver the educational lessons? You will want to provide education in multiple methods to reach a range of learning styles. Where possible, active learning should be employed. You may find different methods "fit" different objectives more effectively. How can you utilize technology to provide linkages and increase student interaction between formal programming activities? Can "homework" be provided to increase the effectiveness of group sessions? Help the learners master and own the content and take responsibility for obtaining their educational goals.
VI. "Instructional Resources" - What do you need to accomplish your objective? Are there others who need to be incorporated into your team? What about supplies, meeting locations, etc.? Also, is there special training you need to prepare you for the experience?
VII. "Evaluation: the strategies used to determine whether decisions about the elements of the academic plan are optimal" - There are actually a couple levels of evaluation - those at the level of specific activities and events and evaluation of the overall program. From the perspective of the educational plan, you have made decisions plan based on your goals for the student. Be open to the fact that they may have different goals or may react to your plan differently than you anticipate. Be sure to ask what the students to express their goals regularly as you move through the educational process. Do they match your goals? Is the plan still adequate to meet those goals. Evaluations at both levels should be based on achievement of the identified learning objective(s).
VIII. "Adjustment" - As you find things that are and aren't working in the plan, make changes to increase the effectiveness of the plan in meeting the educational goals. Once you go through the entire plan once, you will have things you will want to do differently. Reflect identify what needs to change and then make the changes. Input from students and colleagues will be extremely useful in identifying what needs to change.
Lattuca, L. R., and Stark, J. S. (2009). Shaping the College Curriculum: Academic Plans in Context. 2nd Edition. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
My first foray into Pinterest
The question of whether or not Pinterest was a tool to be used by the college or extension came up a couple weeks ago in a college social media forum. No one present had much experience with Pinterest, so not much more was said. The primary user in the college of which I am aware are Jeff Hyde for the Agricultural Entrepreneurship programs. I hadn't used it beyond viewing links others sent me so decided to explore. I am now the proud owner of a "Penn State Extension" board.
One thing I find interesting about Pinterest is their enrollment process. Unlike most social media hubs, you have to be invited to join Pinterest. You can request the invitation from their site. In my case I recieved the invitation within 24 hours of my request. The invitation included links to get me started. Unfortunately, at the time I received the invitation I did not have time to work on this so rushed through some of the information and logged out. Yesterday when I logged in I had to try to figure out some things that probably would have been evident had I spent more time with the prescribe introductory links. After a little bit of time on these I began exploring other sites. I decided I needed to give myself an assignment so set off to create a Penn State Extension board. In my research I did find a Cooperative Extension board which contains "pins" from around the country, but I wanted to make my board unique to Pennsylvania to explore how we might use it to talk about what Penn State Extension offers.
So, I began work on my board. Naming it was easy. Then I realized I still didn't know how to pin things to my board, so did a little backtracking on that. It didn't help that some of the initial pages I attempted to pin had no images sufficient for pinning. This may have implications for future web design if it is hoped that people will promote your pages through tools such as Pinterest in the future - in this case, you need images that can be utilized to make it easier for this to happen. I believe from my web travels yesterday I came across a solution for pinning items that don't contain images, but couldn't find it again when I retraced my tracks.
Eventually, I got a respectable board established with basics about what Penn State Extension is, and some program pages, newsarticles and notice of upcoming events. I like that new items are automatically shifted to the top and that I can select the cover picture. It's also nice that the URL for what you are pinning is automatically posted. I found it interesting that if I post something someone else has, even if I didn't get it off their page, they get credit for the initial "pin."
I felt that sense of accomplishment I used to enjoy when freshman would accomplish something they thought was impossible or hard as I finished, but recognized the next question is the every repeating "So what?" How do we know if this is an effective way to reach our audience? Will people use it? Is there a mechanism to evaluate success? These are all questions that have to be answered to determine whether or not this is something to encourage for programs such as this. I must admit a bit of pleasure this morning when I found that one of my items had been repinned three times already. So, did three people find this that wouldn't have otherwise known about Penn State Extension? At least I know three people looked at the page. I look forward to seeing how this develops over time. I'll keep you posted. (and if you give me material, I might even "pin" you.)
One thing I find interesting about Pinterest is their enrollment process. Unlike most social media hubs, you have to be invited to join Pinterest. You can request the invitation from their site. In my case I recieved the invitation within 24 hours of my request. The invitation included links to get me started. Unfortunately, at the time I received the invitation I did not have time to work on this so rushed through some of the information and logged out. Yesterday when I logged in I had to try to figure out some things that probably would have been evident had I spent more time with the prescribe introductory links. After a little bit of time on these I began exploring other sites. I decided I needed to give myself an assignment so set off to create a Penn State Extension board. In my research I did find a Cooperative Extension board which contains "pins" from around the country, but I wanted to make my board unique to Pennsylvania to explore how we might use it to talk about what Penn State Extension offers.
So, I began work on my board. Naming it was easy. Then I realized I still didn't know how to pin things to my board, so did a little backtracking on that. It didn't help that some of the initial pages I attempted to pin had no images sufficient for pinning. This may have implications for future web design if it is hoped that people will promote your pages through tools such as Pinterest in the future - in this case, you need images that can be utilized to make it easier for this to happen. I believe from my web travels yesterday I came across a solution for pinning items that don't contain images, but couldn't find it again when I retraced my tracks.
Eventually, I got a respectable board established with basics about what Penn State Extension is, and some program pages, newsarticles and notice of upcoming events. I like that new items are automatically shifted to the top and that I can select the cover picture. It's also nice that the URL for what you are pinning is automatically posted. I found it interesting that if I post something someone else has, even if I didn't get it off their page, they get credit for the initial "pin."
I felt that sense of accomplishment I used to enjoy when freshman would accomplish something they thought was impossible or hard as I finished, but recognized the next question is the every repeating "So what?" How do we know if this is an effective way to reach our audience? Will people use it? Is there a mechanism to evaluate success? These are all questions that have to be answered to determine whether or not this is something to encourage for programs such as this. I must admit a bit of pleasure this morning when I found that one of my items had been repinned three times already. So, did three people find this that wouldn't have otherwise known about Penn State Extension? At least I know three people looked at the page. I look forward to seeing how this develops over time. I'll keep you posted. (and if you give me material, I might even "pin" you.)
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Current hashtags for twitter
This is not anything profound, just a list of hashtags I've been using lately in promoting some of our extension programming along with some of the rationale for their selection.
#CoopExt - Seems to be best tag to use for Cooperative Extension activities and events. Appears to be used universally - good way to follow what is happening in other states. Some people have used #Extension which I understand, but when I search on it I see a variety of topics covered from domain names, hair design, and phone installation.
#MilKids - information about programming and resources for children of parents involved in the US military
#AgEntre - this evolved from conversation with Sarah Cornelisse, Jeff Hyde and Keith Dickinson regarding topics related to new product or business development by agricultural producers. We discussed #EntreFarming, but the suggestion was the #AgEntre is more inclusive.
#NGV - Natural Gas Vehicle
Some that don't appear to need much explanation: #PennState, #FoodSafety, #HACCP, #ServSafe, #stormwater, #water, #renewable #energy, #invasive species, #DayCare, #marcellus #dairy.
Added to the list on 5/16/12 -
#MasterGardener
#FoodPreservation
#Arboretum
#Marcellus
#wine
New additions as of 6/7/12 -
#forestry
#urbanforestry
Be sure to follow me on twitter @kavines.
#CoopExt - Seems to be best tag to use for Cooperative Extension activities and events. Appears to be used universally - good way to follow what is happening in other states. Some people have used #Extension which I understand, but when I search on it I see a variety of topics covered from domain names, hair design, and phone installation.
#MilKids - information about programming and resources for children of parents involved in the US military
#AgEntre - this evolved from conversation with Sarah Cornelisse, Jeff Hyde and Keith Dickinson regarding topics related to new product or business development by agricultural producers. We discussed #EntreFarming, but the suggestion was the #AgEntre is more inclusive.
#NGV - Natural Gas Vehicle
Some that don't appear to need much explanation: #PennState, #FoodSafety, #HACCP, #ServSafe, #stormwater, #water, #renewable #energy, #invasive species, #DayCare, #marcellus #dairy.
Added to the list on 5/16/12 -
#MasterGardener
#FoodPreservation
#Arboretum
#Marcellus
#wine
New additions as of 6/7/12 -
#forestry
#urbanforestry
Be sure to follow me on twitter @kavines.
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Thinking about CRM tools
I've been giving some thought recently to CRM tools - software intended to strengthen the relationship between a business and its clients engaged in virtual interaction in an online environment. However, as I begin in this thought process, I can't help but think back 20+ years ago when I began work as a county extension educator - a role that relies heavily on an individual's ability to develop and maintain relationships on many levels from individual to entire organizations. Of course, at that time the primary mode of communication with individual clientele that was not face-to-face was by telephone. Face-to-face connections occurred during farm visits or in group educational settings except those times you would run into a client in the grocery store or a restaurant. I can't ever remember anyone making a big deal of it, but it was understood that when you received a phone message you would respond as quickly as possible. The staff assistant who took the message generally made certain that the client knew you were away and had an idea of how long it might be before you got the message so they had an expectation for when the call would be returned. Unless someone dropped in the office as you were arriving, that stack of phone messages was the first thing you would conquer on your return.
When we increased the number of computers in the extension office and moved them onto people's desks and equipped them with email I do remember the discussion about how quickly you needed to respond to email. At that point, many people treated email much as they would the phone and when an email came in felt the need to respond instantly. Some were concerned that their productivity in other areas was suffering because of the constant interruption. I have heard people suggest that people schedule time to respond to email - first thing in the morning, last in the evening, maybe after lunch - so they can preserve other time to work on other projects without this distraction. But it remains extremely important to respond to emails in order to maintain relationships just as it was important to return phone calls in the early days. However, the opportunity exists at times to evaluate the situation and return an email with another form of response - phone or maybe even a face-to-face visit when it seems that is best for maintaining positive relationships. But not responding is not an option in such a people-oriented business. And much as the staff assistant did with callers in years gone by, if we anticipate our response may be delayed beyond our normal expectations we generally provide automatic responses to buffer the expectation of the sender so they do not read our delayed response as a failure to respond.
Now enter social media. Similar to email - but quicker paced, and much more public. Failure to respond is not an option. How do we utilize the tool to share information and education while working our best to develop and maintain relationships? After all, isn't the key to CRM responding in a timely manner with what the client needs and doing so in a manner that is useful to them and aids in the development and maintenance of a positive relationship that provides benefits of regular interaction in the future.
So, answer the phone, respond to emails and utilize communication through social media that is intentional in setting the tone for that positive relationship. Be your own CRM tool.
When we increased the number of computers in the extension office and moved them onto people's desks and equipped them with email I do remember the discussion about how quickly you needed to respond to email. At that point, many people treated email much as they would the phone and when an email came in felt the need to respond instantly. Some were concerned that their productivity in other areas was suffering because of the constant interruption. I have heard people suggest that people schedule time to respond to email - first thing in the morning, last in the evening, maybe after lunch - so they can preserve other time to work on other projects without this distraction. But it remains extremely important to respond to emails in order to maintain relationships just as it was important to return phone calls in the early days. However, the opportunity exists at times to evaluate the situation and return an email with another form of response - phone or maybe even a face-to-face visit when it seems that is best for maintaining positive relationships. But not responding is not an option in such a people-oriented business. And much as the staff assistant did with callers in years gone by, if we anticipate our response may be delayed beyond our normal expectations we generally provide automatic responses to buffer the expectation of the sender so they do not read our delayed response as a failure to respond.
Now enter social media. Similar to email - but quicker paced, and much more public. Failure to respond is not an option. How do we utilize the tool to share information and education while working our best to develop and maintain relationships? After all, isn't the key to CRM responding in a timely manner with what the client needs and doing so in a manner that is useful to them and aids in the development and maintenance of a positive relationship that provides benefits of regular interaction in the future.
So, answer the phone, respond to emails and utilize communication through social media that is intentional in setting the tone for that positive relationship. Be your own CRM tool.
Friday, April 6, 2012
Penn State Extension Spring In-Service
The highlight of this week was spring in-service for Penn State Extension. Like other extension organizations, Penn State Extension is in the midst of change - structural and contextual. The in-service provided an opportunity for administration to communicate more details about the change and introduce key-players and opportunities. Educator teams had time to learn, ask questions and think about how the changes need to be implemented in educational programming and how it interacts with other programming.
I was struck in the sessions I attended on Tuesday afternoon by the lack of understanding of the ability educators to connect with clientele and establish relationships in online environments. This is truly a place where we need to move beyond myth and into reality. True, we can only build relationships in this environment with individuals who are online with us, but the potential for those connections continues to expand. Penn State researchers are looking at this and finding similarities in connections established by individuals in online environments as compared to face-to-face environments. (Penn State Live, April 3, 2012, Being ingnored online or in person, its still exclusion, http://live.psu.edu/story/58872#nw1.)
Yesterday, during the Animal Welfare and Environment Initiative's symposium on Addressing Controversy in Animal Agriculture I reflected on an article I read - "5 Tips for Using Social Collaboration to Inform Your Content Strategy by Sarah Skerik http://blog.prnewswire.com/2012/03/26/5-tips-for-using-social-collaboration-to-inform-your-content-strategy/ - as I think it speaks very strongly to the potential for Extension to use social media in this manner, especially as relates to controversial topics. We need more training and practice in this area, but I believe that is to come.
In the closing session, Dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences, Bruce McPheron, praised the gathering for their role in change. "If there is an agile piece of the university, it is sitting in this room" he said. He shared his expectations for the group as they provide leadership for the rest of the college in continuing change - enthusiasm, leadership, scholarship and committment. He emphasized both formal and informal or experiential scholarship. My interpretation was that regardless of our role, he was challenging us to do it well and be willing to share the benefits of our knowledge with the rest of the community.
Change has happened and change continues. Penn State Extension is poised to accomplish what needs to be done, learn new ways of doing business and provide support and encouragement throughout the college and university community. Let's do it!
I was struck in the sessions I attended on Tuesday afternoon by the lack of understanding of the ability educators to connect with clientele and establish relationships in online environments. This is truly a place where we need to move beyond myth and into reality. True, we can only build relationships in this environment with individuals who are online with us, but the potential for those connections continues to expand. Penn State researchers are looking at this and finding similarities in connections established by individuals in online environments as compared to face-to-face environments. (Penn State Live, April 3, 2012, Being ingnored online or in person, its still exclusion, http://live.psu.edu/story/58872#nw1.)
Yesterday, during the Animal Welfare and Environment Initiative's symposium on Addressing Controversy in Animal Agriculture I reflected on an article I read - "5 Tips for Using Social Collaboration to Inform Your Content Strategy by Sarah Skerik http://blog.prnewswire.com/2012/03/26/5-tips-for-using-social-collaboration-to-inform-your-content-strategy/ - as I think it speaks very strongly to the potential for Extension to use social media in this manner, especially as relates to controversial topics. We need more training and practice in this area, but I believe that is to come.
In the closing session, Dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences, Bruce McPheron, praised the gathering for their role in change. "If there is an agile piece of the university, it is sitting in this room" he said. He shared his expectations for the group as they provide leadership for the rest of the college in continuing change - enthusiasm, leadership, scholarship and committment. He emphasized both formal and informal or experiential scholarship. My interpretation was that regardless of our role, he was challenging us to do it well and be willing to share the benefits of our knowledge with the rest of the community.
Change has happened and change continues. Penn State Extension is poised to accomplish what needs to be done, learn new ways of doing business and provide support and encouragement throughout the college and university community. Let's do it!
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Past and Present - Changes and Similarities
On my way into work this morning I was reflecting on one of the projects I've undertaken in the past couple months - thinking about ways to use social media to increase marketing of Extension programs. A little over 10 years ago, when I moved to the Purdue campus, the charge was to figure out how to deliver extension programming in an online environment that would meet needs and enhance relationships with Extension clientele.
Ten years ago I was focussed on the educational programming. Today I'm looking at programming across the state and more from the marketing perspective. Although, because of my background, I'm thinking too of how as an educator I would utilize today's tools to focus on building relationships with the clientele.
It is interesting to see the number of states and programs as well as individuals out there utilizing social media in Extension so I pay close attention to what they are doing. In addition, I've been looking at what commercial businesses are doing. I believe social media tools have increased our reach in terms of the number of people we can interact with as well as their geographic dispersal. While some people think Extension boundaries match those of the county or state, those boundaries do not exist in an online environment. Many extension programs are becoming more specialized so opportunity to interact with others outside those man-made boundaries may be crucial in providing the educational content to meet a particular client's needs. Further, because the amount of educational programming being delivered in an online environment continues to increase, access to that programming can be convenient regardless of geographic location. As I've been following other states, primarily through their Twitter posts, I've been interested in seeing the types of programs and approaches they are taking. I think this interaction can only strengthen relationships in Extension nationally and internationally and guide us in improving our programming. The interaction provides a type of virtual, continuous professional development opportunity to those that are engaged.
As our reach is increasing, so also are our networks and our opportunity to facilitate the development of virtual communities. I've been hearing a lot about #AgChat lately, although I have another obligation on Tuesday evenings that prevents my participation. (I have been following their tweets.) This appears to be a virtual community based on a common interest in agriculture. They entertain "speakers" who can share with the group and facilitate and encourage group discussion. It sounds a lot like some of the night meetings on specific topics I used to host as a county educator many years ago, but with a lot more convenience and sources of ideas that may be international, and are at least national in origins rather than just lcoal, providing a wider range of diversity in approaches and ideas. This virtual "community" becomes very real in terms of opportunity for educational programming, discussing key issues and identifying potential solutions.
So, in a nutshell, although the tools and capabilities have changed, the primary focus for Extension programming remains on development of relationships. Because of the tools, the nature of those relationships has changed and the definition of a community has greatly expanded. The quality and relevance of the educational programming remains important but the mode of delivery has changed.
Ten years ago I was focussed on the educational programming. Today I'm looking at programming across the state and more from the marketing perspective. Although, because of my background, I'm thinking too of how as an educator I would utilize today's tools to focus on building relationships with the clientele.
It is interesting to see the number of states and programs as well as individuals out there utilizing social media in Extension so I pay close attention to what they are doing. In addition, I've been looking at what commercial businesses are doing. I believe social media tools have increased our reach in terms of the number of people we can interact with as well as their geographic dispersal. While some people think Extension boundaries match those of the county or state, those boundaries do not exist in an online environment. Many extension programs are becoming more specialized so opportunity to interact with others outside those man-made boundaries may be crucial in providing the educational content to meet a particular client's needs. Further, because the amount of educational programming being delivered in an online environment continues to increase, access to that programming can be convenient regardless of geographic location. As I've been following other states, primarily through their Twitter posts, I've been interested in seeing the types of programs and approaches they are taking. I think this interaction can only strengthen relationships in Extension nationally and internationally and guide us in improving our programming. The interaction provides a type of virtual, continuous professional development opportunity to those that are engaged.
As our reach is increasing, so also are our networks and our opportunity to facilitate the development of virtual communities. I've been hearing a lot about #AgChat lately, although I have another obligation on Tuesday evenings that prevents my participation. (I have been following their tweets.) This appears to be a virtual community based on a common interest in agriculture. They entertain "speakers" who can share with the group and facilitate and encourage group discussion. It sounds a lot like some of the night meetings on specific topics I used to host as a county educator many years ago, but with a lot more convenience and sources of ideas that may be international, and are at least national in origins rather than just lcoal, providing a wider range of diversity in approaches and ideas. This virtual "community" becomes very real in terms of opportunity for educational programming, discussing key issues and identifying potential solutions.
So, in a nutshell, although the tools and capabilities have changed, the primary focus for Extension programming remains on development of relationships. Because of the tools, the nature of those relationships has changed and the definition of a community has greatly expanded. The quality and relevance of the educational programming remains important but the mode of delivery has changed.
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Spring Break
Staying on campus during spring break serves as a good time to reflect on the many positive benefits of living in a college town. It is nice to have the more relaxed pace, less hassle and traffic, no need for reservations, ease in finding downtown parking. And quiet.
Although they aren't on campus, I follow the travels of many students who have friended me or tweet and see the fun exciting things they are doing. Or the way they are enjoying a little down time with family and friends. (I remember those days - when being at home for a week provided endless opportunities to reconnect and explore new things with family and friends - spring break!)
But it is very quiet this Wednesday morning on campus. I miss the liveliness, chatter and life that the students provide. The things that make us look twice and shake our heads (and smile.) The students do such a wonderful job of keeping us fresh and helping us to keep asking questions - why are things that way? does this always work? could there be another approach? So, as I reflect this Wednesday morning, I am greatful for the students, present and past, who challenge us and bring a little life to this place.
Although they aren't on campus, I follow the travels of many students who have friended me or tweet and see the fun exciting things they are doing. Or the way they are enjoying a little down time with family and friends. (I remember those days - when being at home for a week provided endless opportunities to reconnect and explore new things with family and friends - spring break!)
But it is very quiet this Wednesday morning on campus. I miss the liveliness, chatter and life that the students provide. The things that make us look twice and shake our heads (and smile.) The students do such a wonderful job of keeping us fresh and helping us to keep asking questions - why are things that way? does this always work? could there be another approach? So, as I reflect this Wednesday morning, I am greatful for the students, present and past, who challenge us and bring a little life to this place.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Blog Transition
I started a blog many years ago using a program the University developed, but the program doesn't seem to have kept up so I'm going to try moving my posts and adding new ones here. This blog will relate more to my thoughts and reflections from a professional standpoint. I'm looking forward to experimenting with this product to see how it works and if it meets my needs. If you want to look back at previous postings, go to http://www.personal.psu.edu/kav11/blogs/thoughts_and_reflections/blog/.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)