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!
