The Future of Extension Program Delivery: The Case

for Online Training

Curtis Mahnken, Kevin Klair

April 2, 2014

Future of Training Delivery• Growth of technology

• Acceptance of technology

• Budgets shrinking

• Level of service expected to be same or better

• Audience: Smaller/More scattered

Future of Training Delivery• Trade Adjustment Assistance for Farmers

– National, multi-faceted, different audiences

– Hybrid program delivery• In-Person workshops

• Online

• One on one consulting

– 9,116 applicants trained

The Melting Pot

Gender %Male 68.1%

Female 31.9%

Age

< 2020-3030-4040-5050-6060+

Language %English 82.7%

Spanish 1.2%

Vietnamese 15.4%

Other 0.8%Asparagus

Blueberries

Catfish

Lobster

Shrimp

- 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000

TAA Online Training Setup• Applicants had own portal

• Selection of commodity specific and national workshops

• After watching online workshops, applicants needed to pass quiz

• Mostly designed specifically for TAA

Initial Training

http://taaforfarmers.org/Courses.aspx

Online Training• Results

– Number completed online

– Applicant thoughts

– Knowledge gain

• Moving forward

RESULTS2014 Women In Agriculture National Conference

Online Training

In-Person Online Combination0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

25%

38% 37%

Training Method Preference-Prior to Training

Online Training

<20 20-30 30-40 40-50 50-60 60 +0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Prior to Training-Preference to Receive Training by Age

In-PersonOnlineCombination

Online Training

17,370, 41%

24,777, 59%

Mode of Intensive Training

In PersonOnline

ONLINE EFFECTIVENESS2014 Women In Agriculture National Conference

Online Effectiveness• Evaluate Knowledge Gain

– Online (More) vs In-Person (Less)

• Question– How to evaluate your business and plan for change

– Asked before and after intensive training

• Applicants rated themselves– None to Complete Knowledge(1-5 point scale)

Online Effectiveness

Pre-Assessment After Training Pre-Assessment After TrainingLess than 50% Online More than 50% Online

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

Evaluating Your Business & Planning For Change

Online Effectiveness

Less More Less More Less More Less More Less More Less More<20 20-30 30-40 40-50 50-60 60+

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

4.0

Evaluating Your Business & Planning For Changeby Age

Pre-Assessment After Training

Online Effectiveness

• Online training gets us to the same result

• Increase in knowledge

MOVING FORWARD2014 Women In Agriculture National Conference

More training?

Yes57%

No43%

Are you interested in additional intensive business management training?

More training?

<20 20-30 30-40 40-50 50-60 60+0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

How would you prefer to take additional training? By Age

1on1Small GroupOnline

More training?

<20 20-30 30-40 40-50 50-60 60+ Total0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

Lobster-Training Mode Desired by Age

One-on-OneSmall-GroupOnline

Online Training• Advantages

– It’s a YouTube world

– Always available

– Convenience

– Inexpensive in long run

– Longer shelf life

Online Training• Disadvantages

– Startup costs higher• Equipment, Time

– Educator learning curve

– Different workshop design

– Getting eyeballs

How to do it yourself• Types of online

training (– Webinar (Ag In

Uncertain Times)

– Class recording

– Khan Academy

– Lynda.com (How-to)

• Short clips – Workshop design-not

just recording an in-person workshop

• 2-5 minutes

How to do it yourself• High energy

– More engagement

• Software– Camtasia, pre-existing programs

• After training engagement– Learners like interaction with instructors

Quotes• The workshops were very informative. I

intend to take more courses online.

• I think the workshops are very beneficial. I was really surprised to find that people were using their smartphones as a tool for their business. It shows how technology is finding its place in all facets of our lives.

Concluding thoughts• Online training is successful

– Nearly 60% of applicants took training online

• Online interaction works well– Same result as in-person training

– How to create the “interactiveness” with online workshops

Concluding thoughts• There is a desire for more training

• Applicants preferred to access training online as opposed to traditional methods

• Overall-hybrid method of delivery achieved highly regarded results amongst participants

Give us your thoughts• Let me know on twitter @CurtisMahnken

• Or on Flipgrid (90 second video response)– http://z.umn.edu/WIAFlipgrid