Practical use of Technology in the County

Shane JenningsCounty Extension Agent

4-H & Youth DevelopmentBrazoria County

November 6, 2012

Outline

Outlook• Calendar

– Multiple Calendars (4-H, Professional, Personal, etc)– Alerts appointments– Smart Phones

• Add outlook to your smart phone– First Call Portable Phone Devices instructions

• Allows you to maintain appointments in the field• Convenient• Create invites to meetings (Office Conferences, etc)

Lync• I utilize Lync daily• Direct connect to other Extension Staff,

Specialists, DEA, etc• Allows for distant meeting opportunities

– From you inbox> go to new items> click online meeting from toolbar> type message and invite attendees.

County Wordpress Sites• Great way to disseminate information

– Cut back on phone calls/email blasts

• Great advertising tool• Important to keep organized for the

general public• Great information hub• http://agrilife.org/brazoria4h/

Social Media• Facebook• Great way to reach youth, advertise events,

publish event photos– Fan Page

• Go to personal FB page> click pages and create page

– Brazoria County 4-H

Twitter• A quick way to disperse info, updates, etc.

• Advertise through email lists and facebook to get followers.

• Following on Twitter• Can search by name or Twitter handle.

• @shanejennings,@brazoriaco4h• Brazoria County 4-H • Washington County 4-H

Twitter Lingo

• Tweet> Message under 140 characters• # (hashtag)> keep tweets in subject for

trending. #TX4HCONVO or #brazoriaco4h, #washco4h

• Trending- Twitter discussion on the same subject matter. (Texas 4-H Tweet Up)

Instagram

• Quick way to share and edit photos

YouTube• Create a Channel from the homepage

– This will allow you to upload videos.– Great way for orientation for certain events, 4-H

Roundup, Star Awards, particular events to county.– Also a great way to provide project trainings,

communicate with club managers or council officers.

– Produce the video at your desk with the Microsoft cameras, upload it to your channel and send the link to the audience

– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozGuF66sP3s

Video Programs• Animoto.com

– Great and easy program to use to put program photos into a creative slideshow.

– Allows for certain music and multiple backgrounds

– Costs a registration fee.• http://d94-h.tamu.edu/eventsandcontests/

district-9-4-h-conference/

Video Programs• Splice

– Smart phone app that allows you to take photos and music from your phone and put them into a professional slideshow.

Blogging• Good way to provide researched based

info to clientele.– County Wordpress site has a blogger built

into it. – Look into providing a way for clientele to

subscribe to your blog• Contact IT staff for direction

• Keep it Simple

Surveys• Using web based surveys are a quick and

easy way for clientele feedback.– 4-H Satisfaction survey, program evaluation.

• Surveymonkey.com– Build a profile– Create survey– Send link to clientele– Login to you profile to capture results.

Other Web Based Survey Sites

• Surveywriter.com• Feedbackserver.com• Checkbox.com

Cloud Storage

• Dropbox– Download Db your desktop machine and

to your portable device ( Smart phone, laptop, tablet)

– Save needed material into you DB on your desktop machine and it will appear in your DB on your portable device ( internet signal needed)

Other Cloud Space providers

• Rackspace.com• Concentric.com• Google cloud

Media Teams

• Teens are more current on technology– Advise on best way to connect to youth

• Great leadership opportunity• Build program or event flyers• Manage Social Media sites,• Help build items for site

Equipment• Personal preference

– Laptop Docking station• Convenient• Working on a presentation, save to desktop and

go present.

• Personal WiFi cards– MiFi

• Link up to 6 machines on the web– Reenrollment

Equipment

• Tablets– Handy for pictures, web searching,

email, giving presentations.• Apps

– Tons of apps out there to help with various contests or projects (ie Livestock Judging)

Other

• Prezi.com– Great slideshow program– Very innovative and interactive

Questions

Shane JenningsCounty Extension Agent

4-H & Youth DevelopmentBrazoria County

(979) 864-1558 ext. 117ssjennings@ag.tamu.edu