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e
-Extension is a new initiative developed by extension directors
in the South and being investigated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's
Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service. It
was recently designated as a priority by the Extension Committee
on Organization and Policy (ECOP).
The
goal is to implement a national Web-based information and education
network for current and new Extension clientele. It will expand
learning choices and methodologies in support of just- in-time learning
by providing coordinated access to land-grant university expertise.
The
concept can be traced back to a series of papers and articles written
by Michael D. Boehlje, professor of agricultural economics at Purdue
and David A. King, executive director of the Indiana Higher Education
Telecommunication System, starting in 1998.
Both
Scott Fedale, director of information technology and chair of the
College of Agriculture and Home Economics Information Department,
and Rob McDaniel, associate dean for University Partnerships, have
been involved in this initiative for WSU Cooperative Extension.
Fedale
is a member of a development team assembled by the American Distance
Education Consortium to work on this concept. He participated in
an "e-Extension Think Tank" meeting last December.
McDaniel was asked to serve as a member of the national "e-Extension
Steering Committee" assembled by ECOP. Fedale and McDaniel also
are coordinating WSU Cooperative Extension's participation in this
project.
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A team from WSU Cooperative Extension was selected to participate
in a regional meeting on the e-Extension concept this past January.
Jan Hiller, extension 4-H youth specialist; Robert Force, coordinator
for WSU's Learning Center for the North Olympic Peninsula at Port
Hadlock; and McDaniel attended the meeting in Kansas City, Mo. Craig
McConnell, chair of WSU Cooperative Extension, Whatcom County attended
the meeting in Las Vegas.
Extension
directors met in February to discuss the feedback from the regional
meetings and to plan the next steps in the e-Extension initiative.
Currently under discussion are such items as a business plan; audience
analysis and market research; development of possible prototypes
to demonstrate the system, and a structure for incubating the e-Extension
concept.
When
next steps are crystallized, McDaniel and Fedale will lead an organization-wide
discussion of the concept.
Scott Fedale,
Information Department & Rob McDaniel,
Associate
Dean for University Partnerships
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