In today's society, young people are inundated with choices, from food to music. Unfortunately students have limited amounts of time in which to participate in after school activities; and parents have limited resources and time to take them to all their programs. As children and parents are pulled in several directions, extracurricular associations must adapt or face the reality of losing potential members to sports, dance and other clubs. Can virtual experiences available through the Web help to solve this problem?

One example of an extracurricular activity that can capture the virtual market is youth equine horse judging for 4-H and FFA programs. To address the problem of competing activities and the loss of potential members of judging teams to those other activities, we have developed a virtual judging team

web site that allows youth who participate in a variety of activities to have the opportunity to continue in competitive youth judging without falling behind.

The judging template includes the entire curriculum learned within a classroom setting (overview, oral reasons, halter and performance judging, potential classes), the capability to reproduce the hands-on experience of arena judging and practice sessions (team practices) and an administrative component (team schedule of competitions, an opportunity to meet the team members and coaches, and a guest book) that allows team members and parents to remain updated on team logistics. Our site is also linked to the National 4-H Center and the National FFA Organization, allowing members to be linked to their national sites and receive the most updated information on the respective organizations.

This site is designed to do several things. First, if a practice is missed, members will be able to visit the site and participate in practice sessions by judging the streaming video and digital pictures. Second, if a member does not feel comfortable with a practice that they attend, they can visit the web site for a "second chance" at judging the practice animals. Finally, the site can be used throughout the season as a "refresher" for team members. They can be asked to go and revisit various practices and rethink some sets of oral reasons.

Extension Agents and FFA Advisors could implement the template design of the online judging, changing any information necessary to fit their individual programs. As the judging seasons continue, practices would be posted in order for missing members to "make-up" practices, or attending members to review practice sessions. Coaches will have the ability to track team members' time spent at the site, and which areas the student elected to view. At the conclusion of the season, coaches could decide whether to retain materials as teaching tools, or expunge and start over with a new set of practice sessions.

Purpose/Objectives

The purpose of the equine online judging site is two-fold. The first is to allow youth to participate in a judging program that, because of time constraints, would not otherwise be available. Students are often pressed to make decisions regarding extra-- curricular activities in which they would like to participate. Our site will negate the necessity of those decisions. The second purpose of the equine online judging site is to serve as a supplement for students who participate in traditional judging practices. The site would allow students a "second chance" to review classes, understand concepts and reconstruct oral reasons to clarify their structure and meaning.

Methods/Projections

Upon arrival at the site, students have the opportunity to choose a variety of choices to explore the information. Each page will contain a different set of information discussing different essential elements of equine judging, from the very basic, to more advanced concepts. Also on the page, parents can find practice schedules and team schedules for the year. Team members, parents, and visitors will also have the opportunity to meet and get to know the team members and the coaches, background information, as well as awards and recognition are added throughout the year to the "Meet the Team" and "Meet the Coaches" section of the site.

Team members must log on to the site to access online practice sessions, digital pictures and streaming video for team practice sessions. They go to the page specifically for team practice sessions, select the date of the session they wish to view and can view the practice session's videos and pictures or oral exercises. This will also be the place that members who attend practices will go to in order to review materials.

The general classroom curriculum is available to any one who visits the site in the remainder of the pages. Students then have the opportunity to use an email program to send written reasons or class placings to the coach for evaluation.

Significance & Implications

The significance of the on-line equine site is that it allows youth who otherwise would not be able to participate in programs of this kind, due to time or geographic constraints, to be participative members of a team. Greater opportunities for leadership, responsibility and time management are available for youth involved in programs of this kind. Students, who are able to participate in more extra curricular activities, gain a broader range of life skills and competencies that will make them well rounded young adults. Written and oral communication skills gained through judging experiences will serve members well as they take their next steps toward either college or the job market.

This site was borne out of a need recognized by a former extension agent and coach who lost participation in judging programs because youth simply didn't have the time to attend two different practices in a day. Our site is, to our knowledge, the first of its kind. While others have developed content sites, and CD-ROM technologies that cover content knowledge in depth, our site is completely interactive with the practice materials. Students will be able to gain the same information from the site that they would if they had attended the actual judging practice. Our site is designed to develop competencies in the youth who are not able to attend practices, as well as youth that are attending practices and then using the on-line sessions as supplementary and review exercises.

The implications of the equine site and similar distance education methods are limitless. We see that a site of this kind could be utilized not just in an extension or vocational agriculture program setting, but in youth and adult programs alike. We see this type of distance education being used for not just judging, but junior and adult Master Gardener programs, floriculture programs, or principles of landscape design, just to name a few. Virtually any discipline that is hands-on and can be videotaped could utilize a site of this kind. Eventually, groups that have previously been unable to participate in these kinds of programs will have access to this information because of these kinds of advancements in educational technologies.

Future Plans

The site will soon be expanded to include both livestock and meat evaluation components. Students will no longer be greeted with the first page of the equine site, but with a master site index where they will have the opportunity to decide which site to visit. Anyone will have the chance to gain basic content knowledge in all three areas. Team members will be able to experience virtual practices by signing in to each individual site.

We hope to pilot-test the site to youth already participating in traditional judging programs in these areas. Using the data from the pilot-- tests, we hope to make changes and eventually market the idea to extension educators and vocational agriculture instructors who coach these young people.

Visit Virtual Youth Equine Horse Judging at: http: //www.aged.tamu.edu/classes/611/ student%20projects/jackie/index.htm