By Karyn Santl One of my roles is to develop training, tools and resources for Minnesota 4-H volunteers. We depend on volunteers to deliver high-quality, culturally relevant programs for youth. I am always looking for ways to use different modes to reach volunteers with the tools and resources they need to be successful in their roles. At the National Extension Conference on Volunteerism (NECV), I attended a workshop by Florida 4-H staff that introduced me to the concept of Networked Knowledge Activities (NKA). NKA is an instructional design framework that describes the knowledge activities that people use in networked online contexts (e.g., online classes, social media, virtual communities of practice). The framework’s purpose is to guide the design and development of social media-based learning activities in a formal learning context. Florida 4-H staff gave the example of their Network Knowledge Activities with this diagram: Graphic created by Heather Kent, UF/IFAS Extension Northwes
Our youth development educators bridge research and practice. In this blog, they offer their views on what's happening in the field of youth development, with an eye to evidence-based research written by themselves and others in our field. We welcome your comments.