Objective: To assess if workshop attendees gained confidence, knowledge, and/or skills in applying methods for using a mobile device (smartphones, tablets) for programming, promotion, marketing, and evaluation.
Target Audience: Adult workshop attendees working in nutrition education and related fields.
Theory, Prior Research, Rationale: The number of people reached with face-to-face programing is limited with the internet becoming an important information source. Smartphone ownership is at 77%, up from 35% in 2011 (Pew Research Center). As marketers of education, it is important to become savvier with using mobile devices.
Description: The 3-hour session covered taking and editing photos; making movies; Facebook live presentations; social media; and evaluation. Evaluations included pre- and post-workshop, process, and 3-month follow-up with a random gift card drawing incentive.
Evaluation: Respondents represented 21 states, were female, and ranged from 26 to 69 years old. Pre-workshop surveys (n = 48) indicated top barriers to working with mobile devices included lacking knowledge (26%), time (24%), and institutional training (20%). Majority (75%) were very confident with taking photos, with few very confident in editing, movies, Facebook live, social media, and evaluation (average of 7%). Process and demonstrative evaluation techniques during the presentation included completing surveys with online survey software and interactive audience polls. Post-workshop participants (n = 38) rated the workshop as: good to excellent (95%); met expectations (86%); found material informative and useful (95%); and gained relevant knowledge/skills that could be used immediately (89%). Three-month follow-up results (n = 26) indicated 92% shared information with others (colleagues, staff, administrators). Top implemented items were creating photos and collages (25%), editing photos (20%), and social media posting (14%). Gains in feeling very confident were noted across taking (84%) and editing (38%) photos, social media (31%), and evaluation (23%).
Conclusions and Implications: Using multiple forms of evaluation helped demonstrate workshop participants' change in confidence and skill attainment and showcased how they could use the various techniques demonstrated in future programming.
Funding: None.
