Trends and Issues in Extension

Readers of my previous posts know that I scan several library blogs. I think they are very educational for Extension professionals, as both groups are interested in outreach education. Both are also trying to figure out their roles in the digital world. LibrarianInBlack provides a link to this article by Joan Lippincott in LibraryJournal.com. A good read for those trying to figure out Exension’s role in providing online information. Here are some key points in the article that I find relevant.

• Libraries have provided quality information, but expected people to come to their facilities to get the information.
• "The Internet has transformed the American culture into a learning society, an anytime, anywhere cornucopia of learning activities." People can access information at anytime by simply pointing and clicking. Information has gone to the people – people do not necessarily go to a physical location to find information.
  
• This involved new processes that  cause libraries and their web sites to engage peope. I think this is a key point.
• Libraries must rely on information resources – like data bases- that they may not own.
• Recognize that learning often takes place in community settings. Blogs and other resource provide new platforms. Be sure to check out the innovative University of Minnesota Library site discussed in the post that hosts blogs for students. Fascinating.
• Libraries must "reach learners where they choose to look for information."

For Extension professionals, it is clear that we must continue to find ways of not just providing information, but of being able to reach clientele in ways that they choose to receive information. Lippincott gives a good example of teens wanting to access information via cell phones. Much of our clientele base still does not expect this, but now is the time to start preparing when they do. And to look really, really hard at the possiblity that we are missing people that do not even know or care that we exist.

How does Extension rely on its strength of engagement, of involving people in the process, as we move more and more items online? One possibility is to move older programs that we no longer need to serve in a teaching leadership role to self-use modules on the internet. Participants can freely choose to download and use them at their convienence. Higher level services related to the online program that involve Extension professional’s time may be a candidate for fees or other cost recovery mechanisms.