Save the Date: Ohio State University’s Innovate Conference May 16th

Ohio State’s campus and statewide Innovate conference will be held on May 16th! Tentative schedule and other  information is currently available on the conference site. Registration will open in the next couple of weeks. Plan to attend and be inspired by faculty and other educators who are using innovative methods for teaching students and clientele! More Extension colleagues attended Innovate OSU than ever before last year, and we hope to double that number this year!

“With Impact as our theme for 2017, we’re sharing innovations that let educators re-imagine their instruction without sacrificing pedagogical quality and rigor. It’s fun to experiment and enjoy the novelty of cutting edge technologies, but we’re always looking at the way that technology has a positive impact on our students, instructor best practices, the educational community and beyond.

Innovate is a time for bringing people together across disciplines and across adoption barriers. The conference is built with the educator in mind: you don’t have to be tech savvy to fully participate in this day of presentations, demonstrations and valuable dialog.” 

Don’t forget: our 2017 Innovate Extension hackathon event will take place the following day, May 17th. This year’s event will be held at Vue in downtown Columbus; an inspiring and creative space for what will surely be another fun-filled day! Lots of improvements are coming to this year’s event, including a focused theme, presence from Ohio State and Columbus innovators and entrepreneurs, and a Virtual Ideation MeetUp in April. More details will be shared throughout the month of March.

Did you know that Innovate Extension has spread to other states? See recaps from North Dakota State University Extension and Utah State University Extension, which held events last fall. Oregon State, Delaware, and Michigan State will all host Innovate Extension events in 2017!

We hope to see you at both the Innovate OSU conference and Innovate Extension hackathon May 16th and 17th!

Questions about either event? Contact Jamie.

OSU Extension Annual Conference 2016: Your Posts

We had the highest level of social media engagement this year during annual conference than ever before! Thank you to everyone who posted what they were learning, sharing, and spending quality time with last week. It was certainly a great couple of days. Congratulations to all of our door prize winners, who hope you enjoy your early holiday gifts and put them to good use! Reach out to Jamie or Danae if you have questions about how to do so!

Our conference Snapchat filters alone were used more than 60 times and seen by over 850 people!

Here is annual conference, as experienced through your posts on Instagram and Twitter. Enjoy and we’ll see you again next year!

Innovate Extension May 11th & 12th: How Do We Participate?

This is the fourth post in our series detailing the upcoming innovateExtension event May 12th. You can view other posts in the series here

How Do We Participate?

Registration for innovateOSU is now OPEN. Go here to register. This conference will most likely sell out, so we highly suggest you register as soon as possible!

Registration for innovateExtension will be available very soon – keep an eye out for updates!

Participants will be required to register in teams, so start thinking now about who will be on your team and what your team name will be (have some fun with it!) Some examples of groups that may be interested in participating as a team:

  • Program Area or Design Team (i.e. 4-H STEM Pathways Design Team or FCS Healthy Relationships Team)
  • Curriculum or Signature Program Team (Dining with Diabetes, Local Food)
  • County Team
  • Team made up for the event itself (collaboration across program areas is encouraged, as more diverse groups lead to the most creative ideas)
  • Individuals who do not have a team, but want to participate (we’ll do the leg-work to match you up with others who need team members)

Will Our Team Have to Do Any Work Before the Event?

In a word, no. We’ll have a pre-event training on Creative and Innovative Thinking available to all event participants on April 28th, and provide some information about the event at that time. However, there is no commitment necessary in regard to your team needing to come to the event with topics or issues in mind. Teams can simply show up and see where the event takes them!

How Much Will This Cost Me?

Nothing! That’s right, it’s free! Our Ed Tech unit has been working hard to make sure this is a cost-free event available to all Extension staff. innovateOSU is also free.

Event Objectives:

  • To provide a day-long work session for innovative program planning.
  • To provide a fun environment conducive to creative thinking.
  • To inspire teams and individuals to update programs, change the way they work, or develop solutions to organizational challenges.
  • To provide Extension staff an opportunity to present new ideas and solutions to colleagues and administration.

Attend innovateOSU on May 11th to be inspired and learn how others in academia are creatively solving age-old dilemmas and finding new tools to strengthen their work. 

Attend our post-innovate event just for OSU Extension on May 12th to put these ideas and inspiration into practice.

Alright, I’m In! But I Still Have Questions…

Leave us a comment below with any questions you may have. Or, feel free to send questions directly to Jamie or Danae.

Innovate Extension May 11th & 12th: What Resources Will Be Available?

This is the third post in our series detailing the upcoming innovateExtension event May 12th. You can view other posts in the series here

 

This All Sounds Really Exciting, But a Bit Intimidating!

Don’t worry – we’ve got you covered! A pre-event webinar on Creative & Innovative Thinking facilitated by the OSU Leadership Center’s Beth Flynn [Save the Date = April 28th @ 9:00am] and other resources will be offered to participants to help you prepare for May 12th. innovateExtension itself will be all about developing innovative ideas and solutions in a fun environment… not necessarily about hard work with a lot of preparation leading up to the event.

We will also have coaches on hand during the event! Each participating team will be assigned a “creative coach” to help them during their work session and pitch development. Our creative coaches are experts in thinking outside the box and helping folks stay on task! Who are they? Our Ed Tech Unit has hand picked eXtension Ed Tech Learning Network innovation gurus to serve in this role – our OSU Extension ETIT (Extension Technology and Innovation Team) members will be assisting as well!

Creative Coaches

 

Bradd Anderson: University of Missouri State 4-H Youth Development Specialist, Genius Behind FilmFest 4-H

 

 

 

Bob Bertsch: North Dakota State University Web Technology Specialist / Ag Communications, Genius Behind Working Differently in Extension Podcast 

 

 

 

 

Alice Henneman: University of Nebraska – Lincoln Family & Consumer Sciences / Dietitian, Genius Behind UNL Pinterest and CookItQuick.org

 

 

 

 

Michele Walfred: University of Delaware Ag Communications, Genius Behind Social Musings and UDEL on Periscope

 

 

OSU Extension ETIT Members: Mark Light, Amanda Rysz, Carmen Irving, Andy Londo, Heather Gottke, Vickie Snyder, Stephen Heppe, Brian Raison, Jerry Thomas, Ken Martin, Danae Wolfe, Jamie Seger

 

Event Objectives:

  • To provide a day-long work session for innovative program planning.
  • To provide a fun environment conducive to creative thinking.
  • To inspire teams and individuals to update programs, change the way they work, or develop solutions to organizational challenges.
  • To provide Extension staff an opportunity to present new ideas and solutions to colleagues and administration.

 

Attend innovateOSU on May 11th to be inspired and learn how others in academia are creatively solving age-old dilemmas and finding new tools to strengthen their work. 

Attend our post-innovate event just for OSU Extension on May 12th to put these ideas and inspiration into practice.

 

Next Up: How Do We Participate?

 

Want to know more? Have questions? Leave us a comment below. Or, feel free to send questions directly to Jamie or Danae.

Innovate Extension May 11th & 12th: Event Format

This is the second post in our series detailing the upcoming innovateExtension event May 12th. You can view other posts in the series here

 

What Will We Be Doing on May 12th?

Being innovative. Spending an entire day thinking of creative solutions to our often complex challenges in Extension. Perhaps even putting together the most non-traditional funding or idea proposal you have ever created.

Here is an overview of the event timeline:

  1. Reflection on things we learned at innovateOSU
  2. Team work session to utilize what you learned = brainstorm ways to update programs, ways of teaching/working, or just think of creative solutions to Extension challenges. The sky is the limit!
  3. Team “pitch” development. Using what resources are available to you during the event, your team will create a very brief presentation – or “pitch” – of your best idea, solution, or even prototype.
  4. Voting! All teams and others in attendance (including OSU Extension Director Dr. Roger Rennekamp and other administrators) will vote for the winning team(s) based on the pitch session.
  5. The winning team(s) will go home with awesome prizes – including potential funding to turn their amazing idea into a reality! And all participants will take home some cool swag items.

 

Event Objectives:

  • To provide a day-long work session for innovative program planning.
  • To provide a fun environment conducive to creative thinking.
  • To inspire teams and individuals to update programs, change the way they work, or develop solutions to organizational challenges.
  • To provide Extension staff an opportunity to present new ideas and solutions to colleagues and administration.

Attend innovateOSU on May 11th to be inspired and learn how others in academia are creatively solving age-old dilemmas and finding new tools to strengthen their work. 

Attend our post-innovate event just for OSU Extension on May 12th to put these ideas and inspiration into practice.

Next Up: What Resources Will Be Available?

 

Want to know more? Have questions? Leave us a comment below. Or, feel free to send questions directly to Jamie or Danae.

innovate Extension May 11th & 12th: Who should attend?

Have you ever wanted a day to plan new and innovative programs for Extension with no hidden agenda… and have fun networking with colleagues in the process?

We in Extension too often neglect innovative program planning because it’s difficult, it makes us uncomfortable, and because we simply have not devoted time to it. But we all need to be innovators. We all need to be change agents. It’s the backbone of Extension work.  Our Ed Tech unit is busy planning a great day for you. Over the next few weeks, we will roll out information about THE event you do not want to miss!

Attend innovateOSU on May 11th to be inspired and learn how others in academia are creatively solving age-old dilemmas and finding new tools to strengthen their work. 

Attend our post-innovate event just for OSU Extension on May 12th to put these ideas and inspiration into practice.

 

Who Should Attend?

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The short answer: Anyone! Our post-innovate event will welcome program teams and individuals interested in learning about new ways of teaching and working at innovateOSU, and then thinking creatively to apply what they learned to their Extension work. Whether it be updating a program, developing a strategy, or just applying a new tool to their professional toolbox. Teams may even develop a breakthrough solution to one of our organizational challenges! This event will encourage you to get your creative juices flowing and “think outside the box”.

Event Objectives:

  • To provide a day-long work session for innovative program planning.
  • To provide a fun environment conducive to creative thinking.
  • To inspire teams and individuals to update programs, change the way they work, or develop solutions to organizational challenges.
  • To provide all Extension staff an opportunity to present new ideas and solutions to colleagues and administration.

Next up: Event Format Details!

 

Want to know more? Have questions? Leave us a comment below. Or, feel free to send questions directly to Jamie or Danae.

Save the Date: OSU’s INNOVATE Conference + Extension Post-Conference Event

Save the Date for the 2016 Innovate conference + special Post-Conference Event for OSU Extension professionals!

May 11th & 12th 

 

From the Innovate Community blogWith Excellence as our theme for 2016, we’re sharing innovations that let educators re-imagine their instruction without sacrificing pedagogical quality and rigor. It’s fun to experiment and enjoy the novelty of cutting edge technologies, but a focus on excellence is what drives meaningful implementation.

Innovate is a time for bringing people together across disciplines and across adoption barriers. The conference is built with the educator in mind: you don’t have to be tech savvy to fully participate in this day of presentations, demonstrations and valuable dialog.

Innovate is The Ohio State University’s annual conference exploring teaching and learning with technology. The highly engaging one-day event is built upon six years of successful conferences: 95% of 2014 participants learned something that could change the way they think about or do their job, 96% reported they would like to attend a similar event in the future, and the repeat attendees every year support this number. Innovate is hosted by Ohio State’s Office of Distance Education and eLearning.

While geared toward OSU faculty, with participation numbers growing each year of the conference, so too have professional development sessions relevant to outreach education and Extension initiatives. And in 2016, the OSUE Ed Tech Unit will be hosting a post-conference event for OSU Extension on May 12th. Innovate will be held at the Ohio Union, while our Extension event will be hosted at the 4-H Center. More details can be found here.

To be updated when registration and other details for Innovate become available, you can sign up to receive email updates or follow @InnovateOSU on Twitter. We’ll also share updates here on the Ed Tech blog!

We hope to see many of our Extension colleagues this year at Innovate in May!

 

Share Your Innovative Programming and Ideas at this Year’s “Innovation in Action” OSUE Annual Conference

There are just SIX days left to submit your session and poster proposals for the 2015 OSU Extension Annual Conference! This year’s “Innovation in Action” theme seeks to highlight the creative and innovative programming that takes place in Extension across Ohio every day.

Did you try out Instagram or Pinterest this year and want to share the results? Have you started communicating with your clientele in different ways? Did you learn a new innovative skill through trial and error? Did you replace traditional content with digital? What innovative methods of teaching are you using to plan, promote, and/or facilitate face-to-face events?

Ohio State University proudly boasts one of the largest groups of innovative Extension professionals nationwide.

Please share the great work you’re doing with your colleagues by submitting a proposal! If you would like assistance from an Ed Tech to brainstorm ideas or even help facilitate a breakout session or poster – we’re happy to help! Contact Jamie or Danae via email. While we do have several hands-on Ed Tech session proposals submitted, we’re also still open to suggestions for topics to cover during AC! Comment below with your ideas of what information you need from us this year.

We’re happy to announce that we will once again host a Tech Faire (formerly the “Tech Zoo”) during Annual Conference, complete with technology that inspires and the opportunity to connect with the Ed Techs, IT Support, and Communications staff. More details about the Tech Faire will be posted soon.

More information about the conference and proposal submission form can be found on the Annual Conference website.

 

Want Up-to-Date Extension Tech Info? Follow us on Twitter!

Are you following your Ed Techs on Twitter yet? You should be! Follow Jamie and Danae for relevant tech information as well as updates on available trainings, workshops, and other happenings in Extension Ed Tech!

 

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New to Twitter? We’ve got you covered! You can find a primer on Twitter here. Once you’re up and running it’s best to begin expanding your personal learning network. Here’s how.