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Obert Chifamba-Agri-Insight
THE list of advantages to students is boundless, the benefits to the country are inestimable.
That is the online agricultural college for you.
Government’s recent launch of an online agricultural college will, besides playing a pivotal role in the development of the country’s agro-based economy, change the agricultural education landscape immensely.
The development will essentially expand aspiring students’ access to quality education, facilitate skills development and make it possible for aspiring agricultural professionals to access high quality tutorials and mentorship from any corner of the country.
The advantage of official online platforms is that those in charge of content have reputations to protect and will always make sure they post accurate and relevant data for the benefit of students.
If they post shoddily researched information, they always run the risk of being challenged and exposed by other gurus in the areas they will be purporting to be maestros.
Remember students can share that information with experts in their research processes and where inaccurate information was peddled, the tutor runs the risk of being challenged and shamed.
It is also clear that the country’s embracing of this digital alternative will effectively feed into the current drive to modernise agricultural production through information communication technological (ICT) advancement.
This is in line with the push to revolutionise agricultural education and make it more inclusive, flexible, and responsive to the needs of students.
The online option will render geographical barriers irrelevant and enable students to attend lessons regardless of where they are situated across the country.
There will be no challenges of physical movement to an institution for lectures but students can even do their lessons elsewhere attending to something else.
It will only be a matter of one being able to multi-task.
The usual problem of limited access to resources that under traditional circumstances used to cause bottle-necks for students will now be a thing of the past.
A student does not need to come from a wealthy background to enrol nor does she have to contend with seeking accommodation outside her normal residence.
One advantage of online education is that the student does not have to suspend whatever she would have been doing and relocate to where she will be getting her education.
In fact, education will come to students and not the other way. They only need to have gadgets that allow them to go on the internet.
Students can easily shape their study rosters around their commitments that may range from family, work or even personal affairs.
The most notable advantage of the arrangement is that students have the autonomy to access course materials, lectures, and discussions at their own pace and convenience, which is crucial for priming self-discipline in the students who will grow into good managers of their time and skills, which is essential in the agricultural industry.
It is refreshing to note that online agricultural education, just like any other subject, gives students an exclusive chance to reduce, close or even exceed the educational gap that usually exists between urban and rural areas.
Online education naturally has the advantage of creating a platform for interaction, for instance, through video conferencing, virtual discussions, webinars or just the ordinary WhatsApp messaging.
It provides opportunities for sharing of practical learning experiences and the exchange of up-to-date agricultural practices, advancements in technology and sustainable farming techniques without the need for students and lecturers to be physically there.
On the one hand, online agriculture education can help shape an individual into a good entrepreneur who can effectively deploy resources to make sure her agribusiness dreams develop to fruition to benefit even the country.
It takes an organised individual to successfully pursue studies online without falling to the temptation to cheat or even abscond.
This means that a student who gets his or her qualification from online learning generally has a lot of self-discipline.
There are, however, rotten apples among the good ones that always soil the image of whatever they do or whoever they deal with and use hook and crook methods to get to the top.
Securing an online qualification naturally demands self-motivation, discipline and effective time management since the whole process will be rolling out without the structure and routine of a physical classroom with learners expected to be play a key role in managing their study schedules and staying enthused throughout the programme.
It is also crucial to observe that one common problem with online education comes in the form of limited hands-on training and practical experience that is important in producing a polished graduate eventually.
In the absence of practical experience, it means students do not get to familiarise with practices such as fieldwork and even farm visits, grip from their online experiences.
Such a situation will require the astute student who can easily marry what they would have learnt online with what they meet on the ground.
Dispensers of online education may under such circumstances find themselves required to find ways of integrating practical components through virtual simulations, remote internships and collaborations with local agricultural enterprises.
There are also challenges that come with the online platform if it is targeting all and sundry when there is no suitable infrastructure and equipment for the programme.
There have to be no infrastructure and connectivity problems for everyone from any part of the country to access the platform and participate.
Online education is not possible where there is lack of proper infrastructure and connectivity, hence the need for Government to ensure all parts of the country have access to the internet while there is also infrastructure like base stations to ensure reliable internet access, affordable devices and technical support for students, especially those situated in rural areas.
It is obvious the Government has a lot on its plate to run the show alone so it may be necessary to collaborate with educational institutions and the private sector to ensure the playing field is levelled for all students regardless of where they will be operating from.
This aside, advantages seem to be eclipsing disadvantages since most of the roadblocks to the smooth implementation of the programme are not something for which there can be no possible solutions.
It is clear that online education is a platform that takes care of people from all walks of life, thanks to its potential to facilitate collaboration and knowledge sharing among students, lecturers and industry experts.
And now that Government has introduced education 5.0 that seeks to produce a graduate that does not need to look for employment but create it from what she would have learnt, online education is one sure way of creating that responsible individual.
Online education’s ability to foster opportunities for virtual networking, mentorship programmes and online fora that can connect students with agricultural professionals, researchers and policymakers makes it a crucial ingredient in the building of the agricultural professional the country so direly needs.
Online Reporter