I found it. It’s the ultimate school. I won’t get marked. I won’t write exams. I won’t even have to hand in assignments. Not only that, but it’s okay if I finish early, and if I skip parts that don’t seem important, and I can do it all at home, at my own pace, within 90 days.
And to top it all off, I’ve been promised that I’ll learn something practical and applicable to our specific business.
Read Also
Producers aren’t panicking over tariffs and trade threats
The Manitoba Canola Growers Association (MCGA) surveyed its members this spring to get a sense of how trade uncertainty was…
I’m ready to put it to the test.
“It’s not about theory,” says Patti Goodman, project manager for online learning atthe University of Guelph’s Kemptville College. “It’s about learning what you are going to be able to do with it after you’re finished.”
The AgriBusiness eCampus ( is a web-based national resource centre for agribusiness management and entrepreneurial knowledge. It’s designed for people like me who want the skills to run their farm businesses better, but are too busy farming or working off-farm to take a college or university-level course.
Through almost 10 years of farming, our business strategy has been simple and unwritten — work like hell and juggle off-farm jobs to pay down the debt.
Over the years, I’ve taken some continuing education courses from university and colleges but never online. This concerns me. Access isn’t the issue. These e-campus courses work on MacIntosh and IBM computers, and even on dialup.
My other concern centres on the most limiting resource on our farm — time. With an online course, I can work in the evenings and around what’s happening on any given day. So here goes nothing but about $300 and possibly some more grey hair.
Day 1: 1 hour
I’ve decided to take the course on our personal computer so I’ll have easier access to our financial books and a printer. Plus our PC has the Internet server required by the course and a high-speed connection. As it turns out, I don’t use any of our farm financial information. I’ll use that information later to actually take action. This course is mostly about deciding which action to take and how to make sure it happens.
I’ve been e-mailed a log-in name and a password, and easily figure out how to change it to something I can remember. Basically, for the first hour I scoot around the site checking out the options and familiarizing myself with the process, like orientation day at college. Instead of going to the pub, I open the fridge and get a beer. So far, so good.
I scribble down the e-mail and the 1-800 number in case I need some technical help. The course home page includes a welcome message, announcements, reminders and guidance. It even has a calendar to track personal events and reminders.
Although I haven’t actually done anything yet, I’m not as intimidated now. I don’t need a computer science degree to do this course online. There aren’t that many options to click on so it’s simple enough for me to navigate through, even after that beer.
Day 2: 2 hours plus sporadic discussions
A week later, I’ve put off starting the course long enough. With pen and paper handy, I take a deep breath and click on Unit One.
Soon I realize that I don’t need a paper and pen. I just read as I scroll down and print out anything I want to remember or use later.
The introduction says I should have a working business plan by the time I finish the course and I won’t have tests or marked assignments, although not all the courses are quiz-free.
Recommended readings are highlighted and I can download them onto my desktop or print them. Surprisingly, most of the recommended readings are good enough that I print out a few for my business partner/husband to read.
Many of the readings come from Purdue University and the
