Summary of NCCES Virtual Conferences.

1. North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service
Virtual Information Technology Conferences
Kyleen_Burgess@ncsu.edu
Overview
The North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service (NCCES) Extension Information
Management Agents have held a virtual extension conference annually since 2009.
During 2009 NCCES faced budget difficulties, the state wide face-to-face extension
conference for agents were cut thus resulting in limited training for extension
professionals. The NCCES Virtual Conferences are open to all who wish to attend,
with focus given directly to enhance job performance to any level extension
professional (agents, support staff, directors and assistants/associates).
On average during the three years of running the conferences we’ve had around 165
participants per session.
Technical Detail
NC State University uses Elluminate Live! V10 virtual learning environment.
Elluminate Live! is similar to Adobe Connect. Offices can connect either as a group
via or personally at their desks. This tool provides polling, chat, emoticons as well
as video and presentation capabilities.
Marketing/Promotion
Examples of marketing promotional pieces:
http://duplin.ces.ncsu.edu/index.php?page=news&ci=EXCE+7
http://duplin.ces.ncsu.edu/index.php?page=news&ci=EXCE+2
-We marketed the event a month out in advance via email and our NCCES Intranet
-2011 we provided the same conference on two different dates to accommodate
schedules
Topics
2009 – Extension in The Connected Age – focused on various topics
Building Your Personal Learning Network – Wendy Drexler – focused on innovative
uses of technology
Podcasting and iTunes University – NCCES Staff
Internet Security – Greg Parmer, Auburn CE
Why Would Extension Professionals Want to Use Facebook or MySpace? – NCCES
Staff
Lunch Keynote – How to Drink from a Fire Hose – Anne Adrian – eXtension
eXtension People Features and Open ID – Beth Raney – eXtension
Using Clickers for Instant Feedback – Robin Brekke – Iowa CE
RSS: “The Come-To-Me” Web – Kevin Gable, eXtension
Participating in eXtension Communities of Practice – NC CoP members
Google Docs: Better Than MS Office? – NCCES Staff

2. 2010 – The Call to Interaction: Connect and Collaborate - Social Media
Incorporating Social Media Into Your Program – Andy Kleinschmidt
Putting Social Media Into Practice Panel Discussion – Panel discussion with NC
extension agents who use social media effectively in their programs
What does eXtension have for me? – Larry Lippke
Do You Youtube? - Overview of Youtube
How We Youtube! – Panel discussion with extension agents from various states
A Ning Group for NC Coopertive Extension
2011 – Doing More With “Google Apps”
Recording: http://slms.delta.ncsu.edu/play_recording.html?recordingId=1261500887156_1306931558942
Gmail Web interface
Intro to Google Docs
Google Calendar & Google Tasks
Google Talk/Chat
Logging into more than one Google account at a time
Question and Answer Session
What Did We Learn?
-Day long virtual conferences although were well received were better to shorten
-Harness in on one particular area or topic (like social media or google apps)
-Tell them how they can use each topic and provide real life examples of folks using
them
-Give them a break for lunch to get up!
-Be clear about what you’re teaching at the start of each session – some expect how-
to’s but only got an overview.
-Provide follow up trainings on topics covered if providing an overview
Evaluation
Standard in our Extension Learning Management System. Each Information
Management Agent follows up with detailed trainings.