Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture Moves Online

March 31, 2020, 6 p.m. ·

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Professor Doug Smith in a Zoom call with three students in an Agriculture Education class. (Photo courtesy NCTA)

The Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture has many hands-on courses, making remote learning more difficult.


Jennifer McConville is associate dean at NCTA. She says many classes are using online video chat to teach students.

Others have labs that need to be completed, which are being held in small groups in person. These include colt starting, in which the first ride must be completed with an instructor present for safety purposes. The welding exam will also be completed in-person.

McConville said much curriculum was completed earlier in the semester, and this semester is part of a larger scope of learning at NCTA.

“As a hands-on learning institution, this coursework continually builds through their time at NCTA,” McConville said. “So we’re striving to master these skills, and you can’t do that during just one class. You do it each semester and each class builds on the class previous to that. So the students who are getting ready to graduate have been having this hands-on experience for two or three years already.”

Students in their first year will have time later in their academic careers for hands-on learning.