http://inseeworld.com/conference.htm

Established under a $7 million grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the purpose of the A-4 project is to develop agriculture and veterinary programs at Afghan universities and create partnerships among the country’s Ministry of Agriculture, local economic development organizations and universities. It will also provide applied educational opportunities for students to gain marketable skills and promote faculty education and recruitment. Led by Kevin McNamara, professor of agricultural economics at Purdue, the project includes several other partners: the University of California at Davis, Cornell University, Kansas State University, Catholic Relief Services, Joint Development Associates, the International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas, and Afghan universities of Herat, Balkh, Nangarhar and Kandahar.

http://www.ag.purdue.edu/ipia/Pages/A4.aspx

Project Blog: http://afghanlivestock.blogspot.com/

Also want to thank Dr. Tanner Robertson for continuing his interest in helping lead this sig as vice-chair.  I want to thank Don Poucher for all of his time, hard work and leadership in leading the sig this past year.  We look forward to adding more to this website, communicating more with our sig members and coming up with some new ideas for professional development.  If you have ideas or international interest, please email one of us or put up a posting.  Thank you!

Introduction

Zamorano University is an international university in Honduras with an academic focus on agricultural and natural resource development.

Over 18-months, June 2004-March 2006, Don Poucher from the University of Florida and Dave King from Oregon State University helped Zamorano University faculty create, from scratch, the foundation for a distance education program and form support networks for problem- and knowledge-based learning communities of interest. Subject matter expertise, content, and technology were selected and adapted to develop five modules for use across Zamorano’s academic, service, and outreach/research areas. The modules included:

• Ruminant Nutrition
• Basic Marketing
• Developing and Marketing New Food Products
• Water Quality and Management
• Experiential Small Plot

Through a series of five day workshops, the goal was to provide information that allowed local faculty and staff at Zamorano to effectively build their own program, and, at the same time, create a network of resources that they access for information and support. The program supported resident as well as distance academic programs and outreach. Seven workshops were held over the 18-month period.

In addition, the effort focused on bridging the cultural uniqueness of educational programs in Latin America and the United States.  With a goal of establishing a longer-term network of contacts, participants in the workshops established the human connections needed to share information, programs, and learning modules in both directions to and from learners.

      Dave King (L) and Don Poucher during e-learning class break at Zamorano University.  

PAC @ D: Zamorano’s Distance Education (e- learning) Program

In the end, Zamorano University faculty created an effective, scalable, world class distance education (e-learning) program for serving learners throughout Latin America through digital access. The program is known as PAC @ D (Programa de Aprendizaje Continuo a Distancia). The program is administered by Zamorano’s Global Center for Distance Learning. The Center was created in 2006 and began developing the PAC @ D with assistance from a program advisory committee comprised of the following: Dave King, Associate Vice Provost at Oregon State University; Don Poucher, Assistant Vice President, University of Florida; Rolando Flores, Professor of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Nebraska; Luz Marina Alvare, Head Librarian, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI); Jim French, International Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture; and Jan Poley, CEO, American Distance Education Consortium (ADEC). King and Poucher serve as co-chairs of the advisory committee.

Dave and Don with PAC @ D Director Antonio Flores (back row) as ADEC CEO Jan Poley and Zamorano President Ken Hoadley sign ADEC membership agreement.

PAC @ D is a training program, on-line.  At the crossroads of excellence and experience, Zamorano with its partners, corporate and individual, in the development or improvement of professional and business skills of Latin American agribusiness and agro-industrial interests, to improve the competitiveness and sustainability of the agricultural and natural resource sector within current and future economic and market models.

                          PAC@D

                                      I Programa de Aprendizaje

                                                Continuo a DistanciaI 

PAC @ D is part of the education offered by Zamorano; it is led and coordinated by the Center for e-Learning Zamorano. PAC @ D is open to entrepreneurs, producers, developers, technicians and professionals as a tool for creating in them a culture of continuous learning for life.
 
PAC @ D promotes a pedagogical model focused on capacity development and use of information technology and communication for self learning and decision making. PAC @ D seeks to continuously improve the efficiency and effectiveness of processes, solve problems and minimize risk. The diversity of experience and eco-geographic origin of teachers and participants contribute significantly to provide a global perspective to learning and potentially create international communities of business and long-term collaboration.                                                                         

Teachers, Tutors, and Technical Support

PAC @ D course participants enjoy the permanent support of a professional team consisting of specialist teachers, tutors and technical support unit.
 
Specialist teachers are the experts who developed the content and course activities. They generally participate as guides in the forums and video sessions; they advise, review and feed back the work to students and respond to technical questions related to the course.

The tutor is an experienced professional in the study area, dedicated to assisting and guiding participants in the daily work. Tutors streamline the process of learning. Throughout the course, the tutor is the main bridge between student participants and Zamorano.
 
The Technical Support Unit (Support @ D-PAC) is responsible for helping participants to any question or technical difficulties related to the management of the Blackboard platform or any other tool used during the course. This unit ensures open access and satisfactory fluid spaces of interaction and learning for the program.

Zamorano has a set of means and instruments that allow access and effective use of information for learning, and support the administrative function. From the technological point of view, all these facilities are managed by the Information Technology Unit  Zamorano, under the highest safety standards. From an academic standpoint, this unit supports all activities of teaching, learning and communication associated with both the residential program and the PAC @ D.
 
Zamorano continually makes significant investments to improve the ability of the technology infrastructure and thus ensure that it is constantly updated to help improve the quality of its offerings to students both resident and at a distance.

                                                            Courses

Zamorano began offering distances courses through PAC @ D in September, 2009. Resident students are not permitted to enroll in the distance courses.  The cost of participating in the program is $450 per student per course. The cost includes academic and technical support specialist teacher and tutor, access to the learning platform Blackboard ©, tools and content, service support and Certificate of Participation. Individual discounts are available for early registration (usually before mid-August 14); corporate discounts are available to organizations/institutions when registering groups of five or more participants in one or more courses or promoted from the organization/institution.

During 2009-10, some 380 distance students were enrolled in 13 courses. A review of courses offered during 2010 include the following:

• Managing processes within value chains
• Ethics and Professional Conduct
• Management of food safety
• Historical-political context and development
• Decision making in social settings
• Comprehensive quality management of the business functions
• Business management of milk production

Beginning in February, 2011, additional courses will be offered including the following:

• Management of food safety
• Ethics and professional conduct
• Management processes within value chains
• Industrialization of livestock products
• Management of Human Resources
• Management costs for business competitiveness
• Management for international business
• Hydrology for the integrated management of water resources
• Future Energy Alternatives for Sustainable Development
• Business Management of Agricultural Production

Zamorano PAC@D: Programa de Aprendizaje Continuo a Distancia

Since Poucher and King began the e-learning workshop series at Zamorano, the University has made exceptional progress in building a very sound distance learning program through PAC @ D.  Start-up resources were provided through a major grant from the Inter-American Development Bank and a major individual gift. Utilizing those resources, PAC @ D generated program income of $170,000 through the end of 2010. From program income received, Zamorano supports a PAC & D staff of one instructional designer, two graphic artists, two programmers, and one information technology specialist. The tutors utilized in the course offerings are compensated from PAC @ D revenues and on-campus departments and units involved in the courses also receive nominal support. Zamorano’s direct investment includes space for the distance program, general support from the Informatica (IT) unit, and salaries of the overall PAC @ D director and his assistant, who also functions as an instructional designer.

Satisfaction Survey

Zamorano’s distance courses through PAC @ D’s have enrolled a variety of students since 2009. For purposes of evaluating the program, the PAC @ D director provided to Poucher and King the names of 45 different students who have been or are currently enrolled in the distance courses. Most of these students are those who completed Zamorano’s three year Agronomo Ingeniero certificate program prior to Zamorano’s addition of the fourth year bachelor degree program. Their obvious goal is to complete the fourth year at a distance and obtain their bachelor degrees.  These 45 students were first contacted by email on November 1, 2010 and were asked to complete a satisfaction survey, which consisted of 11 questions designed to benchmark their views on the PAC @ D effort (see Appendix I). The survey asked if the students had previously attended Zamorano as a resident student, their present employment situation, the number of courses they had taken, if they had completed the courses, if they were now taking courses, and their attitudes toward the courses including why they were taking the courses, if they would recommend the PAC @ D courses to friends, and if they were pleased with their course experience. They were also asked to describe their course experiences and indicate how the PAC @ D courses could be improved.  Of the 45 students surveyed, 32 provided responses (69 %) over a three week period during which they were reminded twice to return their replies to the email survey. The question-by-question responses are summarized in Appendix  I.

The names of 13 faculty who were teaching PAC @ D courses were also provided by the program’s director to Poucher and King. Simultaneously with the student survey, the 13 faculty were also contacted by email and asked to complete the satisfaction survey from their perspective. Of the 13 faculty, 12 (92%+) completed the survey and were asked to register their views on the PAC @ D distance program and provide data on student performance and participation (see Appendix II).

The Students – Of those who responded, 78 % had previously attended Zamorano as a resident student. Some 19 % had not previously attended Zamorano; one chose not to answer the survey. Of those responding, about 94 % were employed in jobs ranging from entrepreneurial positions to those of farm/company manager, risk analyst,  comptroller, plant breeder, consultant, operations manager, processing value-added coordinator, auditor’ technical council president, and food processor. One respondent was unemployed.

Among the respondents, nearly 44 % (14) had taken six or more courses at a distance; six had taken one course; three had taken two courses; two had taken three; four had taken four and one had taken five courses. Nearly 44 % (14) had taken (or were taking) six courses or more. About 94 % (30) had completed their courses and one had not.

About 81 % (26) were presently taking courses; five were not. All of those who responded said they would recommend PAC @ D courses to their friends; one did not respond.

When asked why they were taking courses, nearly 72 % (23) indicated that they wanted to complete their fourth year at Zamorano; 62 % (20) said they wanted to broaden their education; 53 % (17) said they wanted to each  broaden their education and update their expertise; more than 12 % (4) said they wanted to find a job, while nearly 16 % said they had other reasons for taking the courses such as working on master’s degrees.

Some 94 % said they were pleased with their PAC @ D course experience; one was not pleased and one did not register a response to the question.

Appendix I details the description of the respondents’ course experiences. Among the opinions offered were that the courses helped them stay up-to-date in their professional areas, provided a broader view of their businesses, allowed learning while working, provided new technology and real world relevance, created an idea exchange, and formed a network of learners.

Also provided in Appendix I, are reasons why a few of the respondents were not pleased with the PAC @ D courses. Included are conflicts between faculty and student schedules, lack of time to complete course assignments, and the need for exercises to apply knowledge learned.

Respondents were also asked how the PAC @ D courses could be improved. Several indicated that video and video conferences were needed. Some also felt they should receive more personal attention of professors and more feedback from tutors. Some felt that students’ progress should be more closely tracked, that course expectations should be outlined and assigned at the beginning of the course and that the Blackboard© platform could be more friendly than they experienced.

Generally speaking, the student respondents are very pleased with the PAC @ D program at Zamorano University. Most were completing their fourth year (to obtain the baccalaureate) degree. An overwhelming majority had previously attended Zamorano University as a resident student, were presently employed and had completed the

PAC  @ D courses they had undertaken.

The Faculty – Of the 12 faculty respondents, 10 were existing Zamorano faculty; 2 were former faculty. More than half (7/58%), had taught distance courses. Five (42 %) had not. Of those who had previously taught at a distance, most (5) had taught only one course. One had taught two courses. Six did not respond. Courses taught by the faculty who responded correspond to those previously listed (pages 3 and 4).

When asked about student drop-out rates in their previous and existing courses, half (6) indicated no drop outs; one had experienced six drop outs; one had 10 drop outs; one reported more than 10 dropouts, three did not respond.

When asked to indicate the number of students who started distance courses completed them, two indicated 15-20 finished, one said 10-15, one said less than 10, five indicated the courses were cancelled, and three did not respond.

According to the faculty who responded, students who take their distance courses perform either about the same (5) or better than (5) those taking the courses face to face. Two faculty did not respond to this question.

Faculty also said students either like (8) or like strongly (2) distance courses. One indicated that students dislike the courses; one did not respond.

According to the 12 faculty respondents, Zamorano faculty neither receive reduced regular teaching assignments (9) nor extra compensation (9) when teaching distance courses.

The faculty respondents also said they either like (4) or like strongly (6) distance teaching. When asked specifically about PAC @ D, they indicated similar opinions.

The faculty responding to the survey offered several suggestions for improving the PAC @ D system. Several indicated they would like to see improved incentives (reduced workloads/salary supplements) offered to those who teach distance courses. They indicated that Zamorano should provide more information technology staff support and should increase the use of video conferencing. They would like to see PAC @ D expand its course offerings to other areas, engage in aggressive course sales tactics, and recruit more students and faculty.

In general, Zamorano students and faculty support the distance education efforts of Zamorano University through PAC @ D. They like or strongly like the distance learning concept and believe it should be expanded. Students registered a 94 % satisfaction rate with PAC @ D; faculty expressed a lower but none the less high satisfaction rate of 75 %.

Both groups believe the PAC @ D program deserves increased support from the Zamorano administration and believe the distance education effort should be more aggressive than at present and utilize full video technologies.

Appendix I: Student Survey Results

Student Questionnaire

Zamorano PAC@D: Programa de Aprendizaje Continuo a Distancia

1. Have you previously attended Zamorano as a resident student?

___yes 25

___no    6

      Nr   1

1. What is your present employment situation?

___Employed  30 (please indicate current job or work)

 risk analyst; producer; company manager; farm manager; assistant comptroller; plant breeder; consultant; agricultural services manager; national foundation researcher; grower; farm owner;

agricultural operations manager; processing value added coordinator; city councilman; auditor; aquaculture farm head; technical council president; food processor;

___Unemployed 1

      NR                              1

1. How many courses have you taken?

___1  6

___2  3

___3  2

___4  4

___5  1

___6 or more  14

1. Did you complete the course(s)?

___yes 30

___no    1

      NR  1

1. Are you now taking courses with PAC@D?

___yes(please list) 26

___no                        5

                              NR                                   1

1. Would you recommend courses through PAC@D to your friends?

___yes 31

___no  –

      NR  1

7. Why were/are you taking course(s)? (choose as many as may apply)

___complete the 4^th year at Zamorano 23

___improve my professional skills      17

___broaden my education                     20

___update my expertise                        17

___help me find a job                              4

___other (please explain)_________      2

                        working on masters degrees in envirornmental science

1. Were you pleased with your course experience?

___Yes 30

___No   1

      NR  1

1. If you were pleased, describe your experience (please print).

Refresher courses; Helps me stay up to date; broader view of business; courses adapted to experience of students; allowed me to work and learn; learn new technology and real world relevance; good for technical updates; information tools are professional; teachers know what they are doing; creates an ideas exchange; forms a network (of learners)

1. If you were not pleased, describe your experience (please print).

Appears to be conflict with faculty schedule and student schedule; not enough time to complete assignments; course schedule changes are confusing; need exercises for applying knowledge learned

11.How could courses be improved?

Use more videos and discussion groups; greater use of blogs;  make courses more applicable to actual jobs; more personal attention by professors; more emphasis on new technology and application; more feedback from tutors and lecturers; assign course expectations at beginning of course; course platform (Blackboard) could be more friendly; improve communication between faculty and students;  track each student’s progress more closely.

Appendix II: Faculty Survey

Faculty Questionnaire

Zamorano PAC@D: Programa de Aprendizaje Continuo a Distancia

1. What is your position/relationship with Zamorano?

___Faculty 10

___Former Faculty 2

1. Have you ever taught a Zamorano course for students at a distance?

___yes 7

___no  5

1. If yes, how many Zamorano courses have you taught at a distance?

___1 5

___2 1

___3

___4

___5

___6

Nr 2 (first time)

Na 4

1. Please list course(s) taught at a distance.

Hydrology, agricultural production systems, making decisions in social settings, management of food systems and food safety, dairy production systems, administration of productive food chains, integrated quality management, multi-component agricultural production systems, socio-economic monitoring in coastal systems.

1. How many students who started any of your distance courses dropped out without finishing the course?

    __0 6

___1                            ___7

___2                            ___8

___3                            ___9

___4                            ___10 1

___5                            ___more than 10 1

___6 1                         NR 3

1. How many students who started any of your distance courses finished them?

___less than 10 1       ___25-30

___10-15 1                  ___35-40

___15-20 2                    ___more than 40 (How many_____)

___20-25                       NR 3

                                                              NA 5 (course not completed)

1. How would you compare the performance in meeting learning objectives of students taking your course at a distance to those taking it face-to-face at Zamorano?

___Better than 5

___About the same 5

___Worse than

NR  2

1. How do you think students feel about distant courses?

___like strongly 2

___like 8

___no opinion

___dislike 1

___dislike strongly

NR 1

1. Have you ever received reductions in regular teaching assignments when you teach distance courses?

___Yes

___No 9

NR 3

1. Have you ever received extra compensation when you teach distance courses?

___Yes 1

___No 9

NR 2                                        

1. How do you view distance teaching?

___dislike strongly

___dislike

___no opinion

___like 4

___like strongly 6

NR 2

1. Indicate how you feel about PAC@D’s tutor system.

___dislike strongly

___dislike

___no opinion 1

___like 3

___like strongly 6

NR 2

1. Indicate one way PAC@D could be improved.

More IT staff

Improve incentives for participating faculty

Expand to other areas (courses)

Improve recruitment of students

Greater use of video conferencing

More aggressive selling of courses

Recruit more teachers

Teachers need relief from routine assignments

Need more supporting materials

This is a needs-based, national curriculum to build the international skills of Extension personnel by strengthening educators’ ability to develop activities relevant to the global realities of their location. The curriculum may also be used for programming in local communities.

The curriculum was originally developed in 2003 by Purdue University, in partnership with Iowa State, Ohio State and Florida A&M. It was funded by the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) and the National Initiative to Internationalize Extension. The goal was to develop a national, web-based staff development curriculum to internationalize extension. The curriculum was launched in 2004 and is being used across the nation for professional development and graduate education. In 2008, the partners regrouped and are currently in the process of updating and revising it.

This curriculum may be used independently and is available at: http://www.extension.purdue.edu/iec

For more information, contact:

Jim Murren
International Extension Program Coordinator
Ph.: 765-494-9831
E-mail: jmurren@purdue.edu

Founded in 1941, Zamorano is a private, undergraduate, non-profit international agricultural university specializing in production agriculture, sustainable management of natural resources, rural transformation to reduce poverty and the enhancement of global competitiveness of agribusiness.  Zamorano alumni are employed in production agriculture, agribusiness, food technology, conservation, government and academia.  The institution is registered in the United States as a non-profit corporation and has International Mission status in Honduras.  Accreditation with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) is in process. 

Zamorano offers four bachelor-level engineering programs: Agricultural Science and Production, Agribusiness Management, Food Agroindustry, and Socioeconomic Development and Environment.  The educational program stresses academic excellence, instills character and provides practical experience in the agricultural environment through its Learning by Doing component.

The campus covers 17,000 acres and is located 40 minutes from the capital city of Tegucigalpa. All students, the President and approximately 100 faculty and staff with their families live on the self-contained campus. Zamorano is a multi-cultural and largely bi-lingual environment where people share an extraordinary commitment to a common vision.

The Zamorano enrollment is 1,100 students selected from 22 countries in Latin America.  The alumni are a particularly important constituency. 

By Katie L. Reim

STILLWATER, Okla. – A group of five Oklahoma State University media professionals and faculty will reach out to African countries through a federal grant focused on improving food security.

 The proposed project seeks to improve the prospects of ensuring food security in Kenya and Uganda by developing communications networks between and among key stakeholders, said Dwayne Cartmell, OSU Agricultural Education, Communications and Leadership associate professor.

 According to recent studies, nearly 4 million Kenyans and more than two 2 million Ugandans require food assistance regularly.

 “These people are no strangers to the devastating effects of food scarcity,” Cartmell said. “The project’s goal is to integrate community leaders, media professionals and policymakers from the two countries.”

Oklahoma State University faculty along with Oklahoma professionals will provide two four-week internships in the U.S. The first group will start next May.

 Participants will spend time with U.S. counterparts in order to learn how professionals in an established democracy handle agricultural issues.

 ”The Food Security Fellows program will create a two-way exchange program between the countries and their professional counterparts in the United States,” Cartmell said. “Through reciprocal exchanges, the program allows for contextual and cultural growth by the faculty and by the African participants.”

 The program’s focus is improving food security in the context of developing nations. However, opportunities for the learning and growth of U. S. citizens would be emphasized equally.

 ”Our hope and our charge by the grantor is to develop partnerships between the African cohorts and U.S. participants,” Cartmell said.  “Future collaborations between U.S. project members and African participants is not only critical to solving food security issues in Kenya and Uganda but also provides opportunities for research and personal growth for OSU faculty.”

Project members in the department include Cindy Blackwell, assistant professor; Craig Edwards, professor; Tanner Robertson, assistant professor; Shelly Sitton, professor; and Cartmell.

“By developing communication networks among Kenyan, Ugandan and U.S. community leaders, media professionals and policymakers, this project intends to grow social capital,” Cartmell said. “We [project members] feel strongly that fostering these networks will greatly increase food security efforts in these countries.”

This grant is funded by the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

Oklahoma State University, U.S. Department of Agriculture, State and Local Governments Cooperating: The Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service offers its programs to all eligible persons regardless of race, color, national origin, religion, gender, age, disability, or status as a veteran, and is an equal opportunity employer.

 Katie L. Reim

Communications Specialist

Agricultural Communications Services

140 Agriculture North

Oklahoma State University

Stillwater, OK 74078

405-744-6792 (Phone)

405-744-5739 (Fax)

katie.reim@okstate.edu

By: Don Poucher, ACE International Sig (iSig) Chair

There are many ways to become involved in international work. In some cases, luck plays a very important role as in being in the right place at the right time. In many cases, international activities result from identifying needs and developing solutions as a result of other types of projects.  The Central American Shared Digital Work Space project grew from a digital platform development project Dave King and I conducted at Zamorano University during 2004-05. During an 18 month period, we established the foundation for an effective, scalable, and at some point world-class academic e-learning program at Zamorano University—an international university in Honduras with an academic focus on agriculture.  Our involvement at Zamorano grew out of long-standing relationships between our two universities (U Florida and Purdue) and Zamorano and working closely with our respective international program offices.

The goal was to provide information that allows local faculty and staff at Zamorano to effectively build their own program, and, at the same time, create a network of resources that they can call on well past the completion of the first year for information and support as the Zamorano e-learning effort becomes a reality.  The program aimed at supporting resident as well as distance academic programs and outreach.

In addition, the effort focused on bridging the cultural uniqueness of educational programs in Latin America and the United States.  With a goal of establishing a longer-term network of contacts, participants in the workshops established some of the human connections needed to share information, programs, and learning modules in both directions. 

In the end, Zamorano University faculty created, from scratch, the foundation for an effective, scalable, e-learning digital program for serving learners throughout Latin America through digital access; it formed support networks for communities of interest for problem- and knowledge-based learning.

Through our involvement with the e-learning effort at Zamorano, Dave and I recognized another very important Zamorano University need:  to develop a shared digital workspace for an outreach program known as PROMIPAC (Central American Program for Integrated Pest Management).

PROMIPAC is a Zamorano University outreach program, which teaches integrated pest management (IPM) practices and techniques to producers throughout Honduras, Nicaragua, and El Salvador.

In July and October, 2009, Dave King and Luz Marina Alvare and I conducted e-learning workshops for PROMIPAC partners and cooperators to enable them to develop and use a shared digital learning space to assist them in on-going IPM subject matter collaboration and knowledge management. One workshop was conducted at Zamorano University near Tegucigalpa, Honduras; the other, at Universidad Nacional Agraria at Managua, Nicaragua. The goal was to provide participants with the necessary information and tools to bridge the distances separating them through the use of technology and access to well-managed bodies of knowledge. The impact of these workshops will best be measured by the ability of the participants to share information and work collaboratively.

  photo for ISIG 1

Dave King, Don Poucher and Luz Marina Alvare confer on the content of the PROMIPAC workshops conducted in Honduras and Nicaragua during 2009.

 The two workshops resulted in a shared digital learning space, REDPROMIPAC.

 Workshop Participants’ Evaluation

Some 39 PROMIPAC partners and cooperators and Zamorano staff participated in the two workshops. The workshop evaluations were conducted within a month of each workshop. The evaluation instruments were distributed in Spanish; respondents were instructed to complete the evaluation. For the July workshop, participants were contacted by email after they had returned to their homes and asked to reply to the sender via email. The evaluation instrument for the October workshop was distributed and collected at the close of the workshop and collected from recipients as they received their certificates of participation in the workshops. Of the 39 total participants, 31 returned their evaluations: 18 from the July workshop; 13, from October.  The response rate was 79.5 percent.

Evaluation Results

In general, the workshops met the expectations of the participants. The length of the workshops were about right; speakers held the participants’ interest; individual presentations were not too technical; and visual aids were reported as useful. Interaction between speakers and participants was considered adequate by most of the participants and the information presented was understandable to most.

Workshop E-Learning presentations were conducted by on-site workshop organizers and by a virtual or remote presentation. Both on-site and virtual segments were considered effective.

 photo for ISIG 3

Overall, both workshops were evaluated as effective. By an average margin of more than three-to-one, participants evaluated the workshop as very effective.

Subjects To Be Included in Further Workshops

Suggestions given included how to transfer visual material to U-Tube,  inclusion of free software and platforms such as Moodle, further discussions on the use of the software and systems demonstrated, administration and configuration of e-learning systems, how to make interactive modules with common subject matter, and an in-depth discussion of each tool (blogs, Facebook, etc).

A number of the respondents had suggestions for the workshop organizers for planning the future sessions. Suggestions offered generally included pre-workshop surveys of participants to determine most critical specific subject matter needs, expanded hardware demonstrations, expanded discussion of tools and processes presented and time to apply them, and increased interaction between presenters and participants.

Evaluation Post-ScriptIn the wake of the conclusion of the e-Learning Workshops, two important messages to PROMIPAC managers and coordinators became evident. These messages involve the use of the digital platform (REDPROMIPAC group site) and workshop continuity.

In terms of the use of REDPROMIPAC, the managers and coordinators must assume leadership for encouraging its use by demonstrating its value as a tool for knowledge storage and management and collaboration. The managers and coordinators must set an example in the use of REDPROMIPAC by posting new, useful information on a regular basis and for initiating and/or contributing to blogs and email blasts. Clearly, facilitators must take steps to be sure that all participants are effectively engaged in the use of RED PROMIPAC platform.

Furthermore, workshops participants sent a clear strong message that they wished to receive ongoing instruction in the use and maintenance of the digital tools and processes for knowledge storage and management and collaboration. Hence, follow-up workshops are now being developed for the workshops participants during the last quarter of 2010. To emphasize the value of e-learning technology, the workshops will be conducted at a distance, on-line.

Thus, one type of international project, prompted and made possible by existing University relationships, led to another type of project and resulted in increased collaboration among local and regional interests throughout Central America through a shared digital work space.

                                                                        #### 

Don Poucher will be serving as Chair

Natalie Daily Federer will be serving as Vice-Chair

Tanner Robertson will be serving as Vice-Chair Elect

We would like to thank our out-going Chair, Leslie Edgar, for all her time, hard work and leadership she has provided to the iSig over the past couple of years.  We wish her the best in her future endeavors. 

Contact information for all three officers is located on the About Us page.  Please send us or post your ideas, comments and feedback about international opportunities, projects and what we can do to improve the web site.