Agri Aware and UCD School of Agriculture and Food Science come to the rescue of Ag Science students and teachers with virtual educational resources
Due to the threat of Covid-19, Agri Aware was forced to cancel its recent planned Farm Walk and Talk event at UCD Lyons Farm which would have seen hundreds of students welcomed to the farm to learn about the practicalities of farming, with a focus on sustainability from key industry experts.
However, all was not lost! Thanks to the co-operation of UCD staff and Traction Media, Agri Aware recently filmed a virtual Farm Walk and Talk experience at UCD Lyons Farm to aid students gain key study advice for their Leaving Certificate Exam and a practical insight into sustainable farming.
UCD staff kindly stepped in as experts in their field to create short educational video modules on a range of relevant topics for students such as grassland management and feeding the dairy cow.
Speaking about the decision to host a virtual Farm Walk and Talk event, Agri Aware Executive Director Marcus O’Halloran said: “Agri Aware is committed to working with teachers and students by ensuring that education is continued by all possible means during this difficult Covid-19 challenge.
“I’d like to thank UCD for kindly stepping in to film these videos on UCD Lyons Farm and for providing their vital expertise to students and their teachers during this period. I’d also like to thank the Irish Agricultural Science Teachers Association (IASTA) and all our patrons for their continued support of Farm Walk and Talk.”
Commenting on the online resources developed at UCD Lyons Farm, Professor Alex Evans, UCD Dean of Agriculture said: “It is disappointing that we were not able to welcome secondary school Agricultural Science students to UCD Lyons Farm again this year as part of the Agri Aware Farm Walk and Talk Programme. However, my colleagues are delighted to help students by preparing these short instructional videos on critical areas of agriculture for Ireland. As always our collaboration with Agri-Aware and IASTA is much appreciated.”
Meanwhile IASTA Chair George Dennis added: “IASTA welcomes the further resources Agri Aware and UCD have put together through these videos. IASTA has also put together an eLearning padlet for Ag Science teachers and their teachers to avail of at this time and we encourage everyone to use all resources available to them.”
While Agri Aware was able to welcome 1,600 students to a number of its Farm Walk and Talk events held from March 2nd to 6th, its events scheduled at UCD Lyon’s Farm, the Irish Farmer’s Journal Tullamore Farm and a selection of Teagasc farms were cancelled due to growing Covid-19 concerns.
Although schools across the country have closed, Agri Aware is doing all it can to digitalise both its primary and secondary school resources and programmes, helping to aid home learning through these uncertain times.
Agricultural Science teachers and students can avail of the educational resource videos on the UCD School of Agriculture and Food Science (opens in a new window)Youtube Channel or below.