Whether you have a green thumb or tend to kill the plants you touch, if you want to know more about gardening at home and in your community, you may find that the new "high tech" approach to Montana's Master Gardener program can serve you.
“The Montana State Master Gardener program is conducted by Montana State University Extension and provides our citizens with knowledge about general horticulture and gardening in our difficult climate,” says Cheryl Moore-Gough, MSU Extension horticulturist.
To become a certified Montana Master Gardener, students attend at least 24 hours of classroom instruction, successfully complete a comprehensive written examination, and satisfy a community volunteer requirement that is set by the instructor, the local MSU County Extension agent and the national Master Gardener organization. Participation in the class is decided on the county level, with agents choosing to hold the classes or to decline participation.
"Master Gardener students don't have to take the exam or do volunteer service if they don't want certification," said Moore-Gough. "Many people simply take the class for their own enjoyment, although the material is much more in-depth than just basic gardening."
The classes traditionally were delivered to as many people as could be reached by one horticulturist driving the icy highways and backroads of Montana from February through April. Even with all of that effort, not all Montanans who were interested could be served, and with the soaring price of gasoline, those who were being served were receiving information at increasing financial cost to Extension.
Now MSU Extension is trying a new plan using the Internet. A trial run of the new system was conducted in the spring of 2007, when Montana State Master Gardener classes were first held live via the Internet. Extension purchased the Adobe Connect program, originally called Breeze. The presenter can be viewed using a Web Camera and communication can occur using the "chat" type written communication, VOIP (Voice Over IP) and a Web Camera, the system has essentially no cost to agents, although speaker telephones may also be utilized, for additional cost to the delivering office.
“Over 250 gardening students in 27 locations throughout the state helped test the system this spring, and the evaluations are tremendously encouraging,” said Moore-Gough.
"A live instructor would of course be ideal," said one anonymous student in the end of class evaluation, "however, living in a rural area, we would not likely have the opportunity to have the class at all. And for that reason, taking it via internet was well worth it, and better than not having it at all."
While working through the inevitable "glitches," Moore-Gough said patience and persistence paid off; 99 percent of the people responding to the post-class survey said they would take another class delivered over the Internet as this was.
"I hope the college offers other courses using this media," remarked another student on their evaluation. And what did the participating agents think? "I was a little hesitant about the internet delivery system at first, but it worked well for the Master Gardener program,” said one county extension agent. “The Adobe Connect system has so many capabilities - it is user-friendly and allows for easy communication between the presenter and the audience."
The system has a broad range of applications and the cost to use it is attractive too.
“The Connect system is free to use for all Extension related programs,” says Extension Web Developer and System Administrator Jay Van Voast. “The system is extremely easy to use and is not just limited to online trainings. We have used the system for job interviews, distance education, IT support and many other applications. All meetings can be archived for future use, allowing access to training anytime. The cost and time savings that the Adobe Connect system provides are substantial and I encourage everyone to get involved and use the system.”
All survey responders said they plan to use material they learned in the class to improve their own home landscaping and gardening, and 95 percent said they plan to volunteer in their communities, whether or not they sought state certification.
Master Gardener volunteers do everything from weeding to assisting young growers and the handicapped. In Billings for example, Master Gardeners assisted with the After School Rewards Program, exposing young people to horticultural principles. Another volunteer program in the Billings area is at the Special K ranch, assisting developmentally disabled citizens with gardening projects and food production, and providing a source of income for the residents.
Partially as a result of Master Gardener programs, beautification projects have been undertaken in many Montana communities, including Froid, Medicine Lake, Poplar, Wolf Point, Belgrade and Bozeman, according to Moore-Gough.
Another unexpected and very positive result of this year's Master Gardener class was the exposure Extension received in areas previously not served. For example, one Meagher County student remarked, "I was unaware of the support offered through the Extension office and upon taking the class I am now more inclined to seek support from them."
Agents wishing to investigate internet delivery of their programs should contact Jay VanVoast in the Extension I.T. group 994-5638 or jay@montana.edu. For additional information on the Montana Master Gardener program contact Cheryl Moore-Gough 994-6523 or cheryl@montana.edu.
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Cheryl Moore-Gough works on the Connect system to deliver the Master Gardener 2007 program.
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