Sharpen Your Webinar Facilitation Skills

This presentation is designed for participants to sharpen their skills in facilitating and teaching in web-based environments. The presenters will use an interactive format by presenting with a web-based tool (WebEx) to demonstrate how engagement strategies can be applied. Participants will learn about best practices and apply advanced teaching techniques to their work. Resources will be shared with participants, including a rubric for evaluating participant engagement in webinars. Note: Participants do not need to be familiar with WebEx but should have experience with teaching and/or facilitating with a web-based tool. Multiple Audiences

Development Strategies for Online Volunteer Training Modules: A Team Approach

Volunteers are central to the delivery of 4-H programs, and providing quality, relevant training is key to volunteer success. Online, asynchronous modules are an enhancement to a training delivery menu for adult volunteers, providing consistent, accessible options traditionally delivered primarily face to face. This article describes how Minnesota 4-H focuses on a team approach to the intentional instructional design process used to develop interactive and engaging asynchronous training modules for adult volunteers. The roles and responsibilities of the team members are described along with how this method expedites module development, increases quality, and minimizes costs

Using Webinars to Teach Extension Audiences: A Rubric to Evaluate and Improve

Cooperative Extension professionals are using webinar technologies to accommodate time constraints, travel distances, and limited budgets as well as to reach a broader audience. Although checklists and planning worksheets are readily available, there is a lack of resources to intentionally utilize reflective teaching practice and measure high-quality standards that go beyond general webinar set-up, participant experience, and content learning. This article describes the Webinar Evaluation Rubric for Extension Teaching that facilitates reflective practice and sets webinar teaching standards. The rubric provides a standard for professional development taught through webinars that strengthens the participant experience and enables high-quality learning across Cooperative Extension program areas

Business Plan Development for Online Learning

This archival publication may not reflect current scientific knowledge or recommendations. Current information available from the University of Minnesota Extension: https://www.extension.umn.edu.This is a project planning guide for teams developing online learning environments. All of the components relate to each other and are organized in a way that encourages teams to discuss and determine which of the aspects fit with their online project. This planning guide is most helpful when considered prior to engaging in a design and development process

Online Learning Preferences: 4‐H Volunteer Survey & Focus Group Findings

This archival publication may not reflect current scientific knowledge or recommendations. Current information available from the University of Minnesota Extension: https://www.extension.umn.edu.An online survey was distributed by email to a sample of Minnesota 4-H adult volunteers who attended one or more trainings, online and/or in-person, within 18 months. Following the survey, two focus groups were conducted through a web-based seminar to provide further insight into the survey findings. This report outlines the findings from the survey and the focus group, followed by implications for training 4-H volunteers in online settings

Youth Work Matters: Online Professional Development for Youth Workers

As the field of youth development becomes more recognized as a profession, it is imperative that youth workers are trained in foundational youth development research and practice. However, accessibility and cost can limit participation in face-to-face workshops and conferences. Online, cohort-based courses are a viable method to offer professional development for youth workers. This program article provides an overview of the online course, Youth Work Matters, which has provided training to youth workers for over 10 years. The authors demonstrate that professional development for youth workers in an online setting will increase access to learning opportunities. This article also describes key components for an online, non-credit course for participants to gain knowledge, apply new concepts and participate in learning communities

Tips for Online Learning: Using Discussion Boards to Enhance Your Online Learning

This archival publication may not reflect current scientific knowledge or recommendations. Current information available from the University of Minnesota Extension: https://www.extension.umn.edu.Cohort-based online courses often include a discussion board. Participants can interact in a discussion board by sharing what they have learned, expressing how they will apply the information, reacting to other participants’ posts, and asking questions. This white paper offers tips for using discussion boards to enhance online learning

Equipping Extension Professionals to Lead Volunteer Systems: An Evaluation of an Online Course

Extension professionals enter their role with content-specific expertise; however, experience in volunteer leadership and management competencies is often limited. This study focused on the effectiveness of the Achieving the Extension Mission Through Volunteers (AEMTV) course in preparing professionals to use the Identification, Selection, Orientation, Training, Utilization, Recognition, Evaluation (ISOTURE) model to learn and apply volunteer systems concepts in a cohort-based online learning environment. We used quantitative and qualitative methods to assess how the course impacted participants and the programs they lead. Data from 127 participants indicated they increased their knowledge, improved volunteer systems, and influenced the quality of programming delivered in communities. Our research confirmed that the ISOTURE model (Boyce, 1971; Dolan, 1969) continues to be an effective framework for learning and applying volunteer systems management practices. We recommend that Extension collaborates across states to formalize and create additional online professional development relevant to all program areas to elevate Extension’s impact nationally

Episode 8: Five ways to measure youth-adult connections

Runtime 25:36Informal support networks with non-related adults are important resources for youth. Positive connections results in positive outcomes for youth. Betsy suggests five ways to measure strong connections between youth and adults

Episode 49: Change is an Opportunity to Improve Youth Programs

Runtime 17:18How can you use a sudden change in how we deliver youth programs as an opportunity to improve? In this podcast, Nancy discusses Kotter's eight steps for change and suggests how youth programs can use change as an opportunity to do things differently and in some cases, even better than it was before