An Introduction to OneGrow: How We're 21st-Centurizing Agricultural Education

This is OneGrow: The World’s First IoT Agricultural Education Platform.

Let’s back it up... Before OneGrow was even a thought, teachers and students have come to our team, talking about their school growing operations and agriculture classes. And the most common four words we hear from them are, “If only we had…” And the list of words that flow after those first four is, well, long. Sensors, visibility, remote access, automated lighting, temperature monitors, extra nutrient medium, a dashboard, an app, and maybe some more student interest! Let me save you the boredom of reading 50 more requests. The bottom line is that, while your school’s chemistry rooms may have some fancy new microscopes and those math rooms may each have a gleaming new SMART board, your own agriculture or biology classroom may not be as hands-on or relevant. And interest may be waning as a result. Well, here’s where we come in. OneGrow brings 21st-century agricultural technologies straight to your classroom and students. Our platform is based on an Internet of Things (IoT) framework, involving a collection of sensors, monitors, a processing unit, and a software platform so that students can observe key metrics, like temperatures, pH levels, and plant growth data, in real time. So why should you care? There are a couple of reasons. Primarily, our technology enriches hands-on, in-class farming and learning with live data, turning your students into 21st-century farmers and scientists. This makes class way more engaging, and it also acts as a vocational education for students thinking about farming or scientific research as a career path. What’s more data-driven grows make agriculture much easier and more accessible for beginners, and we can assure you no one complains about the harvests! And, oftentimes, schools integrate food grown in a classroom farm into their breakfast and lunch menus. This places students much, much closer to the food they eat, exposing them to better nutrition and the people and processes involved in creating that nutrition. And, last but not least, hands-on, technologically relevant education is crucial in maintaining student interest in class. Several years ago, a survey found that 81% of U.S. high school dropouts said that relevant, real-world learning opportunities would have encouraged them to stay in school. OneGrow is here to help. We’re a New York-based nonprofit. We’re a team of students and teachers and entrepreneurs. We thrive off of making agriculture thrive in schools across the globe. We’re here, we’re new, and we’ve already applied to multiple grants for additional funding in an effort to offer our technology to schools free of charge. Welcome to the future of agricultural education.

#Hydroponics #OneGrow #Education #IoT