Progress 09/01/23 to 08/31/24

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience reached by the I2E2 program in this reporting period was youth aged 12 through 18; however, nonformal education approaches developed through I2E2 have also reached a broader age range of youth. More specifically, approximately 600 youth younger than 13 were reached through an event, Ag Adventures, that was held in October 2023. The University of Florida, through its diverse multi-disciplinary research, extension and outreach, education programs have been at the forefront of positive youth development. The state-wide footprint of UF transcending the rural and urban divide further allows I2E2 to leverage that reality to provide nonformal education to areas that are traditionally underserved. For the reporting period, 16 in-person ag-tech club events were held with the following participation: 11 youth participated in 15 one-hour sessions during the 2023-24 reporting period in an agriculture technology club. The demographics were as follows Gender: Female - 4; Male - 7 Ages: 12 years - 2; 13 years - 3; 14 years - 1; 15 years -1; 16 years - 2; 17 years - 2 Racial breakdown: Black -4; White -7 Ethnicity: Non-hispanic 10; Hispanic 1 12 youth participated in an in-person session (2 hour) covering the topic of Precision Agriculture during a 2024 Day Camp. Pre/post tests showed that 92% (11/12) of youth could identify one way precision agriculture could help farming be more sustainable. Demographics: Gender: Female - 7, Males - 5 Ages: 12 years - 1; 13 years - 5; 14 years - 3; 15 years - 2; 17 years - 1 Racial Breakdown: Black - 3; White - 9 Ethnicity: Non-Hispanic - 11; Hispanic - 1 For the two workshops held at 4-H University in July, 2024, we had a total of 28 participants from several counties in Florida. Demographic breakdown was not yet available at the time of this reporting. Changes/Problems:There was a delay in recruitment of the graduate students to work on this project. Two students are starting their degree programs in Fall 2024. For the first year we approached the in-person club activities as a traditional community club, but potential interest groups have requested standalone in-person activities that could be grouped together into a project-based club or used as a way to integrate Ag Technology into other modes of delivery (e.g., in-school enrichment, other clubs) and within other topics (e.g., water quality, agriculture, engineering). Switching to a standalone/modular approach for the in-person club will allow us to cater to this need and enable agents/volunteers to incorporate appropriate topics into their clubs and camps, thereby extending the reach of I2E2. This mode of delivery will also allow youth to select topics they are interested in, reaching those who may not traditionally be interested in agriculture or technology. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project has provided opportunities for training and professional development through participation in an in-person 4-H club focused on ag-technology. Our team has provided demonstrations and activities related to robotics, environmental sensors, and programming to youth ranging from 12-18. We have provided resources to support the in-person 4-H ag-tech club in the form of robotics kits that the participants build over the course of several club meetings. Volunteers and 4-H agents have been actively engaged in non-formal ag technology education. Two graduate students have just begun their degree program in Fall, 2024 and will be key members of the I2E2 team. An engineering graduate student assisted with the 4-H University workshops and gained teaching experience. A staff scientist from the Plant Disease Diagnostic Lab at UF assisted with the 4-H University workshops and gained professional experience. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We are utilizing our partnership with Florida 4-H to disseminate information about the project and activities to our target audience. Examples include e-mails to statewide 4-H membership, online marketing channels, and information sharedat in-person events.Information about the project has also been disseminated to the agricultural community through presentations that have been given at University of Florida Field Days. Additionally, one popular press article has been published raising awareness about the project and ag-tech clubs. Six social media posts disseminated in-person progress and annual club culmination. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Our team has recruited two graduate students that are starting their graduate programs in Fall 2024. These graduate students will be heavily involved in development of club modules, workshop planning, and participation in outreach events. In the next reporting period, we will utilize the framework for modules that was created in the first year of the project to develop 12 modules in this next reporting period. We plan to host Six in-person activities will be created for Spring 2025. These in-person modules. These standalone modules will also be used as activities for 2025 Day Camps as appropriate. These modules will be advertised to other 4-H counties via Extension Professional Associations of Florida Conference in May 2025. Three to four more stand alone in-person modules will be created during Summer 2025 and launched for the 2025-2026 4-H Club Year. We will publish a 4-H in the Panhandle blog article describing the upcoming Spring launch of the I2E2 project and soliciting interest in the clubs. This blog will also be posted through UF IFAS Blog. - Scheduled to be published Nov/early Dec 2024. Publish an e-newsletter/article in local newspaper, The Democrat, describing upcoming Fall 2025 Ag Tech Club/Workshops and soliciting interest from Leon County youth. - Scheduled to be published late July 2025.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The Inspire-Instruct-Equip-Empower (I2E2) project was initiated with an in-person kick-off event held in Gainesville, FL. All team members attended the half-day meeting and spent time planning for the project. The team has been meeting regularly in the first year to develop plans for in-person and virtual club modules, as well as the plan the workshops for 4-H University that were conducted in July 2024. As proposed our team are using the Analyze, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation (ADDIE) instructional design model to develop the extension activities for the I2E2 program. In the first year of the project we have been focused on the analysis, design and development phase. Our goal is to create meaningful experiential learning opportunities for youth by using the ADDIE instructional design model to: (1) Implement an immersive experience where youth learn to apply IoT solutions to complex agricultural problems at 4-H University, (2) Engage with IoT4Ag professionals to solve agricultural problems with IoT solutions in a monthly meeting of a Florida 4-H virtual club, and (3) Train and create a repository of resources for youth leaders around the world to implement similar programs. For the reporting period, 16 in-person ag-tech club events were held. We developed and implemented two ag-technology themed workshops that were held as part of 4-H University at the University of Florida on July 30th and 31st 2024. These workshops were designed to address real-world agricultural problems using a technology-based solution. One workshop was focused on diagnosis and management of diseases of peanut and grapevines. Our workshops used active learning strategies to teach the youth about scouting for diseases, disease management, environmental sensors, Internet of Things, basic programming skills, and the application of predictive models to improve disease management. The second ag-technology workshop focused on irrigation technologies and sustainable water use. Youth learned about technologies used in agriculture to monitor soil moisture and assist with optimizing irrigation and water use efficiency. As part of the workshop, participants built an IoT enabled kit with environmental sensors to monitor soil moisture. One in-person session (2 hour) was held covering the topic of Precision Agriculture during a 2024 Day Camp. Pre/post tests showed that 92% (11/12) of youth could identify one way precision agriculture could help farming be more sustainable. Observational results conducted by 4-H Staff (Agent or Program Assistant) showed that all youth could identify: One area where agricultural technology could enhance sustainability of conventional farming. Became proficient in Scratch coding The Annual Club Survey captures youth's interests and degree of participation related to their involvement in 4-H Clubs and projects. This survey collects data on all clubs that youth have participated in, not just the STEM/Ag technology Club. The following qualitative data come from the survey and pertain specifically to the STEM/ Ag technology Club: "4-H helped me learn about agriculture and robotics." "I'm more into robots now because I am in STEM Club. I want to be a scientist when I grow up because it looks fun." "I enjoy building robots for farming. I am in robotics and agriculture in school. I want to learn more." The I2E2 team hosted two stations focused on ag technology at a four-day event reaching approximately 600 youth. The youth were younger than our target audience, but we view the event as an opportunity to raise awareness about careers in ag technology and to inform the youth about the 4-H ag technology clubs and activities being developed by I2E2. In addition to engaging engineers from the National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center for the Internet of Things for Precision Agriculture (IoT4Ag) to assist with the I2E2 efforts. The IoT4Ag leadership at UF agreed to co-sponsor resources for the activities being conducted by the I2E2 team. More specifically, 40 IoT Smart Farm Kits were purchased.

Publications