Abstract
The United States’ census of 2020 indicated that African Americans and Latinos eclipsed the Anglo population in Texas, with the gap expected to continue to widen. This comes at a time when minority populations are migrating to urban centers that are food deserts, where they are less likely to pursue agriculture as a professional pursuit. To illustrate, only 24% of students enrolled in the largest College of Agriculture in the state are Latinos and African Americans. Thus, Cooperative Extension Programs shoulder the responsibility of promoting agriculture within minority communities. In this context, Prairie View A&M University has developed innovative approaches in using digital tools as technologies of mediation to acquaint urban youth with existing opportunities to pursue agriculture as a profession as well as to apply nascent techniques for urban gardening and wildlife conservation. The digital tools we use are: 1. Graphic Design materials. 2. Drone video and photography of Agricultural themes. 3. Animation design. These are educational innovations that merge entertainment with pedagogy and instruction to reintroduce agriculture to urban communities so that they can operate sustainable systems. The purpose of this paper is to acquaint e-learning proponents with examples of the three digital tools we apply in order to inspire the next generation to engage in agriculture so as to transform their behaviors and improve their lives. We likewise use this forum to dialog about the prospects of applying these digital tools to inspire future generation of agriculture learners across the world, especially in food deserts.
Presenters
Douglas HermondProfessor, Educational Leadership, Prairie View A&M University, Texas, United States Nathan Hermond
Extension Associate (Entomology), College of Ag, Food and Natural Resources, Prairie View A&M University, Texas, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Digital Tools, Learning Innovation, Urban Agriculture
