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(29) Using Video Technology and ‘Edutainment’ to Prepare Extension Professionals for Change
Nicholas E. Fuhrman, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA
Tracy Irani, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
Session: Poster session
Extension professionals have long been regarded as “change agents.” For natural resource Extension professionals particularly, global issues such as habitat loss, climate change, and energy use make such a title increasingly more relevant. Changes within the Cooperative Extension System such as increased competition from non-profit organizations and a greater dependency on internet technology (e.g., eXtension) have created increased pressure for Extension to remain proactive with respect to change. However, few Extension professionals have formal training in organizational change theory and practice.
The University of Florida recognized this deficiency and developed an eight week graduate course, Affecting Change: Theory and Practice, as part of its distance delivered Master of Science program for secondary agricultural educators and Extension professionals. Because students enrolled in the course are typically employed full-time and view the narrated PowerPoint lectures outside of a formal classroom setting, the instructors used video technology as an interest approach to help students internalize course concepts. Approximately three weeks before the start of class, students were mailed a DVD containing eight 3-5 minute video clips, one video for each week of class. For example, a video clip from the movie “Office Space” was used to convey the influence of external consultants on organizational development. A clip from the movie “The Grapes of Wrath” was used to compare evolutionary and revolutionary change and a clip of a greenhouse was used to contrast open and closed systems.
Video technology was found to be an effective way to make theoretical, often difficult to “visualize” course concepts, both educationally stimulating and entertaining for agricultural educators and Extension professionals. Using relevant video clips allowed instructors to exemplify course concepts to learners at a distance. As social learning theory suggests, providing adult learners with real-world examples of abstract concepts increases the likelihood of internalization and long-term retention.
Nicholas Fuhrman
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
119 Hutcheson Hall
Blacksburg, VA, 24061-0419, USA
Phone: 540-231-9414
Fax: 540-231-0762
Email: nifuhrma@vt.edu