NETC (National Extension Technology Conference) is an annual event, not a formal organization. It is usually held in May or June at a Land-Grant Institution whose employees volunteer to host it. In some ways, NETC is a virtual organization of people interested in the use and application of information technology in the Cooperative Extension System. 

NETC is an opportunity for sharing and learning about innovative types and uses of information technology. Participation is not limited to faculty and staff of Extension. In fact, anyone with an interest in information technology and its use in higher and continuing education, as well as in organization management, is welcome to participate. 

NETC is guided by the NETC Steering Committee, a 10-person committee, 6 members of which are elected by Extension IT professionals nationwide. Three members represent institutions that have hosted or will be hosting NETC, and one represents the Agricultural Communicators in Education, which meets concurrently with NETC every other year.

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• County Extension Agents

• Extension Directors

• Extension Administrators

• Agricultural Information Technology Professionals

• Agricultural Consultants

• Extension Educators

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The purpose of the NETC conference is to share information among agricultural extension information technology professionals and users. Sessions, workshops, and special discussion panels will focus on the latest technology and examples of how innovative technologies are applied in real extension situations.  Topics include web site development, video conferencing, electronic publishing, GIS/GPS, networking, extension standards, and accountability management to name a few.  Keynote speakers will provide state-of-the-art reports on extension technology in action.
 
Presentations are selected from a call for proposals and include workshops, panel discussions, and individual presentations.
 
There is no formal conference proceedings, but copies of presentations will be posted on the NETC 2006 web site. 

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1. Promote sharing of information technology among extension professionals

2. Provide information on new technologies available to extension

3. Facilitate development of standards for exchange of extension information

4. Show examples of working systems

5. Social networking 

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• Final Program (PDF format)

• Click here for Concurrent Session Abstracts

• Click here for Biographies of Keynote Speakers

Monday, May 8, 2006

Tuesday, May 9, 2006

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Thursday, May 11, 2006

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On Tuesday, May 9 there will be five field trips conducted from 1:00pm-5:00pm. There is no extra fee because it is included in the registration fee. Participants simply need to select a field trip on the registration form. Below is a description of each field trip:

Cultural Museum and Art Tour: Florida Museum of Natural History & Harn Museum of Art

Organized by: Rodney Clouser, Food and Resource Economics Department, University of Florida/IFAS
 

Description: Come face-to-face with exotic, vibrant butterflies fluttering atop a lush tropical canvas of foliage and flowers as you experience the Butterfly Rainforest, the Florida Museum of Natural History's newest permanent exhibit, the McGuire Center Butterfly Rainforest. The screened vivarium houses subtropical and tropical plants and trees to support 55 to 65 different species and hundreds of free-flying butterflies. Guests can stroll through the Butterfly Rainforest on a winding path and relax to the sounds of cascading waterfalls year-round. Participants will then proceed next door to the Harn Museum of Art where docents will lead a 40 minute guided walk through the museum. Following the presentation, you will have about an hour on your own to enjoy the many collections on display.

Agenda:  

   1:00pm         Load Vans  
   1:15pm         Depart Hilton UF Conference Center
   1:25pm         Arrive at the Harn Museum of Art
   1:30pm         Break into small groups: 45-minute docent led tour
                        Following the tour, participants have 45 minutes on own
   3:00pm         Walk over to the Florida Museum of Natural History
                        Participants can stroll at own pace
                        Butterfly Exhibit: Ticket required and will be given out at start of tour. 
    4:30pm         Depart the Florida Museum of Natural History
    4:40pm         Arrive at Hilton UF Conference Center

REVE: Digital Worlds Institute

Organized by: James Oliverio, Digital Worlds Institute, University of Florida

Description: REVE (Research, Education and Visualization Environment) is a flexible space for research and education, including a digital media environment with facility for distributed collaboration and video conferencing. The Polymodal Immersive Theater (PIT) provides large-scale immersive visualization capabilities for an audience of up to 48 people. PIT utilizes large multi-screen projection systems to create virtual environments for teaching and research.

Agenda: 

   12:50pm        Load Vans   
     1:00pm        Depart Hilton UF Conference Center
     1:15pm        Arrive at Digital Worlds Institute (Norman Hall Gym)
      1:20pm        Demonstration of Polymodal Immersive Theatre
      2:30pm        Break/Discussion
      2:45pm        Tour of Virtual Production Studios
      3:00pm        Depart Digital Worlds Institute
      3:15pm        Arrive at Hilton UF Conference Center

Simulation Lab and MRI Facilities: Shands Medical Center and McKnight Brain Institute

Organized by: Sem Lampotang, Department of Anesthesiology (Simulation Lab), Shands at the University of Florida and Barbara Beck, McKnight Brain Institute (MRI Lab), University of Florida

Description: The Anesthesia and Medical Simulation Laboratory is a specialized classroom for "live" simulations that use the mannequin-based Human Patient Simulator (HPS) as well as the display-based, web-enabled Virtual Anesthesia Machine (VAM). Both the HPS and VAM were designed at UF and a member of the teams that invented both simulators will conduct demonstrations and answer questions.

The Magnetic Resonance facilities at the McKnight Brain Institute include high-strength magnets and cutting-edge RF coil designs for imaging used in wide variety of medical and biological applications. Demonstrations of agricultural applications will include imaging root growth under varying soil conditions, imaging the dispersal of nematodes in soil, and imaging the structure of termite colonies. 

*IMPORTANT Tour Medical Restrictions: Certain medical devices implanted in the body will not work properly in a strong magnetic field. This can be a life-threatening situation and must be addressed before entering the AMRIS wing. For example, the FDA contraindicates the use of pacemakers in magnetic environments above 5 Gauss. This level is exceeded in the hallway leading to the magnet rooms, and even outside the building! Also, entering areas of large magnetic fields can aggravate certain conditions. For instance, aneurysm clips can be displaced by magnetically induced forces, gunshot victims can have bullets dislodged or more commonly, metal filings in the eye can cause more damage by unpredictable rotating in the field.

Persons entering the AMRIS facility must stop at the screening station just inside the AMRIS doors. Persons entering the AMRIS facility must also be aware of magnetic objects they might be carrying or wearing. These may pose a significant hazard by becoming flying projectiles. You MUST make sure that you or anyone with you is free of magnetic materials, in or out of the body. 

Agenda: 

   1:25pm         Load Van   
   1:30pm         Depart Hilton UF Conference Center
   1:45pm         Arrive at Shands Concourse
   1:50pm         Demonstration of Simulation Laboratory (Sem Lampotang)
   2:45pm         Walk to McKnight Brain Institute
   3:00pm         Tour and Demonstration of MRI facilities (Barbara Beck)
   4:00pm         Depart MRI facilities
   4:15pm         Arrive at Hilton UF Conference Center

Space Agriculture: Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department

Organized by: Ray Bucklin, Agricultural and Biological Engineering and Robert Ferl, Horticultural Sciences Department, University of Florida/IFAS

Description: NASA's mission to Mars and long term space exploration goals require sustaining travelers for long periods of time in closed environments. Space agriculture utilizes climate controlled greenhouses to grow crops in space capsules, in space stations and in planetary-based environments. This tour will show the research facilities supporting space agriculture, including greenhouses for growing plants in a Martian atmosphere, and automatic monitoring and control systems supporting these environments, as well as some current and future spaceflight plant growth facilities.

Agenda:

   1:50pm         Load Vans
   2:00pm         Depart Hilton UF Conference Center
   2:15pm         Arrive at Frazier Rogers Hall
   2:20pm         Growth Chambers, Instrumentation and Control Facilities (Ray Bucklin)
   3:15pm         Spaceflight/Extraterrestrial Agriculture (Robert Ferl)
   3:30pm         Depart Frazier Rogers Hall
   3:45pm         Arrive at Hilton UF Conference Center

Virtual Field Day: Office of Academic Technologies

Organized by: Anne Allen, Office of Academic Technologies, University of Florida

Description: What if you could capture the information and experience of attending an agricultural field day and create a reusable on-line resource on the web? This hands-on tour will allow participants to familiarize themselves with the goals, strategies and resource requirements for the creation of virtual field days. In addition, participants will acquire some skills in the tools and techniques used to create virtual field-day environments.

Agenda:

   1:35pm         Load Vans
   1:45pm         Depart Hilton UF Conference Center
   2:00pm         Arrive at Turlington Hall
   2:05pm         Demonstration of Virtual Field Day Project
   3:30pm         Break
   3:45pm         Hands-on Training Session
   4:30pm         Depart Turlington Hall
   4:45pm         Arrive at Hilton UF Conference Center

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You are invited to submit proposals that address Extension technology topics of interest to either technical (developers) or non-technical (users) audiences. The format for the conference will include presentations (45 minutes, comprising the majority of the sessions), panel discussions, workshops (extended sessions with hands-on training) and posters.

Deadline to submit a proposal is Friday, January 6, 2006

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What Does the Registration Fee Include?
The registration fee, combined with funds contributed by our generous sponsors, provides each attendee the educational program, conference materials, morning, mid-day and afternoon refreshments, Monday welcome reception, Monday & Wednesday lunches, Tuesday afternoon field trip and Wednesday evening BBQ dinner. The Guest registration fee includes the Monday welcome reception, Monday & Wednesday lunch and the Wednesday evening BBQ dinner only, and is not for use by co-workers.

Before clicking on the Register Online Now link below, we recommend that you have payment information on-hand, such as credit card, check number or purchase order number, if we are to invoice your institution. 

Refund Policy: Requests for registration refunds will be honored if written notice of cancellation is received by the Office of Conferences and Institutes on or before Friday, April 7, 2006. A $50.00 processing fee will be deducted from all refunds. No refunds will be honored for cancellations after Friday, April 7, 2006.

Special Needs: Participants with special needs can be reasonably accommodated by contacting the Office of Conferences & Institutes at least 10 working days prior to the short course. We can be reached by phone at 1-352-392-5930, by FAX at 1-352-392-9734, or by calling 1-800-955-8771 (TDD). The TDD number can only be accessed from within the State of Florida.

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The conference will be held at The Hilton University of Florida Conference Center (1714 Southwest 34th Street, Gainesville, Florida 32607). Facilities include a complete business service center and all hotel rooms have a large desk with lamp for working after-hours, WebTV, Ethernet ports, dual-line telephones and analog ports for modem access. A block of rooms has been reserved at a special per night rate of $79 single or double occupancy plus 9.25% tax
(Florida federal and State employees will be tax-exempt with proper documentation presented at check-in).

The special rate is only available May 7-12 based upon availability. Rooms may not be available after Friday, March 24, 2006.  Call the hotel directly at (352) 371-3600 to make a reservation and identify yourself as a participant of NETC. You may also make a reservation online via the Hilton's web page. Please use the group code, NE6.

NOTICE: As of April 7th, the $79 rate is no longer available.  You may still make reservations at the going daily rate, but we suggest that you make a reservation at the designated overflow hotel listed below.

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Air service is provided through the Gainesville Regional Airport, just north of Gainesville, and The Hilton UF Conference Center provides daytime shuttle service. Additional airports within a 2 - 3 hour drive of the University of Florida are located in Jacksonville (85 miles), Orlando (110 miles), and Tampa (130 miles).

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		Campus Map
	Florida Museum of Natural History

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