Four free Applied Digital Skills lessons were launched by the 2023 Farm Bureau Foundation Fellows on Wednesday to help students learn about food, fuel and fiber.
According to American Farm Bureau Foundation’s press release, the 40- to 90-minute courses focus on four themes:
1. Careers
2. Celebrating local food events
3. Pollinators
4. Regenerative ag
Powered by Google, the lessons were designed with a focus on rural classrooms and will be offered free of charge, along with a stipend and Chromebooks.
“Our Foundation Fellows have done an outstanding job crafting these unique and engaging lessons,” said Daniel Meloy, executive director of the Foundation for Ag. “Whether you’re a teacher in a rural, urban or suburban classroom, these lessons can be used to teach a broad variety of technical skills while fostering understanding of ag.”
The first two lessons were released on March 21. The full suite is now available in Google’s lessons collections.
What Teachers Can Learn from the Farm Bureau Courses
Students weren’t the only ones in mind when creating the software. Meloy breaks down the vision for teachers’ learning in the program:
“Digital skills are increasingly becoming a prerequisite for jobs in today’s economy, yet students in rural areas in particular often don’t have access to the resources that will set them up for success, such as broadband access and program instruction,” he said. “We hope this program empowers teachers to introduce their students to the exciting world of agriculture, while also teaching them an array of technical skills.”
Teachers who choose to use the program will be offered 1:1 instruction from Google experts.
