Stacey Terrill- teaching through Extension

Since I am not in a classroom setting Joan and I modified what I read and responded to. I am just now posting all of my blogs due to a communication error so I hope some of it might be useful.

Colasanti, K., Wright, W. , Reau, B. (2009). Extension, the land-grant mission, and civic agriculture: cultivating change. Journal of Extension [On-Line], 47(4) Article 4FEA. Available at http://www.joe.org/joe/2009august/a1.php

This paper addressed the issues of teaching through Extension and how Extension has changed and needs to change to meet the needs of today. It discusses the development of Land-grant Universities as a means to provide practical science based knowledge to the public. Today, the needs of people have changed drastically since the beginning of Land-grant Universities and. Therefore, if Extension is to remain relevant and beneficial, programming content must reflect the changes that have occurred and delivery means must be updated.
The article discusses how former teaching methods may cause harm by separating the University from the people by viewing Extension faculty as “experts” and the community inactive consumers. Instead, through “leaderful” approach the community becomes engaged in the learning process. Through this process, people learn new information and develop strategies for informed decision making. This article provides the components necessary for an effective Extension program to meet today’s needs. Technology as a means for teaching and communication has been controversial in the traditional world. I think that if we are to meet the needs of today’s learners we should be using technology to enhance our delivery methods. Using a variety of resources, we can create an environment of active learning where instead of “experts” we have participants of learning through collaborations.
Explored in this article is an economic program in Southeast Michigan, The Food System Economic Partnership (FSEP). This collaboration, started in 2004, recognized changing needs in the food system and decided to use “real” people to shape education efforts. This program focuses on the community as active learners and uses informal guidance to provide science based information. Outlined in this article, are the requirements of a successful program using this structure. I hope to be able to integrate technology into my thesis and learning efforts to enhance learning for everyone.