THINKeEXTENSION

There are many reasons people working in Agriculture, Natural Resource Management or Environment (hopefully people not working in any of these fields removed from the others) should THINKeEXTENSION. This morning, I was reminded of another when I read this report on Hunger in the Philippines.

Extension is a business of reaching out, of enabling, a business of dare I say it “Yes We Can”.

One Laptop Per Child OLTP is a “Yes We Can” idea and a movement with a mission to provide school age children in developing countries with their own laptop. This type of initiative will fuel the trend, that will see 3 Billion people online in the next couple of years. OLTP is an amazing effort that gives people access to ideas that can improve their world, and maybe some that won’t (however in an information age, we all need to learn to filter good ideas from bad).

To my way of thinking the concept that links these two ideas (world hunger and universal internet access) is eExtension. If we can be laptops to every school child in the world, using eExtension we can get good Extension Support to the whole of planet. Whether your audience in within a 50km radius or global, good eExtension will enable healthy vibrant agriculture (producing good food and fibre) and a healthy environment (producing good air, water, climate and the countless blessing that come from our planet).

“Yes We Can”

(apologies and congrats to Obama)

After two blog posts yesterday on  RSS and Google Reader for the listening component of an eExtension Strategy, I thought twice about this post. However this story does illustrate perfectly why RSS and a good RSS Feed Reader are fundamental to good eExtension Strategy. If you didn’t read yesterday’s posts here’s a quick explanation.

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. It is simply a stream of information most commonly blog posts, podcasts, videos, or images that can be subscribed to. For example if you subscribe to a blog with an RSS Feed Reader like Google Reader. You will receive blog articles as they are published, much like an email inbox for feeds.

I use Google Reader to subscribe to numerous RSS Feeds that help me to stay abreast of my industry.By using a number of keyword tracking tools in tandem with Google Reader I recieve an alert when Web Content is published and is associated with one of my keywords.

Yesterday scanning quickly through my feeds in Google Reader, I found a keyword alert that included a name I knew well. The name of someone I have worked with and have a great deal of respect for, Phil Moran from Noosa Landcare Group.

The keyword I was tracking was “Landcare” and the alert landed in my Feed Reader because Landcare Australia Limited posted a photo of Phil in to thier Flickr account. Flickr is a Web2.0 photosharing website that allows users to upload images and share them across the web in dozens of different ways. Flickr automatically creates an RSS feed for each user (a stream of photos that you can subscribe to), and every time a photo is uploaded the RSS Feed for that user is updated.

Fortunately when Phil’s photo was uploaded to Landcare Australia Limited’s photostream on Flickr it was tagged “Landcare”. It was that tag that set off the course of events, that saw the alert land in my Google Feed Reader. Amazing stuff! Looking a little bit further through the photos, I also found a image of another colleague, Paul Marshall speaking to the Minister for the Environment Peter Garrett no less. Actually there was quite a list of the who’s who of Australian NRM amongst the happy snaps.

Now think about this if Landcare Australia Limited had uploaded this same photo to a web site that didn’t have an RSS Feed, chances are I wouldn’t have found out about it. Landcare Australia Limited have been stepping up in the Social Media stakes lately by trialling a Wordpress blog, using Youtube Videos, and creating an interactive website to promote the National Landcare Awards, I have already talked about why their move to a free blogging platform is more powerful that using their current CMS powered website which has no RSS and it difficult to interact with.

Two Take Home Messages:

• RSS helps you share and listen to content that is important in your industry, niche, or specialty. Start using it today.
• Flickr is a free photosharing website (there are some limits to the basic free membership, not many though), that is tremendous eExtension Tool. Start sharing photos from workshops, field trips, covers of reports, any Extension content you can via Flickr then tell your audience many of them will already be using Flickr and it will give you one more way to connect.

Now here are the photos.

(left) Phil Moran (Noosa Landcare Guru) presenting at the National Landcare Awards. (right) A little bit further on I found one of Paul Marshall as well.

Tags: RSS, eExtension, eExtension Strategy, Flickr, Extension

MobaTalk Multimedia Messaging | Video

Google Reader is a free RSS Feed Reader that will allow you to stay on top of your industry and your niche. When used in tandem with Google Alerts to track key words in your niche and tools like Social Media Firehose, Icerocket, and Board Tracker
it becomes a power users tool. For more about RSS see What is RSS and why it’s an eExtension fundamental.

Winner of the eExtension Tip #1 Comp:

Steve Newman of Greenhouse Advisor

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Over the last 2 to 3 years (in some cases longer) more and more smart Extension Websites have been growing funny looking icons, like the one on the right. There are many variations of the image, but all these symbols mean one thing, RSS. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication and true to it’s name it is simple. Simple but very very powerful and an essential feature of an effective Extension Website.

What is RSS?

RSS is a format that makes it easy to keep track of new web content. It’s like a stream of updates. Similar to the ticker tape feed of news headlines, that you might see on the bottom of a screen on a TV News show.

Before RSS if we wanted to track new content, news and other updates on a website. We would probably bookmark the site and check back on a regular basis. However if your Extension Website or any site for that matter is configured for RSS, visitors can subscribe to updates.

Once subscribed to an RSS feed, readers will be informed when new content is added without having to revisit the website.

Because RSS is more like grammar than a whole new computer language. It can be applied to all types of content; Blogs, Podcasts, updates to a Wiki, Photos, Videos, etc. Almost any web content as long as it is granular i.e. discreet units of data, it can usually be turned into an RSS feed. To receive or “catch” an RSS feed you can use an RSS Feed Reader, some websites also offer their RSS feed via email. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve never met Nalaka Gunawardene, however I expect when I do we’ll have plenty to talk about.

Nalaka is CEO and Director at Television for Education – Asia Pacific, an organisation “dedicated to communicating sustainable development, humanitarian and social justice issues through the audio-visual and new media”.

A mission quite parallel to the role of THINKeEXTENSION, “to enable Extension Professionals develop and implement eExtension Strategies.

However what really convinced me that we are like-minded is Nalaka’s essay, Development 2.0 to catch up with web 2.0 on the ICT4D Magazine website.

The essay begins with some tales of Development Professionals dipping their toes into Web 2.0 or Social Media applications only to misunderstand the medium.

Lesson #1: eExtension requires strategy, trust and openness.

The essay continues with an explanation of Web 2.0 (see the THINKeEXTENSION version), the 2 digital divides, and then some challenges to embrace the world of New Media.

Lesson #2: In starting eExtension, there will be challenges.

(i) Leave the comfort zone of paper - most organisation live on paper however policy, technology and enviroment are moving fast.
(ii) Let go of control - this on is kind of counter intiaitve but New Media thrives on trust and trust comes from bein transparent.
(iii) Invest less money but more time - New Media is about relationships, relationship take time not money.
(iv) Recognise information needs and wants - listening is the first pillar of Social Media.

Nalaka goes on to talk about organisations using New Media in innovative ways, and call for a rethinking of the way development is done, a Development 2.0. It’s great piece and you should consider reading it. Can I join with Nalaka by saying that if we are to have healthy food and fibre and clean water, air, and a healthy environment we need new knowledge, new knowledge systems and superb extension, we need to THINK eEXTENSION.

Lesson #3: Now is time to rethink your business.

Tags: eExtension, New-Media, Web 2.0, TVE-AP,

Early in my Extension career, I learned about the power of “Communities of Practice“. Also a decade later I find myself automatically asking the question, how will this Extension effort I’m working on, relate to a “Community of Practice“. eExtension with it’s foundation is Social Media is all about “Communities of Practice“, to me Social Media is the ultimate Extension tool. Today I received a blog post in my RSS reader, from Michelle Martin who I would describe as someone from my broader online “Community of Practice“. Michelle writes a thoughtful blog at The Bamboo Project, where today on offer were 2 videos and an article about the power of “Communities of Practice“. These videos are not from Agricultural, Natural Resource Management or Environmental organisations, however I’m sure if you take the 9 - 10 mins to watch them you will be able to imagine your own eExtension Strategy feeding a “Community of Practice” around your Extension niche.

Embedded Video

Embedded Video

Two helpful Social Networks closely aligned with eExtension are the Ag Communication Group at Ning (a service that lets you build your own Social Network)and eExtension Basecamp at LinkenIn. You might like to go ahead and check them out. Start building your eExtension “Community of Practice” now.

Tags: eExtension, Communities-Of-Practice, Extension, Social Media, Social Networks

Extension is a social business. It is a business of sharing information, building networks, supporting decisions, and hopefully sharing victories. More and more businesses are developing Social Media strategies to do similar things, build networks, listen to customers, offer after sales support and so much more. Before long a business without a Social Media presence will be thought ridiculus, round about the same time an Extension Program without an eExtension Strategy incorporating Social Media will unthinkable.

Monty C. M. Metzger is an entrepreneur, trend consultant and blogger from Germany who recently published on his blog
a list of 300 businesses who have an active social media presence. It’s worth a look there are some very clever strategies amongst them. Let’s have a look at some Monty’s examples.

American Red Cross uses a blog Red Cross Chat, as the centre for their Social Media strategy which is a really smart idea. However they also use other Social Media tools to bulk up their presence including Delicious (social book marking), Flickr (photo sharing), Utterli ), Youtube (Video Sharing), Sprout (widget maker), Facebook (Social Network), Twitter (Microblogging). All of these tools can be used for free provided you have a computer and an internet connection. So whether you have a small Landcare or Environmental group or you work for a government department you can have a configuration like Red Cross for your eExtension Strategy

The National Marine Sanctuaries amongst other Socail Media tools, Twitter. Twitter is a Microblogging platform which allows users to post a short message (max 140 characters) easily to the web. Those messages can then be posted on websites, read as a feed, received as text messages on a mobile phone and dozens of other nifty things.

The Sydney Writers’ Centre like the Red Cross uses blogging, podcasting and 2 social networks: Facebook fan page. MySpace page to spread their message and engage their audience.

Timberland uses the tree planting program is an incentive to have Facebook users share their Earthkeepers application with friends.

As you can see from these couple of examples many organisations are using Social Media to engage and interact with their clients, their audience and others. There are many creative and meaningful ways to engage your Extension audience with Social Media. The first step is to develop an eExtension Strategy that will complement and enhance your current Extension workflow. If you would like to know more about developing a eExtension Strategy you may wish to subscribe to THINKeEXTENSION or browse our Archives

What Social Media tools have you seen Extension programs using or are you using? Leave us a comment below

Tags: SocialMedia, eExtensionStrategy, ExtensionWebsite

MobaTalk Multimedia Messaging | Video

A blog is a simple but powerful tool, it’s a partticular type of website that is;

• easy to update (you don’t need a web designer)
• it’s automatically files and archives content in an easy to search / find format
• it serves up dates as a feed (i.e. readers can subscribe and get latest articles without having to check your website all the time)
• they perform spectacularly well with search engines
• they engage audiences usually allowing comments and other forms of interaction.

Your professional (and personal) life will be significantly enhanced by writing one and reading many. There are estimated to be over 100 Million blogs worldwide and a 100 000 new blogs created every day. Why? Because it’s free or close to it, easy to do, and it’s very very powerful. What’s more, a blog can be the foundation of an eExtension Strategy.

So your eExtension Tip today, is a task that can take you 15 mins or less and costs nothing. If you’re not sure what eExtension is, you might like to start like by reading a definition of eExtension.

eExtension Tip #1: Try blogging, start a wordpress.com blog.

To become more familiar with blogs and blogging, I suggest you go to http://wordpress.com and sign up for a free blog. It doesn’t matter if you write some nonsense in it once, use it to write about a hobby, or write about your current Extension project. The act of diving in and having a go will give you more insight than a dozen tutorial.

Want a Blogging Challenge?

Here is a little challenge to make this eExtension Tip a little bit more fun. It’s simple and everyone who completes the challenge will go into the draw for free 1/2 hour eExtension Consultation (Value = $150 Australia).

1. visit http://wordpress.com
2. sign up for a free blog
3. write an article that includes a link to this article
4. keep reading THINKeEXTENSION or even better subscribe to find out who wins.

The Prize

A eExtension Consultation by phone or Skype where you can pick my brains for half an hour, the call will be recorded and a copy sent to you along with a transcript of the call, pretty neat hey? We’ll arrange a time that is convenient to both of us. You might like to use the call to review your current eExtension Strategy or to design one from scratch. I will randomly draw a winner on Friday afternoon 14th November Eastern Australian Time and announce the winner here on THINKeEXTENSION

Tags: Competition, Blogging, ExtensionBlog, ExtensionWebsite, eExtensionWebsite, eExtensionBlog, Wordpress

If you have been doing Extension for more that 2 weeks I have some news for you your audience is changing. They are changing the way they consume information and what they expect from information regarding the Internet and Social Media trends and a surrogate for eExtension trends the Forresters Social Technographics Report has just been released for 2008. Geuss what? Social Media usage is up!

There are more people creating, critiquing, collecting, joining and consuming Social Media then there were last year. That is probably no surprise

Social technology adoption increased tremendously this year. Three in four US online adults now use social tools to connect with each other compared with just 56% in 2007. What else changed? Ratings and reviews, “voting” for Web sites, and peer-generated video experienced the largest growth, while blogs and tagging closely followed. Older adults are now also more likely to participate socially as Spectators and Critics, placing them in the active rungs of our Social Technographics® ladder. Source: http://www.forrester.com/Research/Document/Excerpt/0,7211,44907,00.html

This graphic is a useful way to segment your eExtension audience, no matter how good your stuff is some people will not even see it. But as you can see from the graph below the percentage of people who are likely to respond are growing as are the number of people online. Therefore more and more people are ready for eExtension. This trend is coming fast, and it is a great time to getting to know your way around the Social Media landscape.

New 2008 Social Technographics data reveals rapid growth in adoption

First discovered via ReadWriteWeb

Tags: SocialMedia, 2008SocialTechnographicsReport, eExtension

The Nature Conservancy is an organisation with conservation activities worldwide. They are good at conservation, they are good at fund raising, and as it happens they are quite good at eExtension. I was interested to read an article on their site entitled Big Ideas in Conservation - Harnessing Information Technology. The article was in a section called “Next Big Ideas in Conservation“, and was written by the Director of Emerging Strategies, Jonathan Hoekstra. Hoekstra points to a realisation in a jungle in Borneo as a moment of understanding the possibilities for IT to influence conservation.

Best Practice eExtension

Let’s for a moment examine how the Nature Conservancy are using technology in their extension efforts and compare that with what might be considered Best Practice eExtension. The Nature Conservancy website

• has an RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed of news items
• Allows visitors to respond
• Makes good use of multimedia including photos and slideshows
• Uses video including a Public Service Announcement video that is hosted on an external network Google Video
• Uses Audio podcasts distributed by an RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed
• Uses Email capture to convert visitors into contacts
• Associate Director Digital Marketing, Jonathon Colman @jcolman regularly uses microblogging application Twitter to drive traffic to Nature Conservancy

All great eExtension practices!

Nature Conservancy PSA on Google Video

Using a video sharing network to host your online video is smart for at least 5 reasons.

1. If the video becomes popular someone else pays for the bandwidth.
2. Your video will receive traffic from your website and your website will receive traffic from the video sharing network.
3. If you put a link to your site in the video description you will build a high value incoming link to your site which is important for search engines.
4. People can embed your video on other sites like I have just done with this video building more exposure and traffic for your site.
5. Via the video sharing site people can comment and respond to your video

What’s Missing?

Well it’s hard to be critical of an organisation and a site that doing so much so well. One important component of a smart eExtension strategy is to choose tools and a workflow that suit your organisation’s goals and resources. The enhancements I am about to suggest are components of an optimal eExtension strategy in an organisation with unlimited goals and resources. Knowing the good work that Jonathon does, I’m sure he and his team may have considered or are working these additions.

• Incorporation of a blog technology particularly with the ability for people to comment and respond to individual articles
• Use of a social media aggregation service such as friendfeed to put all Nature Conservancy online content in one place.
• Nature Conservancy has a facebook not for profit page with almost 8000 fans. I would love to know why it’s not more prominent on the website, probably a good reason for this

All in all  Nature Conservancy  is an awesome website, which is being done very well. Testimony to this is it’s ranking by Alexa (an internet traffic ranking site similar to Neilsen’s rating of TV shows) as being in the top 0.14% of sites worldwide and the number of incoming links 450,720 which means lots of other websites are linking to it (good for search engines and traffic). For eExtension Best Practice I would give Nature Conservancy an A to and A+, mind you on the same criteria THINKeEXTENSION is in the C+ to B- zone.

What are your thoughts? What do you like about the Nature Conservancy website? Or what features do you think makes a A+ eExtension site?

Tags: eExtension, ConservationWebsite, NatureConservancy, eExtensionStrategy,