Monday, September 28, 2009

Welcome to Coastal Bend AgriLife Extension Vision

Welcome to our new Coastal Bend Extension Vision Blog. I will post articles to the Blog every Monday morning as a tool to update you and your coworkers on our district Extension priorities . I also encourage you to continue to send me information that you think could be used for the blog.

Distance Education-New Meathods to Reach Clientele

As Extension begins to develop educational program delivery strategies that include distance education, one of the most challenging aspects is to establish a culture among County Extension Agents to integrate this educational program delivery strategy into ongoing programming to ensure added valueto program delivery strategies. County Extension Agents could view this educational strategy as a competitor to traditional program delivery efforts, and fearing that the lack of interaction with the learner will lead to less effective learning experiences.

Such examples of new creataive program delivery includes:

  • A web site developed in theEast Region where County Extension Agents demonstrate healthy, nutritious and easy recipe ideas at http://healthyliving.tamu.edu.

  • A web site developed by Texas AgriLife Extension entitled Cow Sense U designed to assist clientele gain a better understanding of the Beef Cattle Industry. This site can be viewed at http://www.cowsenseu.org/.

  • Ranch TV.org is a video library developed and maintained by Texas AgriLife Extension Service related to Beef Cattle Management. This site can be viewed at http://ranchtv.org/.

The educational efforts cited above are excellent examples of how educational material can be delivered utilizing technology and each of these products and will add value to face-to-face educational programming. Extension agents in District 11 should be aware of these sites. I am starting a District 11 committee to design training needs for agents in utilizing distance education, and develop strategies to integrate distance education into ongoing Extension educational programming efforts. If you are interested please let me know.

Mobilization Guidelines for District CEA AgNR Strike Team

The District 11 CEA AgNR Stike Team is asked now to design and write your mobilization plans using the guidelines sent to you by Andy Vestal. CEAs on the District CEA AgNR Strike Team are asked to present a formal written copy of your mobilization plan to your DEA.

GREAT JOB DISTRICT 11 4-H!

I just got a update on the "registered" one day 4-H events scheduled to happen in District 11 and there are already 11 of the 18 counties registered to conduct some Great! activities during National 4-H Week!!

I know several other counties have some plans in the works but the events are not registered online yet. Lets do our best to have ALL 18 counties register at least one event before the deadline of September 30 (one week left)! You should have received an email from the state office with instructions to register and the opportunity to purchase t-shirts for the event.