iPads and Tablets: Today’s Extension Demonstration

Abstract

Iowa State University Extension and Outreach educators are using iPads to deepen and expand education by showing learners online resources on nutrition including signing up for blogs and visiting our Spend Smart Eat Smart website and Facebook page. A video describing the project is available at http://vimeo.com/64757580. Of the 281 learners who responded to a survey, 96% learned additional nutrition information outside of our classes from the Spend Smart Eat Smart Facebook page, blog, and website; 93% learned about nutrition practices; and 88% learned about food resource management practices. Educators are also using the video clips on our websites as demonstrations during lessons. The educators no longer carry demonstration supplies, and learners return to the video demonstrations outside of class. The “Extension demonstration” as a delivery method still has strong impact, but now resides in the two-dimensional world of the internet brought to learners through mobile devices. Long live the Extension demonstration!