For over 200 years there has been training in Horticulture in the Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin but COVID 19 is making their team look at teaching methodologies in a completely different way. The primary model of student instruction around the practices in Horticulture are well proven in this most prestigious of settings. The Covid 19 pandemic has dictated that the world in education will perhaps never be the same again. More and more people in Horticulture are saying that this may not be a bad thing.
Teagasc Horticulture Education in the National Botanic Gardens
The “new normal” will become a blend of online availability of concise structured content allied with practical content which is available online or face to face. Underlying everything is the safety of the learner and exhibiting best practise in terms of social distancing. Their team envisages a weekly engagement with groups through a Virtual Learning Platform, the MOODLE website. They currently use this website for the learner engagement in terms of access to material and resources. In the new normal this will be used a lot more. It will become the repository for all class resources. Students will no longer be tied to attending a specific class timetable as the session would be available on the platform in a recorded format.
Continuous assessment has been part and parcel of the format for many years and this will continue. Students will be challenged regularly through online Quiz formats which will track their learning through each module.
What Will Change?
Their team do, however, recognise the huge part the OPW National Botanic Gardens has in training students. Practical events will centre around this primary location coupled with practical delivery in the Teagasc location at Ashtown in Dublin 15.
Their staff are advising students who apply for these courses to be equipped with three items as prerequisites…
- Driver’s license or permit to allow for safe operation of driving machinery.
- Safe pass for accessing work experience locations.
- PC, Laptop or equivalent with good home broadband connectivity for accessing online content.
These items are very important for the learner in terms of progressing career wise in the world of Horticulture.
Find Out More
Like all change this new normal will be difficult for some but this will also bring many benefits. These has never been a better time to study the world of Horticulture. COVID 19 has changed the world immensely and will continue to do so. Horticulture will become now more important than ever as people realise that less commuting time and more time in the “home office” will bring more rewards for the natural environment and the individuals family in so many ways.
Teagasc will be holding a virtual open evening session on Wednesday 3rd June between 7 and 8 pm where their team will be taking questions on these courses in Horticulture in the Teagasc College National Botanic Gardens. Keep an eye on Botanics Social media for updates on this and other events in the College.
Applications for these full time and part time courses are available via this portal.
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