Using the Potato to Develop an Interdisciplinary & Interactive Online Youth Education Program

Martha Raidl

School of Family and Consumer Sciences

Cassidy Hall

Doceo Center, College of Education

Sponsored by the Office of the President and Executive Vice President and the University Honors Program

Abstract

Using technology in the classroom has helped students improve their knowledge and critical thinking skills, as well as keep them engaged and interested in a variety of subjects such as math, history, geography and finance. Nationwide, more schools are receiving funding for technology in the classroom. However, many teachers are struggling to find meaningful ways to incorporate these technologies into the classroom.

Two Family and Consumer Sciences Extension faculty, Martha Raidl and Rhea Lanting, worked with a College of Education technology specialist, Cassidy Hall, to address this problem by designing a youth online curriculum called “The e-Potato: A multidisciplinary and multimedia program.” It is focused around potatoes, a commonly consumed vegetable, especially by children. Originally designed as a farm-to-school program, as a way to introduce local agriculture into a nutrition program, the “e-Potato” was expanded to be used by students to cover nine disciplines: science, technology, engineering, math, history, geography, health, nutrition and agriculture.

Biography

Martha Raidl is a professor and extension nutrition education specialist for the School of Family and Consumer Sciences. She has been employed with the University of Idaho since 1998 and is based in Boise. As a registered dietitian, she is interested in developing, testing and evaluating nutrition education materials, targeting those with Type 2 diabetes, and incorporating multimedia into nutrition education programs.

Cassidy Hall is the interim director and technology integration specialist for the College of Education’s Doceo Center for Innovation + Learning, as well as a clinical assistant professor of learning technologies in the Department of Curriculum & Instruction. Hall travels throughout the state to provide professional development focused on technology integration to K-12 teachers and leads the Doceo Center efforts in supporting technology integration for faculty on campus.