Transcript Distance Delivery of Intensive Farm Management Education

Distance Delivery of Intensive
Farm Management Education
Rodney Jones, Alicia Goheen, Kevin
Dhuyvetter, Terry Kastens, Vincent
Amanor-Boadu, and Michael Langemeier
K-State Research And Extension
KSU Ag Econ – Competitive
Strengths
• Subject Matter Expertise
– History and depth of core competency in farm
management
• Information
– Kansas Farm Management Associations
• Delivery Technology
– Experience with distance delivery
– Relationships already forged with division of
continuing education
MAST Program
• Intensive, High-Level Farm Management
Education Program
– Issue of Extension Funding
– Issue of Alternative Delivery
• 5 classes completed (180 students)
• 1 special MAST alumni seminar
• Program has received award recognition
MAST Program
• High fee
– A lot of interest in scholarship support from lenders,
etc.
• Geographic and business activity diversity among
participants
• Reasons for enrolling
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Improve management skills
Networking
Increase profits
Transition issues
Participant Business Activities
Crops
Livestock
Other
Custom Services
Agribusiness
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Reasons For Enrolling
Better Management Skills
Strategic Planning
New Tools and Resources
Increase Profits
Facilitate Transition
Networking
Other
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Teaching MAST
• 14 Faculty – Staff directly involved
– Varying degrees of involvement
• 2 Day on-campus session I
• Distance delivery 7 (8) modules
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37 hours of “recorded” time
CD or Internet
Binders full of notes and supplemental material
Suggested timelines
Chat sessions
Homework
Email-phone-message board interaction
Technology assistance (800#, email, etc.)
• 2 Day on-campus session II
Modules
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Land Ownership and Leasing
Machinery Ownership and Leasing
Financial Management
Human Resource Management
Tax Planning and Policy
Risk Management
Marketing
Participant Reactions
• Really like the study flexibility
– Can listen to audio portion anywhere
• All sessions well received in content and deliver
– Intensive information can be successfully delivered via
distance
• Variation in presentation quality is higher for
distance modules, but not so for content
– Might be sample
– Might be that recording the distance modules is a skill
that needs to be practiced and learned
Faculty Perspective
• Workload
– On campus session material is adjusted annually
– Written material is revised as needed
– Modules are re-recorded as needed
• Module delivery can smooth the transitions
associated with faculty turnover
– Have been able to use modules previously recorded by
faculty who have left
• Incentives
• Compensation
• Technology
Important Lessons
• Combination delivery is critical
– Some topics lend themselves to distance delivery,
others require face-to-face
– Planning is required to sort this issue out
• Face-to-face interaction is critical
– Material
– Participant interaction (the group really wants to get to
know and learn from each other)
• Final wrap-up session is critical
– Must be well planned
– Must summarize what was learned in the entire
program
What Can We Improve
• Would like to attract more out-of-state
interest in the program
– Explore why we have not had much success in
this area
Web Sites
• MAST
– www.agmanager.info/MAST
• Kansas Farm Management Association
– www.kmar105.com