This is an excellent post by Allison Fine on what is means to be a professional today. I think this has direct application to what it means to be an Extension professional today. Check out the excerpt below. - Bob
"Since 2005, I have spoken to thousands of executives from corporations, government agencies and nonprofit organizations about their discomfort using social media for business purposes. The problem for them isn't learning which button to push; if that were difficult seniors wouldn't be the fastest growing segment on Facebook. The real problem is that using social media challenges their basic assumptions of what it means to be "professional." The definition of professional behavior is an immutable set of behaviors developed early in one's career."
"A new definition of professional behavior is developing in this social world. Here is the transition:
Old professional = I am closed to the world
Old professional = I can't make mistakes in public
Old professional = I don't reveal my personal interests to the world New professional = My interests, hobbies, passions make me interesting and attractive
Old professional = I am expected to have the answers to questions New professional = I am searching for answers with my network of colleagues and supporters
Old professional = Power is taken and held New professional = Power is shared and grown
Social media enable people to be their best selves: honest, open, fallible, funny, and connected, but too many people and organizations are still trying their best to imitate automatons. Your organization, reputation, logo and staff are living, breathing entities that need to be out in the world to be effective." 
Scott McLeod at http://dangerouslyirrelevant.org shared a TED video about "Texting That Saves Lives," and challenged educators to start "thinking more creatively about texting (and other technologies)."
After watching Nancy Lublin's inspiring TED Talk, http://www.ted.com/talks/nancy_lublin_texting_that_saves_lives.html, I' m motivated to thnk how Extension can use texting more creatively.
Is your organization using texting to reach people? What are your ideas for ways to use texting in Extension? 
This is a very useful post if you are trying to deal with information overload or just trying to find tools to help you organize your learning network.
Debra Askanase explains how she uses Twitter, Scoop.it, Google+, Delicious and Pinterest to find and consume curated information. Substitute Diigo for Delicious and this would be my list of favorite curation tools.
What tools do you use to find and consume curated information? 
The recording of the "Getting online information to come to you" webinar is now available at http://learn.extension.org/events/471.
The webinar is the first in a series of three sessions to help you create your own learning network.
The webinar focuses on mapping out your own objectives and introducing tools to get you started. The main tool highlighted is Google alerts for search and news. You’ll learn how to customize alerts for your particular topical, geographical, and individual interests.
Other webinars in the series: - RSS feeds and feedreaders (http://learn.extension.org/events/472) - April 11, 2012 11AM EST - Finding and following on online networks (http://learn.extension.org/events/473) - April 18, 2012 11 AM EST 
Great advice for writing for an online audience.
I especially like the following:
"For every 1,000 or so words that you write in an online article or blog post, be sure to include:
Three subheads: Subheads are bold, one-line headlines that break up long chunks of text and organize information. Keep the same headline-writing rules in mind when you write subheads.
Two links: Links offer additional information for readers who want to go deeper, and they also give your post authenticity and transparency about where you information came from without getting into long, narrative attributions.
One graphical element: A photo, a chart or anything else visual helps readers. Whatever you use, make sure it advances the story: don't just put a photo in the post for the sake of posting a photo."
With content being shared on Pinterest, Facebook and even here on Scoop.it, that graphical element in a size and format that can be shared is really important.
Thanks to Kevin gamble for originally sharing this article on Google+, https://plus.google.com/114296506386465886516/posts/2gkWScP7A4a 
"The Winter Safety Game is a 3D immersive role-play teaching the basics of winter safety preparedness.This proof- of concept demonstrates how a typical consumer information lesson in printed form can become a rich and engaging learning experience when recreated in a virtual world simulation.
The Winter Safety Game is accessed with a free Second Life account via this link. If you do not have a Second Life account yet, you will be prompted to create one. Orientation is available at the start of the Winter Safety Game. More information about Second Life is available on the eXtension website by searching with keywords "second life."
The challenge of the Winter Safety Game is to prepare for a winter blizzard and then to travel safely through it to your grandmother's 75th birthday party." 
With social media increasingly becoming the go-to for brand awareness, it comes as no surprise that online marketers have shifted their focus to include it in their marketing strategies.
A good social network reputation can go a long way and a bad one has the possibility of tainting your brand forever.
Consider these few things ... 1. Get a grip on your goals: Ensure clear objectives and strategy are consistent 2. Listen: Feedback is important, take heed as to what people are saying 3. Be newsworthy: Exciting and current content that will urge people to share 4. Talk to those who are influencers: Share their content, engage with meaningful replies and make friends with them 5. Monitor your progress: To ensure that your objectives are being met 6. Improve: Respond quickly to fix complaints and problems Learn from negative input and resolve issues expediently Written by Andy Jenkins - http://bit.ly/yx4fed ; Download Infographic - http://bit.ly/xbbEh0 ; Via maxOz, janlgordon 
Jason W. Womack wrote this article for all of us, who struggle with information overload. I selected it because.......
To be a good content curator, the first step is knowing how to harness your attention, to be able to filter, focus, and find the best and be able to leave the rest
**It's important to keep refining your daily habits and the author has some great suggestions on how to do that.
Excerpt:
Jason Womack warns "in the age of information overload, when it comes to what we have time to focus on, we are often forced to sacrifice quality for quantity.
Here's what caught my attention:
**Stop multi-tasking When you multi-task, you can't give your undivided attention the the things you're working on.
**Set a timer for 15-minute intervals Womack says that our days are actually made up of about 100 15-minute intervals. In fact 15 minutes is just about the right "chunk" of time for us to be able to stay focused, minimize interruptions and work effectively
**Know when you're not focused and implement ways to refocus When you're working with your timer, write down eah instance when you lose focus-even if it's just to look at a clock to see what time it is.
**Carry a camera with you Carrying a camera with you is actually a great way to become more in tune with your environment.
**I do this one and it really helps bring me into the present moment
**Listen more There are three different learning styles: visual, auditory and kinesthetic. Everyone in your network falls into one of these categories.
**(very important tip, when you're not talking and focusing your attention here, it's an amazing experience on so many levels)
Curated by Jan Gordon, covering "Content Curation, Social Business and Beyond"
Read full article here: [http://bit.ly/xoqha6] Via janlgordon 
The Network Literacy Community of Practice (NetLit CoP) has been using AleX NetLit, a fictional persona, to help military family service professionals, Cooperative Extension professionals and others learn more about using online networks in their work.
This thier explanation of how and why they came up with AleX NetLit.
Full disclosure: I am the leader of the AleX NetLit team for the Network Literacy CoP.
Have you used fictional personas or scenarios in your work? What do you think of the use of AleX NetLit for Extension education? ![How to Be Successful in a Connected World [Infographic] | Working Differently in Extension | Scoop.it](http://img.scoop.it/4JDJIdW8EVUfFzf-fHz5qDl72eJkfbmt4t8yenImKBVaiQDB_Rd1H6kmuBWtceBJ)
This infographic has been put together by Ross Dawson, it's very straightforward and definitely makes its point.
Selected by Jan Gordon covering "Content Curation, Social Business and Beyond" Via janlgordon
Some good points about collaboration, or the lack of it, in this article. It includes the questions below to determine if you are really collaborating.
Are we producing new insights, ideas, or approaches, and feeding them back into the system? Are we learning, or just repeating? Are we making each other better as a result of our collaboration? Are our ideas relating to and building on each other's, and serving as springboards to the next idea? Does everyone on the team feel like they can express new ideas or ways of working? Could we REALLY re-invent the wheel? How can we tell a "good" collaboration experience from a "bad" one? (successful vs. unsuccessful, efficient vs. ineffecient, etc.) How do we know if we're getting better at collaborating? Does this process / platform / team make sense for what we need to do? 
This week's Working Differently in Extension podcast features a great conversation with University of Minnesota Extension forester Eli Sagor (@esagor on Twitter). Eli is a "tree guy" and a social media guy. He's the creator and manager of the online resource My Minnesota Woods, http://www.myminnesotawoods.umn.edu.
We talked about his day-to-day approach to digital communications, the connections between Extension's roots and its digital future, Eli's use of "widgets" and feeds to increase the reach of My Minnesota Woods and more.
You can find out more about Eli's work on My Minnesota Woods and in digital communication at http://z.umn.edu/WDpodcast 
eXtension has tweeted on @BeGrowCreate for several years. The audience is Extension and land-grant employees. On January 19, a new Twitter account, @eXtension4U, debuted that is aimed at conversations with eXtension’s audience, the general public.
David Ian Gray, Founder of DIG360, http://www.dig360.ca/, commented on February 1: Execs need to start RT @eXtension4U: RT @kanter: “Learning social media is like learning the piano. Put your fingers on the keys.” |
This is a great free tool for creating sophisticated looking infographics. The tool uses well designed templates which you can edit and add your own information to. Via Nik Peachey 
From the article: "Whether they are posting to a standalone site that brings together the best content of the Web, or constantly tweeting links to the information that you want to see, these curators spend their time as the Internet’s funnel and educate you as to what’s happening in the areas you care about most."
If the names of Maria Popova, Josh Rubin and Evan Orenstein, and the one of Jean Aw all sound new to you, maybe it is time for you to learn a bit more about them.
To find out who they are and where you can see their curation at work, check out the full article here: http://socialmediatoday.com/thomas-samph/496946/rise-social-media-curator
(Image credit: Firetongue81 on Paganspace.net)
Via Robin Good This TedxAtlanta talk by Rhonda Lowry is promoted as an explanation of identity in the digital age through Rhonda's own avatar, Grace McDunnough, who is a well-known musical performer in Second Life.
Although Rhonda does spend some time on identity and virtual world, she talks a lot more about the power of the network and about the need for a new literacy (network literacy, maybe).
The powerful takeaway for me is the way she expresses the "need to shift our perceptions from containers to connections" in a networked society.
A conversation about evaluating cooperative extension programs in the age of social media with Sarah Baughman, evaluation and research specialist with the eXtension Military Familes Project. 
The University of Minnesota Extension IT group has launched their QuickBytes series with a technology pledge. They produced a short video to inspire people to take the pledge.
Here's an excerpt from their blog post,http://blog.lib.umn.edu/umnext/quickbytes/2012/03/own-personally-the-task-of-becoming-proficient-with-todays-digital-tools.php, where you can see the video and take the pledge.
"It's time to get serious about using technology. It's not about technology and whether we like it or not (or whether we're good at it or not), it's about staying up-to-date and literate in the tools of today's educators. Through 'Quick Bytes,' we will together explore the digital learning tools that may be useful to you. We'll do it as a group, helping each other along. But the motivation to participate, engage, and try out new ideas is yours." 
A discussion with North Dakota State University nutrition and wellness specialist Abby Gold talks about how and why she curates information online, the changing roles of Extension professionals and why some have resisted those roles. Via Abby Gold 
The latest "Working Differently in Extension" podcast features a discussion of the use of social media tools, like Facebook and Pinterest, in Extension education with Alice Henneman, food safety and nutrition educator with University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension in Lancaster County.
Alice has been using several social media tools to advance Extension education, including:
Twitter - http://twitter.com/alicehenneman YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/user/alicehenneman/ Pinterest - http://pinterest.com/alicehenneman/
You can find out more about the "Working Differently in Extension" podcast at http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/workingdifferently/working-differently-in-extension-podcast 
Snag.it is replacing the pro version of Jing. I look forward to using these sharing tools for Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Evernote.
This week's Working Differently in Extension podcast features a conversation with Katie Pinke, Marketing and Information Division Director at North Dakota Department of Agriculture.
Katie understands the value and importance social media plays in keeping rural people connected and the value it brings in sharing stories of the advantages of rural life. She is active in engaging rural audiences in social media to spur rural development and growth.
You can listen all of the Working Differently in Extension podcasts at, , http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/workingdifferently/working-differently-in-extension-podcast
This post from The Content Economy, http://www.thecontenteconomy.com/2012/02/collaboration-pyramid.html, highlights the part of collaboration we rarely pay any attention to.
In our program team and community of practice work in Extension, we are focused on the parts of the "collaboration iceberg" that are above the water: forming a team, coordinating and acting.
We need more focus from team members and administrators for the part of the "collaboration iceberg" that is under the water, the parts that make up social collaboration. 
Robin Good: If you have a YouTube channel and you want to check your progress in terms of subscribers, views and more, SocialBlade offers a new free service which can check on any active YouTube account instantly.
Not only you can view your own stats for the last 30 days, but you can get also an estimator of your possible earnings for each day as well as global ranks for the most viewed YouTube accounts according to category, region, type and more.
Here are my own: http://socialblade.com/youtube/user/robingood
Try it now: http://socialblade.com/youtube/ Via Robin Good 
A blog post by teacher Jeannie Magiera inspired this post about the need for cooperative extension to break down how we work and what we do in order to rebuild something sustainable and transformative using social media and online networks.
Thanks to Nik Peachey's Learning Technology scoop, http://www.scoop.it/t/learning-technology, for pointing me to Jeannie's blog post. |
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