From pooping pigs to calving cows to yakking yaks, students across the country have had the chance to see all that and more thanks to a rural Ohio communication firm with a huge following.
Shift•ology Communications in Springfield, led by Farm Bureau member Melanie Wilt, hosts Virtual Farm Trips — unscripted, live visits to farms for classrooms coast to coast. Started in 2015 with an Ohio Pork Council trip to a pig farm, more than a million students now have participated in the field trips without stepping foot outside their school doors.
“It’s a way for farmers to have their voice out there, to get across that they care for their animals and produce a high quality product,” said Dan Toland, director of virtual experiences for Shift•ology. “It’s not scripted but it’s organized, and it comes through like a television show.”
As of early December 2023, the company had hosted 381 virtual farm field trips involving about 60,000 registered teachers nationwide. Because the events are live, students can ask questions during the events. And because technology has advanced, multiple camera angles can be used to get close with a cow or to take a ride on a combine harvesting soybeans.
Commodity groups and other organizations sponsor the trips, so they’re free to students and schools. They’re also livestreamed on YouTube and Facebook so they can be watched from home, and they’re recorded and available at the company’s website virtualfarmtrips.com.
Much has changed since the trips started.
Shift•ology used Google Hangouts as its platform the first year, then switched to Zoom to improve reliability and access. Initially, Toland had to train each teacher individually how to access the trips, but technological advances and educator knowledge has eliminated that step.
Source: ofbf.org
Photo Credit: istock-lprising
Categories: Ohio, Crops, Soybeans, Harvesting, Rural Lifestyle