Agricultural Employees’ Use of and Preferences for Educational and Training Opportunities

Abstract

Educational and training opportunities provide individuals with many options when it comes to building their knowledge base. Both formal and informal educational opportunities are available in many different formats, including face-to-face and online delivery methods. The purpose of this study was to examine the type of education and training opportunities in which Nebraska agricultural employees participate and their satisfaction with different delivery formats. The specific objectives of this study were to determine 1) the type of education or training programs rural agricultural employees have participated in over the last two years, and 2) the differences between attitudes toward face-to-face versus online education and training approaches. In general, results indicated that agricultural professionals participated in face-to-face training and training related to their job more often than other types of training. They also tended to be more satisfied with face-to-face training than online training. As educators develop programming for agricultural professionals, these findings may be helpful in designing high impact educational opportunities.