We are living in a digital world, the most promising stage of human life ever – despite the fact that it is the most dangerous.
I am an agriculturist. 79. I don’t remember being excited about agriculture, but now I am, despite the lockdown. Now the farmers can live virtual lives too!
In 1987, we are told the FAO designed and managed the first Farmer Field School[1], FFS, in Indonesia. (above, main image from Oxfam[2])
In 1997, at home in the Philippines, we had our first Internet connection. It has been 33 years since the FFS was invented; it has been 23 years since our first Internet home experience:
It makes me wonder why nobody has ever thought of harnessing the wonders of the information superhighway by digitizing the FFS and teaching the farmers online wherever they are whenever they have the time no matter how many they happen to be!
So today, I am the one reinventing the 1987 Farmer Field School, FFS, into the Farmer Filled School of 2020, FFS2, where filled is the acronym for:
Farmer-centric
The course runs for only 5 days, not season-long as the FFS was designed. The digital recording will telescope the time for the farmers who are not referred to as trainees(don’t know anything) but as learners (would like to know more).
Inclusive
Covered is the whole value chain, from seed to spoon, from inputs to outputs to outcomes. Where the farmer learner is a member, his coop is the manager of his farming, from loans to marketing.
Location-specific
The course can be adjusted to cover the different field conditions and variety of crops where farmers are working with – especially previous soil, water, pest and disease conditions.
Learner-conscious
There are no embarrassing quizzes or question-and-answer sessions. Each participant is given the time to learn more about what s/he wants.
Experiential and Electronic
It is all digital, but the experiences of other farmers and the results of researches are all captured in moving images.
Demand-driven.
Farmers can learn from recordings of crops that they are interested in, whether scheduled during the FFS2 sessions or not.
Other characteristics of FFS2 are the following:
Information-rich: The learner is given texts with accompanying views and/or sounds, and is urged to find out more. It is a situation where curiosity fills the cat!
Learning situation-designed: It leaves room for the learner to find out what it is all about, not simply a show-all-tell-all presentation. The learner is encouraged to present his own interpretation of what he sees and/or hears.
Mass-oriented: The language used is understandable by the locals. Thus, a technical term is translated and/or described in terms of the everyday experience of the farmer audience.
Above, the superimposed composite image is my Windows 10 collage of 26 April 2018. The images show different fields and views, including at the bottom right a “ghost,” a faint image of a lady of inspiration.
Now, about virtual teaching & learning, if the Education people are intelligent, they can learn from Agriculture!@517
[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farmer_field_school
[2]https://www.sdhsprogram.org/tool/plot-design-for-pvs-illustrated-module-for-ffs-facilitators/
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