Archive for February, 2006

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Wired News Covers MySpace

Monday, February 27th, 2006

Wired Daily has a neat set of posts about MySpace. Probably a good review for 4-H Educators or anyone working with youth. If you are a 4-H Educator and not familiar with MySpace, you should check the site out. Many of the kids you work with are probably using it to share and communicate, maybe even about you. The main article has a very balanced overview of MySpace and the major criticisms of the service (fears of who kids might meet and talk with, and just what the kids are saying). I like the perspective that Wired adds to how much abused has actually taken place (not as much as the hype indicates), and how kids have always looked for ways to express themselves. Compare the Wired post to this Wikipedia entry that has been stamped with a notice questioning its neutrality because it has more negative than positive points. Hmmmm……should we accept the way technology has enabled kids and work with them through trust and education. Or we could try to ban them from it (first be ready to admit who is more computer literate) or use the magical oxymoron teenage word “forbidden” and help MySpace’s marketing efforts.
 

For parents that are worried, Wired adds a parental cheat sheet. A good, timely teachable moment for Extension Professionals working with youth and families.

Posted in Teaching/Programming, Technology | 1 Comment »

Great List of Business Books

Monday, February 27th, 2006

After a very busy week I’ve been plowing through my aggregator and catching up on some reading. I was surprised to find this list of recommended business books at Manager Tools. I’ve posted earlier about the high quality of the Manager Tool podcasts (here, here and here). So I’m scanning the list and finding some titles I’ve read, and others that I’m adding to my list. If you are at all interested in improving your business and management skills, scan the blog and start on the podcasts. They have the most immediately useable stuff I’ve found so far.

Posted in Organizational Development/Strucuture, What I'm reading | 1 Comment »

Learning 2.0 at the Otter Group

Wednesday, February 22nd, 2006

Kathleen Gilroy at the Otter Group is doing some neat explorations on how the Web 2.0 concept impacts organizations and education. I found the site while searching for Web 2.0 information for some research on distributed workforces and have been listening to  their podcasts (see this recent post). The organizational stuff is really good and should be interesting for Extension Professionals working in teams, communities of practice or communities of interest. Even more important, I’m impressed with Kathleen’s ideas for what she calls "Learning 2.0". It focuses on how to leverage Web 2.0 resources to create more collaborative learning environments (see this related post from FutureWire about IBM’s study on TV as we know it converting to a more collaborative model). Environments that are cost effective, convenient to the learner, and focus on team building. To see an example check out this paper by Kathleen with some really cool ideas on using an aggregator as a primary tool, supported by blogs and podcasts. So use your aggregator and subscribe to their site. Here is the post that led me to the paper.

If you read only one thing this week, read Kathleen’s paper. Then think of your current and future clientele and how you could use these new tools. At least start to stretch your thinking about how can provide and access information, organizational structure and learning. 

Posted in General Extension, Organizational Development/Strucuture, Teaching/Programming, Technology, Tools | 2 Comments »

Jim Carroll on Agriculture

Wednesday, February 22nd, 2006

Back in later December I posted Jim Carroll’s 10 trends for agriculture. Here is his latest post showing where he is presenting them and some brief comments on the postive qualities he sees in the agricultural community. Its a brief post, but here is one quote:

The typical city-dweller has an image of someone who complains and runs to the government for subsidies; the reality is that the typical farmer is an astute business person with a fine ear for innovation, someone who thrives by the exhiliaration and challenge of an extremely complex business; someone who it optimistic about the future and the potential profitability of their industry. The groups I have been dealing with relish learning about the new science surrounding the industry, and are eager to learn what needs to be done to continue going forward with a focus on opportunity.

Looks like a good source for Extension Professionals in Agriculture to bookmark or add to their aggregators.  

 

Posted in General Extension | No Comments »

Call for Proposals for Extension Related Conferences

Tuesday, February 21st, 2006

Extension professionals might be interested in two calls for proposals that have a deadline that is fast approaching. Both are described briefly below. I’ve presented at both conferences and found them both to be very good.

Association of Leadership Educators (note: I can only get this site to operate using Explorer). A smaller, more intimate conference that focuses on professionals that are working the area of leadership education. Because of its size, its an easy conference to network at and build relationships. This year’s meeting is in Bozeman, Montana on July 10-12. Proposals are due by March 3. Here is the call link:

http://www.leadershipeducators.org/2006/ALEPapercall.pdf

The Outreach Scholarship 2006 Conference is a larger event. It’s in Columbus, Ohio on October 8-10. This is a broader conference that much Extension work can easily fall under. Proposals are due Feb. 24. Paper proposals are accepted electronically only at the following link:

 
http://outreach.osu.edu/outreachscholarship/papers.html

 
Please consider attending and sharing your work with others.

Posted in Extension Scholarship | No Comments »

Is Group Brainstorming Ineffective?

Sunday, February 19th, 2006

The Institute for the Future’s blog has a post with a link to a British Psychological Association blurb about the ineffectiveness of group brainstorming. The post notes that groups fail to come up with new ideas. Quote: "Time and again research has shown that people think of more new ideas on their own than they do in a group."  Hmmm….I’d like to see more links to the research. And maybe a good definition of "new ideas".  Does this mean a new concept? A solution to a problem? The article argues that an individual working alone on a problem will find an innovative solution because they bear the brunt of failure alone. Maybe. They do bear the brunt of failure, but does each person generate an innovative idea?

A side of me wants to focus on the creative individual. Yet I just listened to a good podcast interview with the author of The Ape in the Corner Office. His thesis is that humans are social primates and individualism is limited. But he also confirms that humans tend to mimic popular ideas and go with the flow. I’m also thinking of James Surowiecki’s book The Wisdom of Crowds and its argument that the knowledge found in a group is greater than any individual. So what’s the answer?

 I think the IFTF post gets on the right track when the author discusses the importance of a facilitator. Every year I become more convinced that an experienced and trained facilitator can help a group pull out information from itself that it does not even recognize. It is also important to determine the objective of the group process. Is it simply to generate ideas or to also build teams, share information, or identify potential problems? See the posts on Wikipedia about brainstorming and facilitation for more ideas.

 I don’t have a complete answer about group versus individual brainstorming. I do have this to say: Many folks (especially in the physical sciences) think that facilitation is an easy, soft skill. The deeper you look at stuff like this, the more convinced I am that it is a genuine specialization. This is one reason Extension Professionals are often called upon to organize and run meetings. Smart Extension Professionals will work hard to keep their skill levels honed and adapt new skill and techniques.

 

Posted in General Extension, Teaching/Programming | No Comments »

Scenario Wiki

Sunday, February 19th, 2006

Another futures related wiki. From Futurismic comes this link to a Futurewire post on futures wikis. One of the wikis was covered earlier here at this post. The one that was not is this one based on scenarios. Looks pretty good. I’m guessing that we will start to see more Extension related wikis. At least I hope so.

Posted in Futurism | 2 Comments »

Business Week’s Use of Blogs and Podcasts to Support the Magazine

Saturday, February 18th, 2006

Last week’s Business Week hard copy issue had a cover story on the US Economy that focused on the accuracy of the debt load and other economic measures. How did I find this out? Because I listened to Business Week’s weekly podcast on my way to the airport. Business Week’s podcast focuses not on reading the cover story, but on interviewing the author of the cover story (in this case, Michael Mandel). This led me to buy the magazine at the airport and read the article on the runway. What really caught my attention was not just the article contents (I like reading Mandel anyway), but the use of a blog by Mandel for commentary and questions. I think this is a good way of using three different media (four if you count the online version of the article) to support and augment the good old hard copy.

What ways can Extension professionals use to leverage their programming with more than one media? In the past we’ve done this with traditional media (newspaper announcements, newsletters, radio spots, displays in prominent places, etc.). Now we need to look at more alternates. Can we place news releases on our websites and direct media and others to them? Why not have a specific link for press releases or media information? If we produce something once (a newsletter, audio cast, etc.), can we post them online or to other sources? The answer of course is yes. See this older post for an example. My challenge to myself: How else can I be providing this information? Is this the best or only medium? Who do I intend to reach and how to they want the information?

Posted in General Extension, Teaching/Programming, Technology | No Comments »

Another Future Wiki

Friday, February 10th, 2006

Back in September I blogged about FutureWire’s Wiki. Today I wanted to go back and look it over again. Instead of just searching my blog, I did what I’ve been doing for the past several years: Type a phrase into google and get what I need. This time I found another futures related wiki. The Future wiki at Wikicities. Some more interesting information on future studies and related topics. I would expect more and more wiki’s on related topics over the next year.

Posted in Futurism | No Comments »

Web 2.0 Podcasts

Tuesday, February 7th, 2006

In my ongoing research to find good resources for my upcoming technology presentation at NACDEP I found these excellent podcasts on using Web 2.0 tools. The podcasts come from the Otter group and are also available via iTunes. Called the Learning 2.0 Tip of the Week, the ‘casts are short (about five minutes) and cover useful stuff like aggregators and blogs. What I really like is the focus on how to use the tools in your work. Not how the technology works per se, but rather examples of how you can incorporate it. Highly recommended.

Posted in Technology, Tools | 1 Comment »

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