Progress 09/01/09 to 02/28/13
Outputs
OUTPUTS: 1. Conducted regional focus groups to develop the draft outline of youth and adult supervisor equine safety course in Michigan, Kentucky, and Washington, and Vermont. These data were instrumental to subject matter experts in identifying their primary focus areas within each course. 2. Developed 10-unit online equine safety course content for youth working on equine facilities, containing video, interactive games or activities, and quizzes to access knowledge transfer. Units were uploaded into course management system. 3. Produced, shot, and gathered video footage from My Horse University (MHU) and eXtension Horses (HQ) sources, and produced a DVD on Equine Handling. The DVD was created with the footage shot at the MSU Horse Teaching and Research facility, and has been sold to equine enthusiasts across the country through www.myhorseuniversity.com. 4. Conducted a Tractor Safety webinar via MyHorseUniversity.com (April, 2012), and uiltized webinar content in the course funded by this grant. 5. Created additional curriculum from legal and youth educational experts for online Adult Supervisor Equine Safety Course. 6. Because the course content requires participant registration (free) for access and is hosted in a course management system; actual content usage will be monitored and tracked. Successful course completion will result in awarding of certificates of completion for participants. Additionally, participants will have access to a monitored discussion forum, and potential to be a part of a future online badging system, which is in development stages at Michigan State University (MSU). PARTICIPANTS: (1) Principal Investigators/Project Directors Karen L. Waite Elizabeth A. Greene (2) Each person who has worked at least one person month per year on the project during the reporting period and received salary, wages a stipend, or other support from the agency. Gwyn Heyboer Shelle Jennifer Whittle Julie Fershtman Susan Freedman (3)Collaborators and contacts (Others within the recipient's organization especially interdepartmental or interdisciplinary collaborations) Christine Skelly Karen Vignare TARGET AUDIENCES: The primary audience for this curriculum is youth interested in or actively working on equine facilities. Secondary audiences include the adults supervising these young people, other barn workers, family members, and peers. An added benefit will be the "refresher course" and new knowledge that supervisors may gain as they verify the work of the youth participants. Finally, as the youth gain knowledge from the course content, they may feel empowered to ask questions when actions and behaviors of others are contradictory to the "safety materials," thus improving the level of safe behavior practiced facility wide. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: As stated by the reviewers, the original project timeline was extremely ambitious, and while the primary objectives of the project were met; there have been several unforeseen circumstances which have resulted in a protracted completion time of this project. Following awarding of the grant, two support staff positions were vacated, and a key team member was out of commission for a significant time period due to severe health issues. Additionally, the team has dealt with university level decisions to make changes in course software. Since then, the grant leadership team has been actively making content delivery adaptations in order to provide the best possible experience for participants. At this stage, beta testing is ongoing, and we expect to launch this extremely high quality course in early 2013.
Impacts
1. Conducted regional focus groups to develop the draft outline of youth and adult supervisor equine safety course in Michigan, Kentucky, and Washington, and Vermont. These data were instrumental to subject matter experts in identifying their primary focus areas within each course. 2. Developed 10-unit online equine safety course content for youth working on equine facilities, containing video, interactive games or activities, and quizzes to access knowledge transfer. Units were uploaded into course management system. 3. Produced, shot, and gathered video footage from My Horse University (MHU) and eXtension Horses (HQ) sources, and produced a DVD on Equine Handling. The DVD was created with the footage shot at the MSU Horse Teaching and Research facility, and has been sold to equine enthusiasts across the country through www.myhorseuniversity.com. 4. Conducted a Tractor Safety webinar via MyHorseUniversity.com (April, 2012), and uiltized webinar content in the course funded by this grant. 5. Created additional curriculum from legal and youth educational experts for online Adult Supervisor Equine Safety Course. 6. Because the course content requires participant registration (free) for access and is hosted in a course management system; actual content usage will be monitored and tracked. Successful course completion will result in awarding of certificates of completion for participants. Additionally, participants will have access to a monitored discussion forum, and potential to be a part of a future online badging system, which is in development stages at Michigan State University (MSU).
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 09/01/10 to 08/31/11
Outputs
OUTPUTS: The outputs will be described based upon the stated objectives for year 2 of the project. 1. Load the Online Youth Equine Safety Course into Angel course software housed at Michigan State University. Final edits to each of the course modules are underway, and the early units are being loaded into course software. In the interest of producing the best product possible, the team is investigating alternate software systems developed since the grant was applied for. 2. Pre-launch the Online Youth Equine Safety Course review and testing. Beta test the Online Youth Equine Safety Course with MHU and HQ faculty experts. Peer review course with representatives from the American Youth Horse Council and American Medical Equestrian Association. Pilot test completed Online Youth Equine Safety Course with youth, via Internet surveys and evaluation tools. This work will be completed following the loading of course into software, in Year 3. 3. Launch the Online Youth Equine Safety Course. In progress. 4. Compile additional curriculum from legal and youth educational experts for online Adult Supervisor Equine Safety Course. This work is complete. 5. Repackage the 10-unit youth course for adults supervising youth at equine facilities with the inclusion of 3 additional units: Using youth workers on farm, and adult responsibilities for supervising youth workers as outlined in North American Guidelines for Children's Agricultural Tasks (NAGCAT). Legal issues of using youth as farm workers. Facilitating hands-on safety training at an equine facility for youth. This work is in progress. Project modifications may be required based on proposed changes in federal legislation regarding youth working in agriculture. PARTICIPANTS: (1) Principal Investigators/Project Directors Karen L. Waite (2) Each person who has worked at least one person month per year on the project during the reporting period and received salary, wages a stipend, or other support from the agency. Co-PD/Co-PI Elizabeth Greene Gwyn Heyboer Shelle Sub-Contractor Jennifer Whittle Contractor Julie Fershtman Other Personnel Amanda Bodle Charlsey Hoehn Lauren Zavala Collaborators and contacts (Others within the recipient's organization especially interdepartmental or interdisciplinary collaborations) Co-PD/Co-PI Christine Skelly Karen Vignare Partner Organizations Experts from Michigan State University's My Horse University (MHU) and eXtension HorseQuest (HQ) have continued a proven, award winning partnership while working on the development of this online safety course for youth and adults working on equine facilities. Both programs offer online, research based horse management information for a national audience, and both have contributed expertise and content in the development of this curriculum. For example, video clips from the HQ YouTube channel (eXHorses) are being incorporated into course units, along with video and other media from MHU courses and webcasts. TARGET AUDIENCES: Target Audiences Experts from My Horse University and eXtension HorseQuest have collaborated in developing specific topics for each course. Feedback from the intended audiences (both youth and adult, as well as farm managers and owners) on the suggested topics was solicited through several focus groups. Separate focus groups for youth and adults were conducted in regions across the country as the needs of the intended audience may vary by geographic area. The focus group questions remained the same for each location and sessions were recorded and data transcribed. This data has clarified the educational needs of the intended audience regarding equine safety. In addition, data were collected on areas of learning important to the audience. Twenty-five youth and 18 adults were also asked to rank the type of online experiences they prefer (i.e. web sites, videos, interactive online activities) and to discuss how they use web tools (i.e. social networks, discussion forums, blogs). This information has assisted in building engaging courses for both youth and adults. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: None at this time however, modifications to certain sections of the course may be required in year three based on proposed changes in federal legislation regarding youth working in agriculture.
Impacts
Given that development of this online course is still in progress, our primary impacts in Year Two have been related to sharing knowledge with our CSREES colleagues and others. In February, we attended the Youth Farm Safety Grant update meeting in Washington D.C., and shared our progress. In doing so, we were able to network and share ideas with colleagues. A secondary impact resulting from this meeting was that one individual in attendance has agreed to conduct a Tractor Safety webinar via MyHorseUniversity.com in April, 2012. This webinar may provide additional content for the funded courses, as well as MyHorseUniversity.com and eXtension, which will result in changes in action in those viewing the webinar, prior to the completion of the online course. In addition, information gleaned from the project has been shared at 3 national conferences including the 2011 ADSA-ASAS Joint Annual Meeting, the 2011 Equine Science Society Symposium and the 2011 National Outreach Scholarship Conference.
Publications
- Refereed Papers: Waite, K., K. Wilson, G. Heyboer, and E. Greene. 2011. Survey of adult volunteer horse leaders for the development of an online equine education program. J. Equine Vet. Sci. 31(5): 344.
- Abstracts and Conference Proceedings Waite, K., B. Greene, C. Skelly, J. Whittle, & G. Heyboer Shelle. 2011. Grantsmanship for Online Equine Education: Leveraging Innovative Tools and Partnerships. 12th Annual National Outreach Scholarship Conference, East Lansing, MI.
- Greene, E.A., K.L. Waite, G. Heyboer, J. Whittle, C.D. Skelly, K. Vignare. 2011. The Development, Evaluation and Implementation of an Online Safety Course for Youth Working on Equine Facilities. ADSA-ASAS Joint Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA.
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Progress 09/01/09 to 08/31/10
Outputs
OUTPUTS: The outputs will be described based upon the stated objectives for year 1 of the project. The first objective was to conduct four regional focus groups facilitated by eXtension HorseQuest representatives, to discuss the draft outline for youth and adult supervisor equine safety courses and to modify course outlines based on feedback. Regional focus groups to develop the draft outline of youth and adult supervisor equine safety course were conducted in Michigan, Kentucky, and Washington, with a fourth scheduled for the state of Vermont. The second objective for year 1 was to develop written content for a 10-unit online equine safety course for youth working on equine facilities. Each unit will be 30 min - 1 hr of course content. Course developers are on target for the development of the 10-unit online equine safety course for youth working on equine facilities within the current funding period. To date, six units have been written, with the remaining four to be completed by September 1. The third objective for year 1 was to film video footage so that there are 5 - 15 minutes of video for each unit, to ensure that content is engaging for youth. Available video footage for each unit has been gathered from My Horse University and eXtension HorseQuest sources. Additional video shoots are scheduled for July 6-8 in Michigan and for the end of June in Vermont. The fourth objective was to develop one interactive game or activity for each unit, and this is in progress as units are completed. The fifth objective for year 1 was to develop quizzes for each unit to access knowledge transfer, which is again in progress as units are completed. The sixth and final objective was to develop an online, monitored discussion board specifically for youth participating in the Online Youth Equine Safety Course. Based on the course development timeline, this objective has been moved and will be discussed under Project Modifications. PARTICIPANTS: Experts from Michigan State University's My Horse University (MHU) and eXtension HorseQuest (HQ) have continued a proven, award winning partnership while working on the development of this online safety course for youth and adults working on equine facilities. Both programs offer online, research based horse management information for a national audience, and both have contributed expertise and content in the development of this curriculum. For example, video clips from the HQ YouTube channel (eXHorses) are being incorporated into course units, along with video and other media from MHU courses and webcasts. TARGET AUDIENCES: Experts from My Horse University and eXtension HorseQuest have collaborated in developing specific topics for each course. Feedback from the intended audiences (both youth and adult, as well as farm managers and owners) on the suggested topics was solicited through several focus groups. Separate focus groups for youth and adults were conducted in regions across the country as the needs of the intended audience may vary by geographic area. The focus group questions remained the same for each location and sessions were recorded and data transcribed. This data has clarified the educational needs of the intended audience regarding equine safety. In addition, data were collected on areas of learning important to the audience. Twenty-five youth and 18 adults were also asked to rank the type of online experiences they prefer (i.e. web sites, videos, interactive online activities) and to discuss how they use web tools (i.e. social networks, discussion forums, blogs). This information has assisted in building engaging courses for both youth and adults. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Objective six, which was to develop an online, monitored discussion board specifically for youth participating in the Online Youth Equine Safety Course, will be moved to year three to align with the launch of the courses. At this time we are investigating which tools will be most appropriate for our audience. We are planning to develop a web presence in year two and a monitored discussion board in year three. We are looking at specific Drupal modules which will allow us to have a discussion board integrated into the site. In addition, we are exploring how additional applications such as Facebook and online webcast technologies can enhance the learning experience for our audience.
Impacts
The analysis of focus group data to date ranked eleven equine facility topics from most to least important, with horse health and behavior identified by participants as the most important topics to include in the courses. In addition, focus group data was included in a peer-reviewed abstract titled Development of an Online Curriculum for Youth Safety in Equine Facilities, which has been accepted for oral presentation at the 6th International Equitation Science Society Conference in Uppsala, Sweden in August, 2010.
Publications
- ABSTRACTS Greene, E.A., J.L. Whittle, K.L. Waite, G.A. Heyboer and C.D. Skelly. 2010. Development of an Online Curriculum for Youth Safety in Equine Facilities. Scheduled for presentation at the 6th International Equitation Science Symposium, Upsalla, Sweden.
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