Pivoting To Offer Online Courses
“When we couldn’t do in-person workshops anymore, I worked with my director on a solution to get people the turkey hunting information they needed,” Wallen said.
The solution was a five-part Facebook Live series. The director for the Information and Education Division at KDFWR used Wallen’s suggestion and coordinated with partners to conduct one part each week leading up to the youth turkey season. Each live session was about 30 minutes and had thousands of viewers. In fact, the videos have received more than 52,000 Facebook views and were later uploaded to YouTube and viewed another 850-plus times. The five topics included shotgun information, the status of wild turkeys in Kentucky, turkey hunting setups, a turkey calling tutorial and a turkey hunting safety briefing.
Wallen said the videos went over well. So well that she started planning for a six-part fall deer hunting series. She took the agenda for the in-person workshops and transferred it to the online platform. She hand-picked presenters for the six topics, including basic deer ecology, public-land hunting, field scouting tips, e-scouting tips, deer processing and cooking lessons and information on the state’s Hunters for the Hungry program. They conducted the series on Zoom because they couldn’t capture participant information on Facebook. More than 135 people registered for the webinar event, which was taught in the six weeks leading up to the state’s modern firearm season.
The series was well received, but recording, editing and video uploading issues kept the team from posting the videos to YouTube. Wallen continued to adapt and recently offered a 2021 online turkey hunting workshop on Zoom and YouTube Live. Offering the video simultaneously on YouTube Live eliminated the previous issues because YouTube automatically saved the footage after the course ended. The course had 106 Zoom participants and 1,073 YouTube viewers. Its content was similar to the 2020 event. Participants learned about wild turkeys, calling, hunting equipment, scouting and hunting tactics, processing the bird and cooking the meat.
Capturing participant data for the 2020 fall deer and 2021 spring turkey webinar series allowed Wallen and her team to invite participants to follow-up events and a private Facebook group. The group was created so newcomers could ask questions, share stories and advice, and continue to receive information from KDFWR staff. The Facebook group has over 415 participants and strives to provide a safe, comfortable learning space for newcomers.
With participant information, the KDFWR could also conduct post-webinar surveys. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Here are a few anonymous participant comments from the most recent turkey webinar:
- I’ve really enjoyed these Zoom classes. They allow me to attend when normally I could not due to work.
- The turkey calling webinar was extremely good. A lot of information was disseminated in a way that made it very clear how to use the information for or during a successful hunt. Webinars tailored in that manner are beneficial to me.
- It was a well-run program. It sure has my son excited for turkey hunting this year. It is helpful to have programs like this to back up the lessons we teach our children and apprentices. Learning from someone other than dad also helps keep their attention. Keep up the good work.
- Thank you for the webinar series. It was so good for a beginner like me. Thanks to all that lead the program.
- I really enjoyed the Zoom format. It was more convenient than taking time away from family and adulting to attend. I hope this is something that will be offered more.
Perks and Challenges of Online Learning
Wallen said online learning has many benefits.
“We’re able to reach a wider audience, and it’s more convenient for people,” she said. “We’re still able to capture their information so we’re still able to send them to follow-up opportunities. The sheer number (of participants) is hard to beat.”
The KDFWR worked with 133 new hunters in 2019. After harnessing the opportunity to provide educational events on a virtual platform throughout 2020, the department reached over 54,000 new and prospective hunters.
These numbers trend with the state’s hunting license sales. Kentucky sold 271,612 resident hunting licenses in 2019, with 17,411 of those for new customers. In 2020, the state sold 285,736 resident licenses, with 20,830 new customers. It’s likely meat shortages and increased participant free time (as a result of the pandemic) affected these numbers alongside the FTF program.
Overcoming technical issues was a new challenge, but Wallen said participants were patient despite connection troubles — even after numerous connection tests. They received requests to fix the lighting and sound quality, but that feedback only made them improve with each video they completed.
“There’s always room for improvement, but we’re definitely at a good point,” she said.
https://youtu.be/E_QzakS8iuA