National Teach Ag Day Celebration

To celebrate the past, present, and future agriculture educators a group of students passionate about teaching agriculture came together on September 20, 2018, to celebrate National Teach Ag Day. The Department of Agricultural and Extension Education hosted an afterparty event that shared with student’s fun ways to implement Virtual Reality into the classroom. In addition to the 16 attendees from the University of Idaho, students from Oregon State University, Penn State University, and Kansas State University joined the fun via conference calls. Needless to say, the event was a hit!

The event was split into two parts. The first was an interactive lesson from a Doceo Center intern, Farahan, about virtual reality glasses and using google maps in the classroom. Google glasses were provided to all participants so they could learn firsthand the benefits of such technology. In the second part, students heard from Alan Willmore, Jerome High School agriculture teacher, on how he uses virtual reality as a learning tool in his classroom. “We hope they can use this to experience virtual reality teaching and learning tools in preparation to utilize similar programs in their future classrooms,” said Anna Pratt, an AEE graduate student.

Students gained valuable insights and experiences they will use in their own classrooms one day. “This was the first Teach Ag Day event I attended, and it really opened my eyes to opportunities within the classroom,” said Makenna Ellinghaus a junior Ag Ed student, “Virtual reality was never something I even considered using in my classroom but may make a part into my future into my future classroom. It was awesome seeing how you could take students on a virtual tour of something you may never have the opportunity before to do so.”