With the digital age in full swing, helping rural communities transition to, plan for, and prosper in digitally minded ways is critical. This article describes an innovative outreach process that relies on asset-based community development and the intelligent community concept. More importantly, the process relies heavily on Extension personnel…

The personal effectiveness of Extension agents is a topic continuously researched, yet problems persist, suggesting that not enough is yet known to improve the situation. We undertook a study to determine the personal effectiveness competency training needs of agents in Florida, specifically looking at time management and work-life integration…

Purpose: This paper is concerned with the impact of the University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) on regional productivity in California agriculture. UCCE is responsible for agricultural research and development (R&D), and dissemination of agricultural know-how in the state. Method/methodology/approach: We estimate the effect of…

The mail survey is a popular data collection tool in developed countries, but little is known about its use and efficacy in developing countries. Grounded on social exchange and diffusion of innovations theories, this study sought to ascertain whether the mail survey works in Nepal -- one of the developing countries, by looking at how long…

Purpose: Audience response system technology has been found to have modest learning and larger non-cognitive impacts on students in traditional secondary and post-secondary learning environments. The impacts of this technology are less understood for learners in informal settings, including for farmers in training provided by extension services.…

There has been a dramatic shift in how people engage with agriculture over the past 50 years in the United States, leading to little interaction between consumers and the farm. Despite extension initiatives to communicate with urban consumers about agriculture, the disconnect between consumers and agricultural producers continues to grow. Research…

Agricultural extension services are under pressure to improve their services and contribute more to agricultural development. Extension services require human resources that are competent both technically as well as in process skills. Little is known about whether and how competent extension professionals are to serve in the changing context and…

In today's society, individuals and households without reliable Internet connections are increasingly at risk of facing significant disadvantages. This article describes an Extension-led pilot project in Oklahoma centered on addressing this issue through the establishment of a hotspot lending program in four rural libraries. Through the program,…

Despite the widespread and long-standing use of demonstration sites in Extension, there is little empirical evidence to inform how best to design them. We report data from 513 producers in three regions of Indiana whom we surveyed about sources of information for farm management decisions, the usefulness of demonstrations, and preferences and…

Purpose: This article assesses a non-traditional training methodology for extension agents, focused on the exchange of experiences among peers and the reflection on practice, with the aim of exploring its potential as a training strategy. Design/Methodology/approach: A quali-quantitative investigation was conducted, which included interviews with…

This study aims to investigate how the use of an "among"-based mentoring model can improve competencies in vocational education at an agricultural vocational school in Yogyakarta and the social impact that this has. Qualitative research methods were applied in this study, with data being collected through questionnaires, field…

Purpose: Considering current debates on ecosystem services' effectiveness and the AIS/AKIS functioning, in this study we suggest a new, systemic way to evaluate extension systems (ESs). Using this model, we compared the effectiveness of ESs in three countries with essential differences but also characteristic similarities in their agricultural…

We conducted a cross-sectional study grounded in job demands--resources theory to examine the relationship between job characteristics and burnout across Extension disciplines. Job demands predicted burnout regardless of discipline; however, job resources predicted burnout for only three of the five disciplines studied--agriculture, family and…

Water quality and availability are critical issues currently addressed by agricultural education professionals. Extension professionals need to employ innovative approaches to help residents adopt practices and technologies to reduce the impact of urban landscapes on water resources. This study explored how individuals' dissatisfaction relative to…

Purpose: The need to increase women's access to extension has been extensively discussed. This paper assesses women's access to extension services through the Plantwise extension approach as a baseline for future comparison of women's access through other extension approaches. It also assesses whether crops that men and women farmers seek plant…