Post on 12-May-2015
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Extension Educators as Public Intellectuals
Jim Langcuster, Communications & Marketing Specialist, Alabama Cooperative Extension System, @extensionguy
Anne Mims Adrian, Social Media Strategist, Military Families Learning Network-eXtension, @aafromaa
Natalie Hummel, Associate Professor and Entomologist, LSU Ag Center, @nathummel
April 2012#PILD2012
Who is Frank Kovac?
"World's largest rolling, mechanical globe planetarium"
The Frank Kovac
Effect
"To be a planetarium director, you need college, but if you build your own, you can run it!"
Frank Kovac
Transformed Educator
Consumers vs. ProsumersPassive vs. Active
Extension's and Educators' Challenges
Overwhelming and ever growing amount of information
Democratization dialogue
Cacophony of voices
User generated content, filters, & distribution
Media mediating human relationships (Mike Welsch)
Extension's and Educators' Challenges
Instantaneous Communications
Ubiquitous Communications and Pervasive
Proximity (UCaPP-Mark Federman)
We are the musicians, the instruments, and the music itself.Mark Federman
What is Extension's Function Today?
Post Morrill Act Challenges
Fewer people know of Cooperative Extension
A need to continue making ag production more efficient
Public challenges to technological advances in ag is growing
There is a growing need to make sense of trends and what seems to be conflicts and misapplying research
Tale of Three Extension Educators
Aggregators and Curators
Natalie Hummel, PhD
John Fulton, PhD
Aggregators and Curators
Ron Smith, PhD
What is a Public Intellectual?
Someone who deals with ideas and knowledge within the context of public discourse, usually within mass media.
What is a Public Intellectual?
Op-ed pieces, magazine columns, Sunday morning network news interview programs, interviewed on public radio/TV.
Social media, an important addition, may be the front door to the mass media presence.
A Public Intellectual bridges the gap
Traits of Public Intellectuals
passionate
opinionated
highly literate
scholarly, though not necessarily
academic
A Public Intellectual: David Brooks author of The Social Animal
Why Extension as Public Intellectuals?
Have understanding of current scientific models and science
Can bridge the divide between opposing opinions
Articulate the elements of scientific models
Explain importance of science in context
We have always functioned as public intellectuals at the grassroots level i.e. Weekly Column
Public Intellectuals
Develop and support spokespersons at national, state and local level
Listen and understand debates
Aggregate, curate and make sense
Build reputation for providing value
Be active in online social spaces
Practice disruptive messaging
A Cadre of Public Intellectuals
Social mediaOp-ed writersEffective and compelling speakersDevelop disruptive messaging
Supported (Extension administration and Communication Units) as spokespersons
Extension's Public Intellectuals
A vanguard of educators engaging with other public intellectuals within national channels of discourse
Providing insights within deeply enriched contexts
Moral Obligation as Public Servants
“…no scholar, historian or anyone else is — merely by being a scholar — ethically excused from their own circumstances. We are also participants in our own time and place and cannot retreat from it…”
Tony Judt
Photo Credits
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wisconsin_in_United_States.svg
Frank Kovac gave us permission to use photos from the Frank Kovac’s planetarium http://www.flickr.com/photos/quinet/120170865/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikecogh/6616044067/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonnygoldstein/3650745193/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/donabelandewen/3584154214/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mfobrien/3382977725
http://www.flickr.com/photos/vanderwal/3092468625/
Extension Educators as Public Intellectuals by Jim Langcuster, Anne Mims Adrian, and Natalie Hummel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
When using photos from this presentation, please note and adhere to their CC license.