Ag Lit Bit"Welcome Back to Learning"
Normally it would be great to say to all of you in September, “Welcome back to school!”
This COVID year, however, does not afford me the opportunity to use that phase as I have no idea as of this writing who will be going back to school. I am hopeful that all students will be going to back learning whether it be in-person, remote, via homeschool, or through a hybrid model of some type.
I learned many lessons on learning models this spring when meetings took a turn from in-person to Zoom. At first everyone was active and present during every Zoom interaction, but then came the gradual change when larger meetings showed videos turned off and participants automatically muted by the host.
Not one to typically have issues paying attention, I found myself multitasking while speakers were presenting and sometimes lost all focus on what was being said. Guilty as charged. It proved to be tough to be engaged when no one can see or hear you.
This guilt has made me realize that students are going to need very engaging presentations to prevent them from muting and tuning out with virtual learning. Which brought us another challenge called “technology”! It has been a truly challenging summer.
Realizing our AITC program’s success is due in large part to our amazing team of presenters and the hands-on nature of the program, we are working on ways to keep students engaged while they learn about agriculture in Illinois. We have, brought our “A” game to the table and are ready to offer several program options (see information on this page).
A special shout out to Jill Drover, AITC Assistant, whose technical abilities made this new platform come to life. We cannot wait to teach and engage with students from elementary school through high school beginning this month.
We want to look back and know we made a difference!
Be sure to follow our programming and resources here.