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Funded Project

Funding Program: Regional IPM Competitive Grants - Northeastern

Project Title: Webcast Training for Small Fruit Pest Management

Project Director (PD): Marvin Pritts [1]

Lead State: NY Lead Organization: Cornell University

Extension Funding: $42,660

Start Date: Aug-01-2009 End Date: Jul-31-2010

Site/Commodity: small fruit

Area of Emphasis: education, curriculum

Summary: Few northeastern states have formal expertise in pest management for all of the berry crops grown in the region (cranberries, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries), despite the >$300,000,000 value. We are proposing to use new webcasting technology to educate ourselves about pest management challenges by holding a series of virtual meetings utilizing experts across the region. The technology allows an expert to give a presentation using voice and visuals from their computer, and allows others to hear and see the presentation over their computer - while being able to ask questions, take surveys, and use other interactive forms in real time. Presentations also can be archived for later viewing and made available to a wider audience. We will be able to educate ourselves about the latest pest management challenges without traveling, and learn to use a technology that will be beneficial in other educational venues. Objectives: 1. Using existing data from the berry industry and IPM and fruit research and extension teams we will craft 12 technical programs for berry growers. 2. Evaluate the utility and acceptance of berry growers and other industry professionals with using webcasting technology for educational programming. Proposal USDA CRIS data

Final Report:

Outcomes We offered a 12 part webinar series in 3 four-part mini-series within each major berry category. Speakers presented from throughout the Northeast: NY, OH, WV, PA, MA, AR, CT, NJ, MI, NC and ME. Webinars were then archived for those unable to view the webinar live. Cooperative extension educators throughout the Northeast hosted web seminars as part of their educational programs. We had 352 total attendees to the webinar series, and there were 217 'unique' guests -- meaning that at least 135 people attended at least 2 webinars. The demographics of the registrants were as follows: 169 individuals identified themselves as farmers or prospective farmers; 75 people of the 235 people that identified their state or province, 162 people were from the northeast region, 54 people were from 17 states outside of the Northeast and 19 people were from Canada. A follow-up survey was conducted to determine how useful and effective the webinars were in meeting needs. We have been approached by the North American Strawberry Growers Association to present a series of webinars for their members based on the proven success of this webinar series.

Impacts Registration began with 55 people registered within the first week of advertising. Registration for the berry web seminars continued to rise as the series progressed. After the third webinar we saw continued steady increase in registrations for the remainder of the series. 96.3% of survey responders said that the Cornell Berry webinars did a good or excellent job of providing information that met their needs. Similarly 92.6% said the webinars did an excellent or good job of providing timely information; 98.2% rated the webinars as good or excellent in providing research-based information and 100 percent said that the webinars provide understandable information in a good or excellent fashion. Ninety-eight percent of responders said that the pace of the webinar was just right. Likewise people ranked the knowledge and organization of speakers all as good or excellent and only 3.8 percent of those asked ranked visual quality of presentations as poor, resulting in more than 96% being rated good or excellent. Eighty-five percent of those surveyed said that they would definitely recommend that others involved in berry production attend future webinars, 14% said probably or possibly yes and less than 2% were uncertain about making a recommendation. No one said that they would not recommend attending future berry web seminars. When asked if the webinar had been conducted as an educational session at a location that was a 1-2 hour drive from home, 55.6% of people responding said that they would likely not attend the seminar; 31.5% it was somewhat likely that they would attend and 13% said that they would definitely attend. A webinar allows experts to participate and speak from distant locations without leaving their office. We conclude that webinars can be an excellent, cost-effective venue for delivering information to growers and extension educators, and accommodations can be made for those without high speed internet access. Based on the receptivity of the information, we conclude that participants will be able to implement what they learned to achieve the goals of IPM. In addition, a considerable reduction in fossil fuel use was achieved by presenting this information via. webinar compared to traveling to a common location.

Report Appendices Final Report 2010 [PDF]

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