Evaluating Long Distance Delivery of the North Dakota Master Gardener Core Course

Delivering Master Gardener core course training in North Dakota is complicated by distance and geographic location. North Dakota State University faculty and personnel are primarily located in Fargo on the eastern edge of the state. Therefore, distance learning methods were adopted to deliver the Fall 2013 core course to Master Gardener interns throughout the state. In addition to in-person training in Fargo, the Master Gardener Program used videoconferencing classrooms in county Extension offices to link to the Fargo training site. Also, Master Gardener interns had the option to take the class independently by watching recorded class videos that were posted to a content management website. The effectiveness of the three 2013 class delivery methods were assessed by comparing the number of hours each Master Gardener intern volunteered in 2014. Master Gardener interns who took the class in person or in videoconferencing classrooms on average volunteered 23.7 and 26.1 hours, respectively, during the first year of a two-year internship. In contrast, Master Gardener interns who took the online class only volunteered 15.2 hours during 2014. This pilot study appears to show that in-person training and videoconferencing classrooms in Extension offices were comparable. However, Master Gardener interns who took the class online were less likely to volunteer during the first year of the 48-hour internship. Class evaluations helped explain the difference in volunteer hours. Gathering to attend class in person or in a videoconferencing classroom helped build a sense of community and reinforced the connection to the supervising Extension agent. In contrast, online Master Gardener interns felt isolated and were less likely to volunteer.