BEE-L is supposed to be educational, so I'm taking the liberty of announcing the next iteration of our On-Line Bee courses.  We've been getting lots of questions about the status of our On-Line beekeeping courses and when we are going to offer them.

The next offering of our  On-Line Apprentice Beekeeping Class, offered for Certificate or University Credit, will start April 7, 2014.  

We are about 60% of the way through setting up the On-Line version of our Journeyman level course and hope to have it finished by Spring Break, so we can offer it this spring or early summer.  That course will require students to buy, rent, or borrow the use of a microscope and to read scientific papers.  We will be working on the Masters level On-Line class this spring, with the first face to face offering in Missoula in the summer, and the first On-Line offering probably next fall.    The Masters level will focus on Business Concepts like marketing, developing business plans, and basic accounting.

UM's on-line courses are being built by a team of talented student artists and videographers at The University of Montana-Missoula, who work with three experienced instructors, Scott Debnam (12 years of bee experience, currently working toward a Ph.D.), Phil Welch (20 years), and myself (40 years) to match illustrations to content.  

You  can find more information about the Apprentice Course at https://www.umt.edu/ce/extended/noncredit/beekeeping/online.php.  The first Apprentice Course had students from six countries - US, Uruguay, New Zealand, U.K, Australia, and Ireland.  The discussion forums representing multiple countries were as educational to the instructors as to the students.  As such, we hope to see more international students taking part in our next offering.  

The University of Montana's School of Extended and Life Long Learning (SELL) is committed to providing a quality educational experience.  They are underwriting the salaries of teams of students who are working on developing the multi-media portions (videos, animations) for these classes.  One of UM's objectives is to provide science-based  content.  Another is to save other groups from having to expend the time, energy, and cost of building courses like these from the ground up.  And, we hope everyone has some fun along the way.

UM is interested in partnering with bee associations, other colleges and universities, both in the USA and other countries, to deliver quality educational programs with respect to bees (informed discussions being a large part of the on-line class Forum Discussions).  Many of the core concepts and principles transcend geographic boundaries.  However, some aspects have to be fine tuned, such as seasonal dynamics of honey production, local equipment and practices.  Those topics we see others developing and plugging into our core framework.  And, for each of the levels, there still needs to be local expertise and guidance.  For the Apprentice Level, that means after a student has gone through all of the animations, videos, writings, and assignments, they need to actually get their hands into a beehive and they need to pass a Practicum in a Beeyard that certifies that they have learned the fundamentals; that they are confident in their ability to meet the requirements of keeping healthy and sustainable bees by working with bees, rather than battling bees.  Thus, we need local Proctors that we can train and certify.

To further this process, if you wish to discuss partnering with UM on course development, plug-ins, or delivery, please contact Candice Merrill ([log in to unmask]).  If you represent a bee association, college, or university and think your organization might wish to consider partnering or endorsing our courses, I can provide a limited time access to the Apprentice Level course for purposes of review.  I will need to know the name of the group, your status with respect to the group, your name, and your e-mail.  We ask that you respect our  intellectual property and agree not to copy or reproduce, without permission, any part of our courses.   Contact me at [log in to unmask], with ON-LINE Bee Course in the Subject Line.  Please let me know something about your background, interests, and experience; don't just say:  My name is john doe, my e-mail is john [log in to unmask], let me in.

This will be a Moderated access, I don't want to just throw the doors open to every hacker who happens to find this posting.  Tell me who you are, who your association or group is, and why you'd like access to review the course.  I may come back to you with further questions.  But, we want to provide access to those who are truly interested in working with us.

Finally, we charge fees for this course at the going rate of University level courses.  We have text books, assignments, weekly quizzes, a mid-term, a final on-line test, and for the Apprentice level, a field-based practicum.  This is not a course series for those who just want to follow along or toss bees in a box - the bee havers. 

Finally, UM is a Liberal Arts University, not an Agricultural School.  We do not have an Agricultural Extension Service here - that's over at Montana State in Bozeman.  As such, we do not have government funding to develop this program.  The Dean of SELL is funding the students because this is a program that fits the School's objectives, but it will have to become self-sustaining.  In other words, we have to charge University class rates in order to recover the up-front investment.  Obviously, we wouldn't mind sponsors; but lacking them at the moment; we do the best we can with what we have.  So far, whereas some of our students had sticker shock, expecting a free or minimal charge course, in the final class assessments, the overall conclusion was 'worth every dollar'.  Our students appreciated the experience of the instructors and the quality of the visuals.  Moreover, they enjoyed discussing, just as happens on Bee-L, the weekly topics with the other students and with the instructors and even some guest participants such as other bee specialists from academia and from the beekeeping industry itself.

Jerry


J.J. Bromenshenk
Bee Alert
Missoula, Mt



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