Trends

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.

Your Complete Guide to the 2016 OSUE Annual Conference Tech Faire

This year, the OSU Extension Educational Technology Unit is proud to present an expanded two-day Tech Faire featuring a line-up of talks, workshops, and demonstrations focused on upcoming tech opportunities for our organization (Zoom) and Extension’s involvement in the Maker Movement. 

What is the Maker Movement?

The Maker Movement is inspiring communities of entrepreneurs, builders, and inventors to come together and share ideas and innovations. The movement, and makerspaces in particular, have been named as a top opportunity for Cooperative Extension by eXtension’s Horizon Report.

“Involvement in the Maker Movement is growing across the nation. Extension has an opportunity to engage with new audiences by applying the existing skills and knowledge found in the Cooperative Extension System.” – Paul Hill, eXtension Maker Fellow and Utah State University Extension Assistant Professor

Stop by the Tech Faire to learn more about the Maker Movement and how you can adapt current programs to tap into this new and exciting audience and way of working. Featured sessions during the Tech Faire include homebrewing, #Adulting, and even a visit from the largest makerspace on the planet, the Columbus Idea Foundry!

 

“Maker Fest at the Tech Faire” Schedule of Events

OSUE Annual Conference 2016

 

Tuesday  (December 6) 11:00am – 6:30pm

11:00am – 6:30pm: Zoom Information Station, Maker Movement Information, Q&A with SysTechs and Ed Techs

 

Demonstrations & Hands-on Learning Opportunities:

11:00am – 1:00pm: Zoom Station: Software, Equipment and Studio Demonstrations Randy Nemitz

Zoom is coming for virtual meetings and webinars! Are you ready? Drop in to see Zoom in action, test it out for yourself, check out recommended equipment, and experience OSU backgrounds and studio space ideas.

 

1:00pm – 2:30pm: Maker Fest Feature: #Adulting: Life Skills Workshops for Millennials Morgan Domokos, Melissa Welker, Katie LaPlant

Need a fresh way to get participants to your programs? Learn how to host a series of life skills workshops with an #Adulting theme to engage new audiences. Conceptualized by North Dakota State University Extension, #Adulting offers creative marketing and hands-on maker inspired events that utilize FCS and 4-H educational content. Learn how to make a no-sew hem and take your creation with you!

 

4:00pm – 5:00pm: Maker Fest Feature: Makerspaces as Entrepreneurial Hubs Columbus Idea Foundry

Makerspaces are one of the top opportunities for Extension within the next year, and we have the largest on the planet right here in Ohio! Learn about the Columbus Idea Foundry, dubbed a community workshop, learning center, and creative space, and how you can collaborate with them and other makerspaces around the state to engage with entrepreneurs and small businesses. Speak with local entrepreneurs who started their businesses at CIF and see their prototypes. You can even test out the HTC Vive, a virtual reality system that lets you sculpt and create 3D images.

 

5:00pm – 6:30pm: Maker Fest Feature: Homebrewing & Winemaking + Ohio Beer and Wine Tasting Brad Bergefurd, Todd Steiner, Brian Raison, Land Grant Brewing Company

Looking for creative engagement opportunities with local farmers, small-scale growers, and entrepreneurs? Ohio is home to a large homebrewing and winemaking population that is waiting to engage with Extension. In fact, our state is 9th largest in grape production and 7th largest in wine production. Speak with OSUE specialists and hear examples from Educators already working with this audience. Don’t forget to sample Ohio-made wines and beer from Land Grant Brewing Company before you leave!

 

Wednesday (December 7) 8:00am –  4:30pm

8:00am – 4:30pm: Zoom Information Station, Maker Movement Information, Q&A with SysTechs and Ed Techs

 

 Demonstrations & Hands-On Learning Opportunities:

8:00am – 10:00am: Zoom Station: Software, Equipment, and Studio Demonstrations Randy Nemitz

Drop in to see Zoom in action, test it out for yourself, check out recommended equipment, and experience OSU backgrounds and studio space ideas.

 

10:00am – 11:30am: Maker Fest Feature: 4-H Maker Fest Events Carolyn Belczyk, Mark Light

Did you know that making is linked to the 4-H “Learning by Doing” motto and is already part of nearly every 4-H project? Extension involvement in the Maker Movement is providing an opportunity to rebrand 4-H and maintain its relevancy in the 21st century, while continuing to provide authentic, hands-on STEM experiences for youth. Learn how OSUE Educators have hosted Maker Fests in their communities through collaborative, local partnerships and how you can get involved.  

 

1:30pm – 2:30pm: Maker Fest Feature: Gardeners as Makers Danae Wolfe, Ashley Kulhanek

Gardening is big business! The Green Industry in Ohio generates $4.9 billion in sales and $3.15 billion in payroll each year. Explore the many ways to incorporate the Maker Movement into your gardening and horticulture programming. Learn how to host hands-on workshops to make bee houses, insect hotels, and learn how to cultivate ideas for involving Master Gardener Volunteers in maker events in your community. Make and take your very own seed bombs!

 

3:30pm – 4:30pm: #EdTechLN MeetUp & Annual Conference After-Party

Come for the networking and prizes, stay for the fun! Before heading home, drop by the Tech Faire one last time to network with innovators and other “rogue” colleagues. The first 20 attendees will receive #EdTechLN Bluetooth beanie hats, and one lucky person will be chosen to win a Yeti Blue professional microphone package – perfect for webinars and podcasting!

 

Questions about this year’s Tech Faire? Contact Jamie or Danae.

2016 OSU Extension Tech Use & Skills Survey

The time has come for our annual organizational tech use and skills survey! Your responses to this brief survey provide the Ed Tech unit, as well as the entire organization, with valuable information. Last year, your responses helped us tailor workshop, training, and coaching professional development opportunities to your needs. The survey is mobile friendly, so you can easily complete it from your tablet or smartphone!

 

Click here to complete the 2016 Tech Use & Skills Survey

 

 

Questions? Contact Jamie or Danae.

Before You Blog Best Practices Checklist

Danae and I recently walked the Live Smart Ohio blog authors through an updated version of our blogging best practices tip sheet. It includes the useful rules of thumb below to check before you hit “publish” on your next blog post, especially if you submit your blog content for peer review.

Does your post…

  • Have a good title that includes keywords?
  • Have less than 300 words in the body of your post?
  • Have a quality photo, image, infographic, or video included?
  • Have a few embedded links that readers would find helpful?
  • Have a call to action at the end? (information included that directs readers to local or statewide Extension / OSU resources)?
  • Include content that can easily be repurposed?
  • Cite your hyperlinked sources in the endnotes below the content?

More in-depth information and resource links for each tip in the list can be found in the slidedeck below.

 

We suggest bookmarking this post, or download and print the PDF to always have a copy in front of you.

Do you currently blog? Add your blog links in the comments below and tell us what you’ve been using your blog for!

Barnes & Noble Mini-Maker Faire Opportunity for OSUE Educators

All Barnes & Noble bookstores nationwide will be hosting Mini-Maker Faires November 6th-8th in partnership with Make Magazine. This event provides a unique opportunity for OSU Extension Educators to learn more about the Maker Movement or even host their own booth at the Faire to share STEM-focused project ideas or provide 4-H program information. Have a drone or 3D printer? Set them up at the Faire and let kids see them in action – then discuss how you use them in your Extension work. Or, bring your Lego League project information and share how they can get involved!

To further put Extension’s involvement in context, I interviewed Paul Hill, eXtension Maker Fellow and 4-H Assistant Professor at Utah State University, to gain some insight into the potential benefits of participating in the Mini Maker Faire:

Why should Extension participate?

It’s all about engaging a new audience that already aligns with the STEM goals of 4-H. Doing so will position 4-H to be more relevant in the 21st century. Makers need the structure of a 4-H club and the essential elements to truly create an environment of positive youth development. Making is considered cool now and it’s the perfect way to help youth gain STEM abilities. 4-H joining the Maker Movement would create a symbiotic relationship for both audiences. 

In your opinion, what potential exists if Extension gets involved in the Maker Movement?

By joining forces with B&N to support the Maker Movement in your county, 4-H can reach a new audience of clients and volunteers eager to learn by doing.

OSU Extension Educators are beginning to get involved in the Maker Community. Mark Light, 4-H Educator in Hardin County, received an eXtension innovation grant to create a maker space within the Hardin County OSU Extension office.  Dubbed the Spark Lab, this project will instill that inspiration or “spark” youth and adults need to learn, discover, and grow in a creative environment. It will be an overall center of innovation framed through the educational lens of a land grant university system. It will further have the potential to transform the Extension office beyond the traditional use into an innovative space by bringing entrepreneurship, university education opportunities, and a technology and maker space together in a dynamic and still to be explored relationship. The Spark Lab will create a physical space model that can be reproduced by Extension nationwide.  It will open in Hardin County in November 2015. If you have questions about the Hardin County Spark Lab, please contact Mark.

Interested Extension program staff are encouraged to contact their local Barnes & Noble store by submitting a information to participate at the B&N Maker Faire website.

 

Comment below with questions, or contact Jamie.

How to Use Google Trends to Identify Local Interests

Google Trends, a Google tool utilized to aggregate search engine and news trend data, recently got an upgrade that allows data to boil down to a regional level per state. This is great news for Extension – it allows us to take a look at timely topics that matter most to people on a semi-local level. Here is are a couple examples of how we can use Google Trends in Extension programming:

I searched for three terms in Google Trends: 1) Food Safety, 2) Listeria, 3)Botulism. I was interested to see how many people used which term around the time of the listeria and botulism scares in Ohio. I limited the term search to just Ohio.

As you can see from the graph, the term “Food Safety” was searched for far less over the past 12 months than the terms “Listeria” and “Botulism”, even during the height of the news cycles for these topics. By including the terms that are most often searched for when blogging or posting on social media about timely information, we can make sure that Extension produced content is found by the people who need it.

Another example of how to use Google Trends to track a topic that has a growing interest: Kids and Screen Time. After plugging in “Screen Time” as a search topic over the past few years, here were the results:

 

According to the graph, this topic has increased in popularity since 2009. The dotted lines at the end of the graph represent Google’s “forecast” of how often Screen Time will be searched for in the near future. The letters on this graph represent when top news stories on Screen Time were posted. If you hover over each letter, information about who posted the story and the title will appear.

Here’s a look at how the topic of Screen Time compares between Ohioans and people who live in Michigan:

Ohioans search for "Screen Time" more often than people living in Michigan.

Ohioans search for “Screen Time” more often than people living in Michigan.

When “Screen Time” is broken down by region:

After plugging in search terms, locations, or simply exploring what topics people are most interested in, you can generate a shareable link to share the information or you can download as an Excel file. You can also embed individual charts and graphs into a blog post or website, like this graph showing all searches related to “Crops & Seed” in Ohio (hover over the line on the graph to see information):

 

Other Google Trend applications for Extension:

  • Put together an interactive informal “needs assessment” on specific topics to share with your County Commissioners.
  • Compare different topics in your region of the state to find topics of interest.
  • Share local interests on social media and ask for feedback from residents.

What are your ideas? How would you utilize Google Trends?