Let’s agree on the future of agri-learning

The platform makes use of the latest technology to offer industry-relevant agricultural courses to farmers and students from anywhere in the world, at anytime. All studying can occur on a mobile device, tablet or pc.

Thus far, learners from ten different countries have enrolled onto AGRICOLLEGES courses, namely South Africa, Namibia, France, South Sudan, Zambia, Tanzania, Botswana, Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana.

As the e-learning platform is not a bricks and mortar institution, the cost to enrol is significantly less, being a quarter to one fifth of the cost to study at traditional bricks and mortar colleges or universities.

One of the many apps on the ACI system allows students to download coursework when at an internet hotspot and then continue learning and complete the assignments ‘off line’.

Once the work is complete, the student goes to a hotspot and then *ping*, at the touch of a button, their work is uploaded onto the cloud. The institution is currently accredited with AgriSETA and are working on their collaboration with the Council of Higher Education which will allow them to develop and conduct courses to the level of NQF5, 6 and 7.

All courses are designed to upskill recent school leavers and those with prior experience, while enabling students to learn-as-they-earn, as well as for farmers and their staff. “In a country with high unemployment like South Africa, e-learning offers a more affordable way for our youth to equip themselves with the skills they need to become more employable,” says AGRICOLLEGES International Founder, Howard Blight. The introductory courses run for seven weeks part-time and include course options such as Introduction to Plant Production, Introduction to Agribusiness and Introduction to Animal Production, to name only a few.

The commitment requires only 10 hours of studying per week. The fundamental courses run from anywhere from nine to 14 weeks and cover subject areas such as Fundamentals of Maize Production, Fundamentals of Avocado Production and Fundamentals of Good Agricultural Practices. ACI has over 100 courses still to be designed and platformed The current longer term course offered allows the learner to qualify with a National Certificate in General Agriculture at an NQF4 level and runs over a 12 month period.

The blended-learning environment combines independent online learning with a practical component. The institution has partnered with existing leading organisations and institutions across South Africa to offer these practical learning sessions.

During the 12-month course, students must complete a two-week practical training component and AGRICOLLEGES International have partnered with 39 Practical Destinations in order for the student to gain handson experience and put the theoretical in practice. Another game changing app on the ACI platform is their remote practices app. The student learns the academic component of a certain subject.

Lets use soil sampling as an example. The student then films themselves doing a soil sampling exercise while talking to the mobile device, off-line. The film-clip is uploaded onto the cloud when next at a hotspot. Fifteen seconds later the work is ready for marking at Brightspace, the LMS that ACI works with. As the success of AGRICOLLEGES International gains momentum, Howard Blight and the AGRICOLLEGES International team are excited for the future ahead, planning and implementing a long list of other courses, both over short and longer time periods.

Going forwards they will also offer personal development courses that will be free to enrol on.

A few examples are adult literacy courses and HIV / AIDS awareness courses. These will be specifically aimed at educating local farm workers and empowering them through knowledge, sharing and learning. For more information visit the AGRICOLLEGES International website: www.agricolleges.com