Latest Professional Development Opportunities in Program Development and Educational Design

Good Ideas for Creating a More Ethical and Effective Workplace

Steven R. Nish, 2005, 112 pages

Design for Learning - 2012 (Distance Learning, from Jan 20, 2012 10:00 AM to Mar 16, 2012 11:30 AM)

If you are interested in learning more about how to design, deliver and evaluate a quality educational programs, you will want to participate this distance learning experience.

Experiencing eXtension

Nancy Porter, Clemson University Cooperative Extension Service, offers the course entitled, "Introduction to Experiencing eXtension." This course will acquaint you with the personal finance information and features of eXtension. It will help you maximize your use of eXtension to make your day-to-day work easier. Information relating to the new national initiative, Managing in Tough Times (MiTT), is included in the course, but the focus is on features in eXtension that can be used in programs on a wide variety of topics. For more information contact Nancy Porter, Clemson University, at nporter@clemson.edu.

Public Value

Nancy Franz, Virginia Tech, offers a webinar entitled, "Determining and Sharing the Public Value of Extension." With the enhanced public pressure for program accountability, Extension workers must be able to describe their work in terms of public rather than private value. This webinar will outline the push for public value, define what public value is and is not, and provide four steps to achieving public value.

Cost Benefits Analysis

Joseph Donaldson, University of Tennessee, offers a webinar entitled, "Cost Benefit Analysis Demonstrates Value of the County." Cost-benefit analysis communicates the value of public investments in a way most stakeholders and citizens understand. Cooperative Extension has used multiple perspectives to document monetary benefits of adopting the various practices and behaviors taught by its programs, including: non-market value, savings, reduced costs and increased income. Despite using these various techniques, describing Extension’s economic impact on a countywide or statewide basis, across all program areas, has remained tedious, if not impossible. In 2008, the University of Tennessee deployed a cost-benefit analysis tool as part of a one-stop, custom reporting software used by 95 county Extension offices. The cost-benefit analysis summarizes cost and benefit data for the entire unit. This tool represents the convergence of budgeting, grants and human resource data into a quantifiable and highly useful metric for program planning, evaluation and stakeholder communications. Type in your email address Click: PLAYBACK You will be prompted to enter your first name and last name. Click: PLAYBACK (It’s not necessary to download the playback file unless you want to save it to your hard drive.) If you get a blue box note about privacy laws, click OK. It may take a minute or two for the program to load.

eXtension Evaluation CoP

Ben Silliman, from North Carolina State University, offers "eXtension CoP Webinar: Online for Learning" The eXtension Community of Practice approved in January 2009 sponsors a monthly no-cost webinar on evaluation issues. Extension agents, specialists, and administrations each month (ranging from 30-60) gather to hear an expert speaker, view sample programs or resources, interact online through the Elluminate platform, and provide feedback on learning. The two-hour webinar focuses on evaluation concepts and their application to practice, with samples from all facets of Extension work. Webinars in the current year included developing evaluation capacity in Extension, selecting methods, using evaluation theory, evaluating youth science programs, participatory evaluation, evaluation and research, systemic evaluation, and communicating results. A related web site archives recordings and related materials for those who miss the webcast or want to explore further. In the coming year, the webinar will focus more systematically on the evaluation cycle (planning through reporting). Training sessions based on the seven skills in the 4-H National Evaluation for Impact Framework will run every other month, alternating with interactive sessions. State-based teams are being recruited to compound and extend learning through in-session and between-session activities. State teams will also interactive sessions featuring a dilemma or success story. End-of-session evaluations indicate that participants express high interest in both the topic and the community of practice and indicate that the webinar builds knowledge. Satisfaction with the delivery system varied with the success of new applications. Professional development leaders may find the webinar interesting as a teaching/interaction tool on a critical issue, as a delivery system, and as a resource in program development. Click on the Evaluation Community of Practice menu, then look for the Webinars menu. Evaluation webinars held through the year are listed under Webinar 2009.

Evaluating Extension Programs: The Four Levels

A course for Extension staff at North Dakota State University. The course is a self-paced guide to evaluating extension programs based on the Kirkpatrick model.

Needs Assessment

Summery of Needs Assessment Resources from the NDSU Extension Service