“Traditional classroom learning is not always an option for professionals in agriculture due to location and schedule differences,” said Bruce Erickson, agronomy education distance and outreach director and director/lead instructor of the program. “Purdue’s Agronomy e-Learning Academy meets the need for agronomy education for growers and other agricultural professionals in sales, management, support services, ag retail, agricultural finance and marketing. Because learners can access their course 24/7 from their PC or mobile device through the Internet, the three online agronomy courses mesh with work and home responsibilities.” (U.S. Department of Agriculture, Flickr/Creative Commons)

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The Crop Professional Certificate program, a combination of three e-learning courses offered by Purdue University’s Department of Agronomy, has received the 2018 Excellence in Digital Education: Course Design and Teaching Award, the university’s highest recognition for creative and effective approaches to professional education.

This is the third time the Agronomy e-Learning Academy courses have been recognized with the Excellence in Digital Education Award. The academy’s initial course, Agronomy Essentials, received the award in 2015 and its second course, Precision Agriculture, received the award in 2017.

Honored for their work in the program are Bruce Erickson, agronomy education distance and outreach director and director/lead instructor of the program; Janine Black, agronomy e-learning project manager; and Debbie Runshe, instructional designer, in the Course Design and Development Group of IT Teaching and Learning Technologies.

“Traditional classroom learning is not always an option for professionals in agriculture due to location and schedule differences,” said Erickson. “Purdue’s Agronomy e-Learning Academy meets the need for agronomy education for growers and other agricultural professionals in sales, management, support services, ag retail, agricultural finance and marketing. Because learners can access their course 24/7 from their PC or mobile device through the Internet, the three online agronomy courses mesh with work and home responsibilities.”

Since the Academy began in 2015, 1,027 agricultural professionals from 47 states and 32 countries have completed at least one of the online courses. Students represent a wide range of academic and professional backgrounds – from high school graduates to Ph.D.s, some with less than one year of professional experience to those with careers of 20 years or more in the industry.

The combination of three courses comprising the Crop Professional Certificate program became a reality in 2017. In the first year of the program, 42 students earned their Crop Professional Certificate. This framed certificate recognizes those who successfully complete the Agronomy Essentials, Precision Agriculture and Nutrient Management courses. The courses are also available individually for those who want to learn more about a specific area of agronomy.

In Agronomy Essentials, learners receive broad-based knowledge of agronomy that progresses through the growing season, from a study of land and soil to seed selection and planting, growth and development, diagnostics and crop protection all the way through harvesting, storing and marketing the crop. Each learning module builds upon the previous one. The course includes 100 high-definition video lessons supplemented with reading, graphics, glossaries, downloadable slides, and links to additional educational resources.

An experienced grower from Michigan, Paul Prielipp of Prielipp Farms, said, “I greatly enjoyed the Agronomy Essentials course. I have spent my entire life in agriculture and was still able to learn a lot throughout the course and add to my previous knowledge.”

Precision Agriculture is the study of technology and techniques used in site-specific agriculture. Recognized subject-matter experts from leading universities across the United States teach 12 learning modules through recorded HD video lessons on such topics as GPS, differential correction, sensors, spatial variability, geographic information systems, automation, data analysis, telematics and precision farming economics and adoption. Videotaped discussions with farmers and retailers who are successfully using the technology and techniques add a practical side to the techniques discussed in each learning module.

Nutrient Management delves into soil chemistry and microbiology as well as plant physiology, nutrient assessment and nutrient effects and applications. Topics include soil fertility, soil organic matter and microbiology, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in the soil, secondary nutrients and micronutrients, soil pH and soil amendments, salt-affected soils, nutrient assessment and diagnostics, fertilizers and fertilizer additives, fertilizer recommendations and economics, application, timing and placement. This advanced course is best for those with some knowledge of agronomy and chemistry.

Agronomy e-Learning courses consistently earn high praise from course graduates. Of 669 respondents to an anonymous survey at the end of each course, 99 percent said they agreed or strongly agreed that they improved their understanding of the subject by taking the course and 97 percent said they agreed or strongly agreed that they would recommend the course.

The next session of all three agronomy e-courses will run from June 13 through Sept. 5, 2018, with the option of working ahead to finish earlier. Registration is open from the link on the website: http://tinyurl.com/purdueagry.

For more information on courses or tuition discounts, contact director Bruce Erickson at berickso@purdue.edu or project manager Janine Black at janblack@purdue.edu or elearn@purdue.edu.

Writer: Janine Black, 765-496-0346, janblack@purdue.edu

Media contact: Darrin Pack, 765-494-2722, dpack@purdue.edu

—Purdue University

For more articles concerning education, click here.

Comments