The-Laker-Issue3-Fall-2020

8 | the LAKER Like many FLCC professors, Paul Brock had a problem on March 11. Gov. Andrew Cuomo had just ordered all SUNY schools to move classes online for the rest of the semester, meaning his students would not be able to report to the enology lab, the teaching winery in Geneva or a local vineyard. With help from his colleagues, Paul, associate professor of viticulture and wine technology, did the next best thing: He strapped a GoPro camera to his forehead, connected it to a modified battery and a WiFi hotspot, and took his students with him – virtually. Paul’s one-man mobile viticulture lab was among a number of initiatives and innovations that helped the FLCC community stay together after the pandemic scattered faculty, staff and students to their homes. “I needed students to see what I was doing with my hands in real time so that they could ask questions and get my response,” Paul said. “This was really about me needing to teach in the vineyard. Students are learning techniques and skills that they normally would be practicing hundreds if not thousands of times in the field during our lab times. So, I decided offering them the real-time video feed of my hands doing these skills repetitively would be the best way to substitute them doing it.” Finding solutions Paul enlisted the help of his colleagues. Bill Pealer, media production specialist, got some advice from Jonathan Weissman, associate professor of computing sciences, and settled on a GoPro as a live field camera. With a little more tinkering, Bill configured a battery connection for a mobile hotspot that could last for the full three hours of a lab. “It is a miracle of modern technology and determination that we are able to do this,” said Paul at the time. “I am live streaming from a rural vineyard to the world, with both hands free, alone, communicating with my students with only about four or five pounds of tech strapped to me! It all cost less than $1,000 of off-the-shelf parts.” HOW WE ADAPTED TO A PANDEMIC Faculty and staff scrambled to meet students’ academic needs – and more basic ones – as the shutdown scattered the campus community. campus happenings Paul Brock, associate professor of viticulture and wine technology, used technology to bring his students to the vineyard and lab from the comfort and safety of their homes. ONLINE EXTRA Community College Daily, a national publication of the American Association of Community Colleges, featured the story of Paul Brock’s ingenuity on April 22. To read the article by FLCC Public Relations and Events Coordinator Jessica Youngman, visit www.ccdaily.com/2020/04/teaching-winemaking-in-the-vineyard-virtually