When a class is called Outdoor Education, it can be challenging to adjust to an eLearning platform but teachers Tim Brennan and Justin Koons are doing what they can to adjust. 

“It is certainly more difficult to teach Outdoor Education indoors. Last week we had students submit videos of them tying a fishing knot,” Brennan said via email. “The biggest problem is communication. I am figuring out how to use Zoom and will incorporate that in the weeks ahead. Trying to run down a student’s missing assignments is a pain, but I figure that once we all get used to eLearning, that problem will get better.”

Despite not being able to go outdoors, freshman Lilya Ma still finds the online alternatives for teaching boater education beneficial.

“Boater ed so far has been pretty interesting as we get to learn about different types of boats and how to handle the boats,” Ma said via text. “We learn how to boat ethically without making it hard for others or harm the environment and we’ve also had projects where we make a boat at home and test it.”

For sophomore Jesse Disney, the eLearning assignments haven’t been challenging. However, he still sees missing out on the hands-on activities that are part of the course as a downside.

“It’s difficult not having the proper directions or demonstrations we’re used to, and I think we are definitely missing out from the curriculum in the sense that we don’t have fun activities to do as a class,” Disney said via text. “But I think the boater education assignments my teacher gave digitally were helpful and easy to complete.”

For Koons, the transition during what was supposed to be such an interactive unit proved to be a difficult task.

“The challenge is what to do without the physical aspect of the class that is so very much important. The current unit right now is Boater Education where students get certified to drive vessels on the water. Most of the material is online and can be done with book study and research,” Koons said via email. “However, I believe the students get a little short-handed without being able to practice safe, hands-on, and controlled scenarios that would be beneficial to them. During this time, I continue to collaborate with colleagues around the district to come up with ideas that could be suitable for the students to keep them engaged and interested.”

Although the teachers have given assignments covering the material, freshman Tulsi Rampalli expected actual outdoor recreation the spring semester was supposed to provide.

“My coach has provided fishing activities and boating projects we can do at home. For example, we had an assignment where we had to make a diagram of a fish, as well as a project where we constructed a cardboard boat at a much smaller scale,” Rampalli said via text. “But I feel like we are just getting information on the topics, and not really getting to experience them while we are at home and not able to go outdoors or off-campus, especially at this time of the year.”